Issue - meetings

The report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services is attached.

The Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Wellbeing, ICT and Member Development, Councillor J Wheeler presented the report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services detailing the Councillors’ Learning and Development Policy for 2026-2029.

Councillor Wheeler referred to the important decisions Councillors made and the need to have appropriate training to make those informed decision, hence the considerable time and resources given to develop and deliver a training programme. The Policy set out this approach, including the important role played by the Member Development Group (MDG), which had reviewed this Policy. Councillor Wheeler stated that some Councillors had asked for additional support with e-learning and confirmed that drop-in sessions were being arranged and he encouraged all Councillors to take up as many training opportunities as they could.

Councillor Matthews seconded the recommendation and referred the right to speak. 

Councillor Plant agreed that it was appropriate that Councillors received appropriate training, questioned why some mandatory training had not been completed within 12 months of taking office, as required in the Policy, and felt that it would have been helpful for Councillors to have received more regular updates on training requirements. Councillor Plant referred to the revised Policy and a requirement that an annual training report be taken to the Standards Committee and was concerned that potentially Councillors could be named if they had failed to complete mandatory training. She felt that this was unnecessary, as there could be extenuating reasons and that should be taken into account. Councillor Plant also suggested that Councillors should submit ideas to broaden the programme.

Councillor Way supported Councillor Plant and asked for more frequent and structured MDG meetings, to ensure consistency and to allow the Policy to be implemented and delivered. Regular meetings would allow training completion rates to be monitored and concerns addressed, and she questioned when and how Councillor feedback on training had been used to improve it. Councillor Way suggested that all mandatory training sessions should be held at least twice, at different times of the day, and where possible remote access and recording sessions should be available. Councillor Way was concerned that responsibility was being given to the Chair of Standards Committee to name individual Councillors, asked for safeguards to be put in place, and advised that she had been reassured by officers that naming individual Councillors would be a final step. However, to ensure that this did not happen, she proposed the following amendment, to provide an additional layer of protection and to ensure that a unilateral decision could not be made:

It is RECOMMENDED that Council adopts the 2026-2029 Councillors’ Learning and Development Policy subject to the following change in wording of section 11 of the Policy:

“If necessary, the Chair of Standards Committee will write to individuals with mandatory training remaining undone more than 12 months after becoming a Councillor. Should this situation persist, then the Chair of Standards Committee, in conjunction with the Monitoring Officer, reserves the right to identify individual Councillors not meeting the required  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31