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.

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 5 October 2011 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 October 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.

The Panel received a report of the Divisional Director Human Resources, Development and Shared Services, which provided an update on the Member Development Programme of events that had taken place since the local election in May 2010 and on the progress of the Member Development Programme in 2011/12.

The Divisional Director tabled a revised timetable of outstanding training so that Members had up-to-date data in consideration of the report.  Following comments and questions from Members of the Panel, the Divisional Director advised that:

·                     officers would explore the possibility of Harrow MENCAP being invited to provide further training for Members in the area of mental health awareness following assessment of the evaluation forms from the MIND training session;

·                     the Emergency Planning training scheduled for 8 December would include the Stanley Road HSE report;

·                     the Office for Public Management had been invited to provide training at three sessions in early 2012;

·                     the Head of Legal Practice would be discussing the Localism Act at the February 2012 Members Quarterly Briefing.  Further details about the content of this presentation would be circulated to Panel Members for comment;

·                     the topic for the April 2012 training session was yet to be confirmed and the Divisional Director requested Members of the Panel to feedback any suggestions for possible topics.  He added that alternatively, this slot may be used for IT training.

An officer from Procurement advised Members about the Procurement briefing scheduled for February 2012.  He stated that:

·                     over the past year, the Council had identified savings in the area of procurement, specifically within the supply chain;

·                     training was offered to officers to enhance their knowledge and understanding of this area and Members may also benefit from similar training;

·                     the training would cover the supply market and internal commercial management.

The Divisional Director added that just over a third of Members had completed the online IT training needs analysis.  The analysis had indicated that most Members’ training needs were at an intermediate level and that a number of Members had indicated that they required coaching in specific areas such as PowerPoint.  The Divisional Director advised that:

·                     some of the training may be offered in the form of e-learning modules;

·                     officers were looking for a suitable provider and would agree a training timetable shortly;

·                     30-minute coaching sessions, for those Members who had requested them would be offerred either at the beginning or end of the main training sessions;

·                     currently Capita staff were only available to provide IT advice and support by telephone during normal office hours and this would be clarified to Members.

The Divisional Director further advised that:

·                     the take up of e-learning via the relaunched Modern Councillor site continued to be low, despite a number of remedial measures taken by officers to encourage Members to engage with this;

·                     he undertook to invite a representative from Learning Pool to attend the February meeting of the Panel with a view to seeking further information about Members’ engagement with e-learning at other local authorities and how Members interest in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

Wednesday 1 February 2012.

Wednesday, 1 February 2012 in Committee Room 5.