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)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

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:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members in relation to 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 Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

RESOLVED:  That (1) in accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the following additional documents be admitted late to the agenda by virtue of the special circumstances and grounds for urgency detailed below:-

(2)  all items be considered with the press and public present.

That the minutes of the meetings held on 13 September and 16 November 2006 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

[Note:  The 13 September and 16 November 2006 minutes are published on the Council's intranet and website].

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meetings held on 13 September and 16 November 2006 be taken as read and signed as correct records.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 19 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put at the meeting under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 19.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 16 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

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

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations were received at the meeting under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 17.

The Panel received a reference from the Children and Young People Scrutiny Sub-Committee meeting held on 18 October 2006, which suggested that a Member seminar on corporate parenting should be organised.

A Member noted that an invitation for the Corporate Parenting meeting had been sent out and stated that the full Council should be involved in corporate parenting.

Members asked the relevant officer to organise an event for Members regarding corporate parenting and to liaise with the Corporate Parenting Panel for input on the training. The officer confirmed she would report any progress at the next meeting.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the reference be noted;

(2)  an event on corporate parenting be organised and the Corporate Parenting Panel be consulted to provide input into this event.

The Panel considered a reference from the Standards Committee, further to that Committee’s consideration of the review of the Whistleblowing Policy at its meeting on 5 December 2006.

RESOLVED:  That the Whistleblowing Policy be incorporated into the Code of Conduct training.

Further to the question and answer session with Portfolio Holders that had taken place at the Special Children and Young People Scrutiny Sub-Committee meeting on 9 January 2007, the Panel received a reference from that meeting which advised of discussions on anti-social behaviour in the bus station.

RESOLVED:  That this issue, which had been incorporated in the action learning event for Members held on 6 February 2007, be noted.

Report of the Director of People, Policy and Performance.

An officer introduced a report of the Director of People, Policy and Performance, which outlined the Member Development Programme for 2007. 

Following the action learning event “Help to reduce your fear of crime” held on 6 February 2007, the officer was looking to develop two further events for this year, and tabled a newsletter on the event held on 6 February 2007.  The purpose of the events was to develop Members’ skills in an interactive way, and ideas were sought from the Panel as how to achieve this.

The Panel discussed the topic for the next action learning event and suggested that training activity on identifying trends in data and Management Information Systems ought to be included.  The officer indicated that the events would challenge Members and advised that the set-up would be similar to the event held on 6 February 2007.  The Panel asked the officer to invite engaging and challenging guest speakers to each event, who had expertise in the area being discussed.

A Member expressed concern that Cabinet Member training should be a high priority and mandatory, and suggested that training ought to be provided prior to official appointments.  The Chairman suggested that the Chairman of Cabinet could identify Portfolio Holders’ needs and notify the Learning and Development Team.  Responding, the officer reported that the Harrow Leadership and Management Programme would provide leadership development for Members of the Cabinet.  It was suggested that this programme should also cover succession planning for future Cabinet Members.

A Member stated that at present there was no training provided on finance in the mandatory Member training.  The officer explained that a finance training session had taken place this year, but that it could as a contingency measure be part of the mandatory training package.  Members suggested organising a separate mandatory finance training for all Members in June and an action learning event covering finance in November 2007.  It was emphasised that the event ought to be made inviting in order to attract Members.

The officer tabled an evaluation report of learning events from the previous year.  The Panel inquired if an evaluation had taken place following the event held on 6 February 2007.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Panel would not take place until September and it was queried whether an extra meeting was needed before summer to discuss the workplan and its timetable.  The Panel agreed that it would be difficult to schedule a meeting and it would be better to liaise informally.

RESOLVED:  That (1) an interim mandatory finance training session be held in June 2007;

(2)  an action learning event covering performance and improvement be arranged in May/June 2007;

(3)  an event on finance be arranged for November 2007 for all Members of Council;

(4)  an evaluation form be distributed to attendees of the action learning event held on 6 February 2007 and results of which would be reported back to the Panel.