Venue: The Anglia Room, Conference Suite, Elizabeth House, Dereham
Contact: Committee Services Tel: 01362 656870
Note: This replaces the meeting postponed from 12/6/08
No. | Item |
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To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 8 May 2008. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 8 May 2008 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. |
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Apologies To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Mr. C.R. Jordan, Mr. S.G. Bambridge, Mr. M.J. Griffin and Mrs. P. Quadling. |
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Member Development and Training - Policy and Strategy (Agenda Item 6) Report of the Executive Member (Governance).
The appendix “Member Development and Training Strategy” document is to follow. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Member Development Team Leader presented the report which sought Members’ views on the new Member Development and Training Policy and the revisions to the Member Development and Training Strategy, previously agreed by the Council in March 2007.
The Council had established a cross-party Member Development Panel in September 2008 to progress work on achieving the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) Charter on Elected Member Development and Training and had signed up to the principles of achieving the Charter by March 2009. The adoption of the revised Strategy and the new Policy formed an essential part of this process.
The objectives of the Charter were to:
The main role of the Member Development Panel was to:
Members were advised that the Council was due to be assessed for Charter status on 4 November 2008. The inspection would be made over one day and would be carried out by three Inspectors appointed by South East Employers, who would undertake a series of interviews with officers and Members, including the Leader of the Council, representatives of the opposition Groups, the Member Development Panel, and five to eight other Members of the Council, politically balanced and representing a cross-section of Members by experience, as well as the Chief Executive, Member Services Manager and Member Development Team Leader.
The existing Strategy had been updated and enhanced in line with best practice. The Policy had been formulated in line with the EERA framework and adapted to fit the Council’s needs and was aimed at the provision of development and training for Members, which would be tailored to meet their individual needs and aspirations.
In answer to questions, the following points were noted:
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Member Training - Personal Development Plans (Agenda Item 7) Report of the Assistant Director (Governance). Minutes: The Member Development Team Leader presented the report, which advised Members of the results of the recent survey on Member Development and the next steps to be taken towards the production of individual development plans and the structuring of the training programme to reflect the needs identified.
To date, 47 out of the 54 Members had returned their Questionnaires, which represented an 87% return.
The general findings of the survey only were given in the report and it was stressed that the individual results would be kept strictly confidential and that they were not eligible for any public or internal scrutiny or Freedom of Information requests etc.
The development plans would be formulated with Members individually according to their stated needs and the training programme structured accordingly to take account of providers, method of provision (e.g. in-house, external, jointly, courses, seminars, timing, etc.) over what period and in light of budget.
The report highlighted those main areas where full training was required and those where some training was needed. In addition to those, there had been subsequent requests for training in the following areas:
Members of the Panel suggested it would be beneficial for the programme to include also the Local Development Framework and that pictorial or graphical illustrations should be included as a useful aid to Members.
The report had also been considered by the Member Development Programme at its meeting on 19 June 2008, when it was agreed to:
(1)
Recognise the key areas of corporate training and development need
identified and produce or modify training programmes as
appropriate.
(2)
Use evidence from the survey analysis and take account of the
personalised part of the questionnaire returns and corporate
training needs to produce personal development plans.
(3)
Personal development plans being subject to timings to meet
development needs and kept under review. (4) The officers recommending how best to provide the training, according to priorities identified individually and corporately, looking at different providers and methods of provision, over what period and in the light of available budget.
RESOLVED that this Panel notes the report and supports the proposals as agreed by the Member Development Panel for the production of individual development plans and the structuring of the training programme to reflect the needs identified. |
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Report of the Assistant Director (Governance). Additional documents: Minutes: The report was presented by the Member Development Team Leader, who outlined the additional progress made to the action plan since the last review in February 2008 of the Council’s All Members Matter Programme.
During consideration of several of the aims in the action plan, the following points were made:
RESOLVED that the Panel notes the additional progress made on the Action Plan and the points raised above be taken into account. |
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Work Programme (Agenda Item 9) To consider the work programme. Minutes: The Member Development Officer presented the updated work programme, which included two new items as follows:
The Panel agreed to suggestions to include the following items in the forward programme for consideration:
RESOLVED that the additional items outlined above be incorporated into the work programme for future consideration. |
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Date of Next Meeting To note that the next meeting will be held on Thursday, 24th July 2008, at 10.00 a.m. in the Norfolk Room, Elizabeth House, Walpole Loke, Dereham. Minutes: The arrangements for the next meeting on 24 July 2008 were noted. |