Agenda item

The Head of Corporate Services presented the Councillor Training Update and Programme, which provided an overview of training undertaken since 2023, together with future training opportunities, and referred to the questions listed in Paragraph 4.17 of the report, for members of the Group to consider.

The Group acknowledged that up take of training continued to be a struggle for various reasons, and the Chair referred to reference in the report to the possibility of referring Councillors to the Standards Committee for non-participation in learning and development and questioned what reminders were sent out to prompt them. The Head of Corporate Services referred to the Learning and Development Policy, which outlined training principles for Councillors, including a requirement that all mandatory training should be completed within 12 months of a Councillor being elected. Currently GDPR was the only training with 100% completion. Each Councillor had an Individual Learning Record, which was emailed out to them and Group Leaders, in the hope that where gaps occurred, Councillors would be encouraged to undertake that training. It was suggested that Councillors should be given six months to complete any outstanding mandatory training, with a progress report taken to Standards Committee. The Group was reminded that whilst face to face training could be difficult to attend, e-learning could be done at any time. 

The Chair felt that six months to complete any outstanding training seemed proportionate but suggested that Councillors should be prompted after three or four months if the training had not been completed.

The Group questioned if face to face mandatory session would be repeated to allow Councillors an opportunity to attend and the Head of Corporate Services advised that some sessions were run annually and questioned what was a realistic expectation that 100% attendance could be achieved. However, 100% completion for e-learning was achievable, and some face to face sessions would be arranged again to show Councillors how to access and complete e-learning modules.

A member of the Group suggested that the training session on working with officers should be repeated again, as this was very important, as not all Councillors had been able to attend the first session. It was also felt that a session on AI would be very helpful, given the pace and implications of this technology. 

In answer to a question about recording more training sessions and running them virtually, the Head of Corporate Services advised that for any mandatory training it was not possible to measure who was watching recordings afterwards, so although attendance could be recorded for live sessions, compliance for any other Councillors could not be proved to the auditors.

A member of the Group acknowledged those issues; however, he felt that if a Councillor joined a live session with their camera on, it was no different to physically attending a session in person and given that Councillors had so many commitments, it was important to use technology to improve accessibility for everyone. The Head of Corporate Services accepted that improvements were required; however, it was more difficult to interact and engage remotely, with trainers needing the skills to ensure people were involved in the same way as they would be in a face to face session. There had been improvements, which would continue; however, feedback from Councillors was that they preferred face to face training.   

The Chair suggested that training on line worked if numbers were small and suggested that could work to pick up smaller groups of Councillors who needed to complete mandatory courses.

A member of the Group suggested that desirable training sessions could be held on line, to improve uptake and asked if face to face sessions could be held on a Thursday, as the majority were currently held earlier in the week, which clashed with town and parish council meetings.

It was RESOLVED that:

a)               the information provided by officers in relation to Councillor Learning and Development was considered;

b)               the questions outlined in Paragraph 4.17 of the report in relation to the Councillor Training Programme were considered;

c)               the Councillor Training Programme 2025-2027 be approved; and

d)               subject to the comments made, it be recommended to Council that the Learning and Development Policy be updated to reflect the need for individual Councillor training participation, to be reported to the Standards Committee.