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.

A minute’s silence was observed for former Harrow Mayor and Councillor Keeki Thammaiah, who had recently passed away.

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.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 February 2011 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 February 2011 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 received at this meeting.

Report of the Divisional Director Human Resources and Development.

An officer introduced the report of the Divisional Director Human Resources and Development, providing an update on the Member Development Programme of events that had taken place since February 2011 and highlighted Members feedback about these training sessions.  The main points made were as follows:

·                    to date, 16 out of 20 Members on the Pool of Members to hear personnel appeals had attended the mandatory training sessions;

·                    that future reports on the Member Development Programme of events give details of how many Members had attended previous training sessions on the same topic, including a running total of all training sessions with attendance figures since May 2010, all of which be provided at the Panel meeting on 2 November 2011;

·                    the February Quarterly Briefing, which had covered the work of the Registration Service and provisions in the Decentralisation and Localism Bill had been well attended and received positive feedback from Members;

·                    some Members had requested that Safeguarding of adults and children training be offered twice yearly.  Panel Members agreed that these could be covered at the Quarterly Briefings;

·                    some Members had felt that the Overview and Scrutiny:  Community Engagement training had been too big a topic to be covered in a single training session and requested further training on this topic;

·                    a Member stated that Community Engagement was an integral part of the Council’s corporate priorities and was particularly relevant for their  responsibilities as Ward Councillors;

·                    another Member stated that in the future, Overview and Scrutiny training should be taken forward under the banner of Member Development training, as opposed to Overview and Scrutiny training, by integrating Scrutiny training into the Member Development programme.  He also emphasised the importance of not duplicating training and avoiding meetings and events clashing with the Member Development Programme;

·                    it was proposed that the 28 April 2011 training date be cancelled because it fell between two sets of bank holidays and it was anticipated that a number of officers and Councillors would be on leave during that period;

·                    the training session on 25 May 2011 would cover the use of blogging and social network sites.  A Member requested that the training session be interactive and cover the “Dos and Don’ts” including legal issues.  The Member also suggested drawing up a voluntary code of conduct related to this topic as this would ensure that the reputation of both the Council and Members would be protected.  He also suggested drawing on the expertise of partners such as London Councils.  An officer stated that a contact at jobsgopublic may be able provide a trainer and offer a free training session on this topic;

·                    in response to a question from a Member, the Chairman stated that blogging and social network sites were increasingly popular with Members and that the Greenhill Ward Councillors had a joint facebook page which enabled them to disseminate information to residents more quickly;

·                    to date, only 8 Members had completed the Political Skills Framework Online Self-Assessment modules. A reminder had been sent to all Members on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

The next meeting of the Panel would take place at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 14 September 2011.