Agenda and draft minutes

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There were no declarations of interest made.

The minutes of the meeting held on Monday, 25 September 2023 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

The Service Manager – Corporate Services presented the Councillors’ Training report, which updated the Group on the current position in regard to Councillor Learning and Development.

The Chair referred to the summary of progress detailed in Paragraphs 4.6 and 4.8 of the report and asked the Group to consider the six questions posed in Paragraph 4.14 of the report. 

The Group noted that overall the uptake for e-Learning was poor, with a few Councillors completing a lot of modules and many completing very few or none at all.  Some members of the Group thought that face to face training was better, and that the whole e-Learning process was off putting and did not suit everyone.  Reference was made to a previous request that face to face training sessions should be recorded, as that would allow the sessions to be viewed again, which could remove the need to run face to face sessions again, and hopefully relieve pressures on officers and allow Councillors to watch it whenever they wished. 

The Service Manager – Corporate Services advised that trying to record the sessions would not be straightforward and it would not be possible to record who had attended, which would be an issue, as the Council had to demonstrate that Councillors were attending mandatory training.  She went on to question the quality of the training experience, and the passive nature of training if it was simply viewed from a recording.

A member of the Group referred to the difficulties in attending face to face sessions, especially parents with young children and those with busy work commitments and stated that recordings could help Councillors and the training programme should be flexible to support all Councillors.

The Chair referred to the legal requirement to complete mandatory training, including GDPR and questioned how much proof was required that such training had taken place elsewhere.

A member of the Group asked if there was any feedback available as to why Councillors had been unable to attend training sessions, as that could be a useful tool going forward.  They were advised that there was not.  

The Group considered the number of sessions run for each topic, the spread, timings and days of the week sessions were held on.  It was noted that many Councillors were also on parish and town councils, which had evening meetings, which often clashed with training.  The Service Manager – Corporate Services advised that many parish and town council meetings were held on a Monday, and therefore training sessions were not held on Mondays.  A balance also had to be struck to ensure that meetings and training sessions were spread out to avoid officers and Councillors being busy on multiple nights in one week.  The possibility of recording sessions would be investigated, with a suitable session chosen as a pilot.  However, members of the Group were reminded that delivering online training sessions was specialised, Council officers were not trained for that, and that would affect the quality of the session.

Members of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

The Service Manager – Corporate Services presented the draft Training Programme for Councillors for 2024/25 as detailed in Appendix One to the report.

The Chair reiterated that people learned in different ways and questioned if any of the 16 face to face courses, listed in Appendix One were also available as an e-Learning module. On looking at the list of six mandatory e-learning courses, it was noted that two courses, Equality and Diversity and Disability and Discrimination were also covered by face to face sessions.

The Chair advised that the draft Training Programme included a repeat of the Understanding Licensing Committee training, and she hoped that all members of the Committee would be trained after this session.  It was noted that there was an e-learning module for Chairing Skills, which would also be helpful.  The Service Manager – Corporate Services advised that all Councillors should attend the face to face session on Updates for Planning Committee members.

A member of the Group asked if there could be some training around dyslexia, autism, hearing and sight loss and the Service Manager – Corporate Services stated that this could be looked into.

The Chair questioned if the Cyber Security session should be mandatory rather than desirable given the increasing threats associated with this.  Members of the Group considered that on balance, although it was an important issue, and as there was also an e-learning module available it should remain as desirable.

The Service Manager – Corporate Services confirmed that this could also be included again in future face to face GDPR sessions when they were scheduled.

The Chair hoped that for some sessions going forward, for example planning and use of the Planning Portal, there could be some live demonstrations to further enhance those sessions.

It was RESOLVED that:

a)               that a session on dyslexia, autism and other sensory issues be added to the Councillors ‘Training Programme for 2024/25; and

b)               that the Councillors’ Training Programme 2024/25 be approved.