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 Members:-

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.

To appoint a Vice-Chairman of the Member Development Panel for the Municipal Year 2010/11.

Nominations for a Vice-Chairman were received, seconded and voted upon.

RESOLVED:  Councillor David Perry be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Member Development Panel for the 2010/11 Municipal Year.

[Note: Following consideration of this item, Councillor Jean Lammiman and Councillor Paul Osborn left the room at 7.40 pm for the duration of this meeting.]

That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 April 2010 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 April 2010 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Executive Procedure Rule 51 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put or petitions or deputations were received at this meeting.

Report of the Divisional Director Human Resources and Development.

The Divisional Director of Human Resources and Development introduced a report that provided an update on the Member Induction Programme events that had taken place since 10 May 2010, and on developments within the Member Development Programme.

He advised that:

·                    attendance levels for training events that had taken place since May 2010 averaged at approximately 30%;

·                    a number of initiatives and events funded by the Capital Ambition Member Development Programme had been developed, and were being provided free of charge.  Members were encouraged to attend these events and register their interest through the Member Development Co-ordinator;

·                    the Learning Pool ‘Modern Councillor’ e-learning site was being further developed.  Members of the Panel were invited to be interviewed by  Learning Pool on 21 September 2010, to aid with the development;

·                    an online assessment tool that would enable Members to produce an individual Personal Development Plan (PDP) was being developed in partnership with Brent Council.  The tool was based on the IDeA Political Skills Framework and linked with the Learning Pool Modern Councillor e-learning site.

A draft certificate designed with the purpose of providing evidence of the training Councillors had undertaken was circulated at the meeting.  Members of the Panel were satisfied with the draft provided.

In response to questions by Members, the Divisional Director advised that:

·                    clashes between training events and Council meetings often occurred when Member level meetings were rescheduled;

·                    mandatory training provided for some meetings, such as Licensing Panel would be provided for the pool of Membership agreed at Full Council;

·                    opportunities for IT training provided by the Harrow Information Technology Services (HITS) would be fully utilised;

·                    for future Induction Programmes, the management of constituent casework training would take place earlier in the schedule;

·                    records of Media Relations training for Cabinet Members would be updated to reflect that all Members of the Executive received training;

·                    a reminder would be sent to all Members to complete and return Induction Evaluations.

RESOLVED:  That the update be noted.  A summary of the feedback received would be included in a report to the next meeting of the Panel.