Agenda item

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 standard.”

Councillor Billin seconded the amendment to the recommendation and reserved the right to speak.

Councillor Wheeler confirmed that he accepted the amendment, which then became part of the substantive motion. He also reassured Councillors that naming a Councillor would be a final step and very unlikely to ever happen.

Councillor R Mallender referred to previous discussions at MDG regarding training completion rates, noted that some Councillors had difficulties using e-learning and agreed that there should be at least two sessions for each mandatory course. He was also concerned about naming Councillors at Standards Committee.  

Councillor Chewings reiterated the importance of training and that more work was needed to improve uptake. He referred to the mandatory sessions listed and was concerned that many of the face to face sessions had only been run once, and more work was required to make them more open and inclusive, perhaps recording sessions, and running them more than once. Councillor Chewings was concerned that there appeared to be inconsistencies regarding whether some courses were mandatory or not and asked for an update on that and requested that mandatory sessions, which had only been held once be repeated.

Councillor Polenta agreed with previous comments that it was unhelpful to use punitive measures and referred to the importance of training not just as Councillors but as members of the community. Training allowed Councillors to grow and develop and be accountable, with diversity and accessibility at the forefront and ensuring that local government was for all.  

As a regular member of the MDG, Councillor Birch stated that at each meeting he had raised concerns regarding the lack of remote training offered to those who could not attend in person, and given the generally high attendance at committee meetings, he felt that the current system discriminated against some Councillors, and more inclusivity was required. He felt that sessions should be recorded, to allow Councillors to view and complete them later and more could be done to support Councillors who worked. 

Councillor Gowland agreed that Councillors were very busy and suggested that going forward alternative ways to provide training should be considered.

In seconding the recommendation, Councillor Matthews confirmed that the MDG had agreed that a report would be submitted to the Standards Committee and advised that some of the mandatory sessions were only mandatory for members of specific committees. He advised that the MDG had discussed having online sessions and repeating face to face sessions and he hoped that the Individual Learning Records had helped Councillors identify what training they needed to do and help officers to provide support. Councillor Matthews confirmed that a safeguard had been added that any Councillor who had still to complete mandatory training would be given a reminder before any report was taken to Standards Committee. He was pleased to report a 100% completion for GDPR training and overall, Rushcliffe’s training completions compared favourably to the majority of other councils.

Councillor Wheeler reiterated that the Council was required to demonstrate that it had processes in place to ensure that the Council was not being put at risk; however, he was confident that naming a Councillor would never be required. He stated that previously MDG meetings were more ad-hoc; however, it had been recognised that more frequent meetings were required, and that would be actioned, with Individual Learning Records also regularly sent to Councillors. Councillor Wheeler agreed that Councillors should be encouraged to attend sessions, and alternative ways to deliver training would be investigated.  

It was RESOLVED that the Councillors’ Learning and Development Policy 2026-2029 be adopted, 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 standard.”