Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             after notifying the Chair at the start of the meeting.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no Reserve Members in attendance at this meeting.

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from all Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of personal or prejudicial interests made by Members of the Panel arising from the business transacted at this meeting.

To consider whether any of the items listed on the agenda should be considered with the press and public excluded on the grounds that it is thought likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that there would be disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence or of exempt information as defined in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985.

RESOLVED:  That all items be considered with the press and public present.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2004, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2004, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put at the meeting under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 18.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions were received at the meeting under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 15.

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 16 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations were received at the meeting under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 16.

Report of the Executive Director (Organisational Development).

The Panel received a report of the Executive Director (Organisational Development) which provided an overview of Member Development from May to November 2004 and proposed areas on which to focus Member training for the remainder of the Municipal Year. Additionally, the Panel received and considered the results of the evaluation and needs analysis programme which took place in January 2005.

A Member informed the Panel that additional training sessions in the areas of Finance, Planning and Licensing were required and, if enough interest was expressed, training courses on the links between the Local Authority and Health would also be considered. The importance of these training sessions was emphasised by the Panel, as was the importance of the repeated reminders sent to Members which, it was noted, were useful in maximising attendance.

An officer advised that there had been a distinct improvement in the attendance rate on courses compared with last year, and feedback from the training sessions had generally been positive. It was suggested that to further increase responses from Members the document used for feedback could be simplified.

With regard to the proposed training session on Area Working, Members discussed the timing of the session and expressed the view that advertising for the course could be improved. Various solutions which were proposed in order to capture Members’ attention included an improved title, delivering information about the course in the form of a flier, and posing questions on the flier in order to highlight the relevance of the session for all Members.

In relation to Directors’ requests for training, a Member expressed the view that training in the area of managing staff appeals would be useful. It was suggested that a senior solicitor could attend in order to explain to Members the Tribunal process and what it might entail. With regard to Diversity and Code of Conduct, it was commented that it should be a requirement for all Members to attend the Corporate Governance Framework Training, and in order to encourage Members to attend the target audience should be mentioned in the advertising.

Regarding Members’ requests for training, the Panel agreed that a session on traffic regulations should be accompanied by information on TfL and parking enforcement. It was stated that Members often received complaints about parking enforcement from residents in their ward and therefore it would be helpful if a set of guidance notes could be produced in order to help Members deal with complaints of this nature.

Discussion having turned to Scrutiny, it was suggested that a session could be organised with the purpose of celebrating the successes of Scrutiny to date. This could include notifying Members of the influence that Scrutiny had had on the policy-making process and highlighting future areas of work such as the Community Engagement Strategy.

Concerning the budget for the remainder of the 2004/2005 Municipal Year, Members made several suggestions regarding how this could be utilised, such as attendance at external training events.

In relation to the Induction for Members in 2006, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 142.