Issue - meetings

To receive an update on the Member Development Programme and the LGA Member Development Charter.

The Democracy Manager provided a Member Development Update. The report provided to Members an outline of the learning and development programme for elected Members following the May 2023 elections. The programme was split into four main themes; Hit the ground running, Operating as an effective councillor, Roles and responsibilities, and Continued professional development. Members were informed that the programme was halfway through, with majority of Members completed two out of the four themes.

Overall feedback on the training were largely positive with Members feeling confident in the presenters and for the slides to be accessible after the event on the Councillor Connect Portal.

Feedback was mixed in regards to preferred delivery methods e.g. in-person or virtual. The Member Support Team will continue to schedule both in person and virtual training to meet different needs along with recap or follow-up sessions to capture those Members that missed the initial training.

The next stage of the Member Development Programme was said to be the continued professional development plan. This was said to include the personal development plan with a Members Named Support Officer, where a Member would be able to develop a plan of development based on their needs. At the time of the meeting it was said that 10 elected Members had indicated their interest and that the team were in the process of starting the development plan with them to support in any learning gaps.

Members were informed that the Member Support Team were currently working towards the LGA Member Development Charter. Members were informed that a portfolio was being collated as evidence for the charter. There were two levels that could be achieved; the charter and the charter plus. Officers were currently working on achieving the Charter status for the development programme and hoped to eventually have the Charter Plus status. As the work develops it would be fed back to the Governance Committee for knowledge and comment.

Members commented on the variety of training sessions available and thanked officers for their support. Members raised a number of points of further developments and incentives such as ‘scorecards’ to monitor the progress of Members.

By majority the Members agreed the recommendations as outlined in the report.

RESOLVED – that Governance Committee:

1) The Committee noted the contents of the report; and

2) The approach set out within the report for the Council to attain the Local Government Association’s Member Development Charter and Charter Plus, to be endorsed by the Committee.