Members to note and make suggestions for the training programme (page 9)
Minutes:
MEMBER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 2015/16
T Coston advised that the mandatory training had been scheduled as a priority as members are unable to sit on certain committees without the relevant training. She also advised that although it is not always possible for everyone to attend these scheduled sessions, private one to one tuition sessions or small group sessions can be arranged to ensure that all members are trained. However she stressed the importance of communication with the Member Support team for this to be arranged.
She went on to advise that this was then followed by training on other important issues and key areas of the Council’s business, for example Housing and Mental Health First Aid.
She also went on to say that although the programme is quite full at present, this was due to the importance placed on training for new members as well as for existing. However should anyone else have further thoughts regarding other training requirements to advise us and we will try to arrange.
P Hearn commented that having been on the licensing committee for the last four years, she has only ever received one training session at the start despite there having been changes in legislation and suggested that update briefing sessions before or after a meeting to keep members informed would be of value.
C Lawson took that comment on board and advised she would speak to the Licensing department with regards to ensuring this happens.
P Hearn also commented that any briefing sessions, for development control in particular, should be extended to Town Councillors also.
G Adshead suggested that CIL training would be beneficial as it is being adopted as of 1 July 2015 and a percentage of the income from CIL can be used by Councillors within their ward.
C Lawson advised that someone has expressed an interest in the pre Council briefing session on 15 July, but that she would try and see if this could be used to accommodate the CIL training.
T Douris enquired about the ‘Which Members?’ column on the table and if it was possible for some training sessions, such as Licensing and Development Control could be available to all members, as others may be interested and there may be a change of Personnel over the year.
T Coston advised this could happen.
T Douris expressed some curiosity in the Highways Training to be expedited by Paul Newton and expressed a thought that it may possibly be more focused on Highways development and development issues of highways.
R Taylor suggested that some joined up working between Paul Newton and the County Councillor responsible for Highways (Terry Douris), may be useful.
T Coston said she would speak to Paul Newton regarding this.
T Coston also advised that the reason there was no quarterly budget in her report for this meeting was because nothing had been spent as yet. She went on to say that the budget remained the same at £11,000 and that a lot of the upcoming training was being supplied internally, which therefore has no cost, but that some of the budget would be used later in the year on PDP’s.
T Douris made reference to the fact that internal staff doing training does have a value and that this should be voiced to members that because they are staff, does not make the training ‘free’, but that they do have a value.
M Hicks enquired about iPad training and referred to Modern Gov and if that training would be one to one.
C Lawson advised that the initial intent had been to issue iPads to ensure that new members were contactable via e-mail. She went on to advise that as the person that will be delivering Modern Gov, the training would be in groups in September and that the team would then be there for support after and at meetings also.
M Hicks expressed concern at not being able to print and the difficulty at reading large documents on the iPad.
C Lawson advised that with a move to paperless working, text can be increased but we are trying to reduce the amount of printing costs and paper being produced. She also advised that the iPad will have each section of the agenda bookmarked and an ability to annotate, which would also hopefully make it easier to contend with rather than having to scroll through page after page.
R Taylor finally gave an overview of PDP’s and CPD’s and explained the importance of members of MDSG advocating this to colleagues within the Council.
G Adshead expressed concern that with his previous experience of a PDP from the Council, he received an initial telephone conversation which asked him a few questions and then heard nothing further.
C Lawson advised that there had been a change to the system this year and that the intention had been to assess the situation in the autumn, once members have settled in and completed the initial mandatory training. She went on to explain that when the time comes for the PDP’s there would be a link up with senior officers to try and ensure that members are linked to a senior officer relevant to their particular need