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 the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Member:-

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.

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

That the minutes of the meeting held on 2 July 2008 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 2 July 2008 be deferred until printed in the next Council Bound Minute Volume.

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

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put, or petitions or deputations received at this meeting under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rules 19, 16 and 17 respectively.

Report of the Divisional Director of Human Resources and Development

The Panel received a report of the Divisional Director of Human Resources and Development, which reviewed the progress of the 2008 Member Development Programme and set out plans for the implementation of a full programme for 2008/2009, in line with the Council’s Improvement Programme.

Forthcoming Training

The Learning and Development Service Manager reported that, due to the holiday period, only one training session had been run for Members.  The training session had provided Members with a refresher on the main principles of the Licensing Act 2005, relevant legislation and practice.  The officer reported that the training had been well received.

A Member commented that another councillor had been given specialist training on chairing scrutiny committees.  The Chairman informed the Panel that this training was available to all members of Scrutiny, although it was not necessarily offered automatically.  The Learning and Development Service Manager commented that, due to the positive feedback received in regards to the Chairing Scrutiny course, a further one day course organised by INLOGOV had been arranged and would take place on 23 July 2009. 

The Learning and Development Service Manager detailed the mandatory training available for Members.  In particular, he reported that:

·                     the external session ‘Dealing with Casework Effectively’ had been made available at a reduced cost to the Council and would provide training for up to 12 Members;

·                     the ‘Time Management’ session had been made available following the Roffey Park Coaching Feedback and aimed to help Members identify ways of balancing conflicting priorities;

·                     the quarterly briefing scheduled for 24 September 2008 would give further consideration to Local Area Agreements (LAA).  This would not be a repeat of previous training, but would provide new updates and information.

The Learning and Development Service Manager reported that the content of the quarterly briefing scheduled for 10 December 2008 had not yet been finalised but that a session led by the Harrow Association of Voluntary Service (HAVS) was being considered.  The Divisional Director of Human Resources and Development commented that they were keen to involve HAVS when there was space available.  The Chairman noted that HAVS were to be represented at an earlier quarterly briefing and stated that the Council should try and reduce repetition by focusing on different key areas.  A Member suggested that Local Government Finance Training might be more beneficial.  He noted that, though a session was scheduled for 23 February 2009, it would be useful to have it earlier as the process of deciding the annual budget for the municipal year 2009/2010 was commencing in January.  The Chairman and other Members agreed that this training should be brought forward.

Modern Councillors e-Learning Programme

The Learning and Development Service Manager explained that the Modern Councillor e?Learning Programme was being introduced to allow Members to study at their own convenience, dip in and out of courses as required and revisit courses to refresh themselves, as necessary.  He reported that a taster session on the Modern Councillor e?Learning package had been scheduled for 3 November 2008 to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84.

Report of the Divisional Director of Human Resources and Development

The Panel received a report of the Divisional Director of Human Resources and Development detailing the principles of the Member Development Charter, a framework designed to help councils develop and support their elected Members.  The Learning and Development Service Manager explained that the attached self-assessment template was designed to help the Council meet the charter’s principles and that its compliance would eventually be assessed externally by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA).  The officer commented that, due to their unique role, Councillors were not covered by the Investors in People framework and, as such, the Member Development Charter was an important addition.

The Learning and Development Service Manager explained that the self-assessment template acted as a checklist and was concerned with the following five key areas:

·                     commitment to member development

·                     strategic approach to member development

·                     Member learning and development plan in place

·                     learning and development that is effective in building capacity

·                     elected Member Development promotes work life balance and citizenship

The officer stated that the Council was currently complying with most aspects of the charter, but that it needed to focus on formalising and documenting certain processes to ensure that they could provide the IDeA with evidence.

Speaking in relation to section 4.3 of the template that stated that the Council should evaluate the benefits and impacts of training, the Chairman suggested that the learning log included in the Member Development Brochure be used to monitor this.  A Member commented that Members should also use the learning log to identify areas where they felt they were not progressing.  The Chairman and other Members agreed that this would help identify gaps in training.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.