For Members to consider:

·         Member Development Programme (to follow)

·         Online training

·         Priorities for year ahead

The Chairman, Cllr. Adrian Clifford welcomed Members to the meeting and invited the Senior Democratic Services and Scrutiny Officer (SDSSO) to provide an update to Members. The update included:

Member Development Programme:

·         Planning Masterclasses, dates of which would be circulated to Members once confirmed with Planning Officers.

·         An upcoming training session on treasury management, which may be held in the late autumn/winter.

·         Chairing Skills – costs involved in hosting this session were quite high, with training providers limiting the number that can attend. Members discussed various options and types of providers that Officers had sought, including utilising experienced Members to provide the training. The SDSSO added that new legislation may be introduced that may allow hybrid meetings, and Members would require a wide range of advanced chairing skills to run these meetings. Cllr Luke Cousin offered a training provider that had been used by NALC. It was agreed to use an external provider for this training session to ensure that Members had the appropriate skills.  Members requested to view the training needs assessment from the Councillor Development Reviews at the next meeting to consider training and development opportunities identified.

·         Cllr. Ande Savage requested that Artificial Intelligence (AI) be added to the Member Development Programme, he spoke of how AI has seen an increase in it’s use in both the workplace and personal use. What could AI offer the Council and Members, what systems have benefited from AI. Members raised that they should be informed of the pitfalls of AI, e.g. not inputting sensitive information into apps and being aware of AI generated videos and scams. The SDSSO responded that an update would be provided at the next meeting.

Online training:

·         Skillgate, the Council’s new online training provider will be launched to Members soon. Members will be required to complete the Sexual Harassment Awareness and Cyber Security modules. Other courses that officers have completed are:

o   Fraud Awareness

o   The Importance of Environmental Sustainability

o   Carbon Literacy.

Priorities for year ahead:

The SDSSO sought feedback from Members on their learning and development priorities. The Member Development Strategy requires that a second Councillor Development Review will be completed in year 3 (2026/27) to identify skills and development needs for succession planning and preparation for induction and mentoring of new Members. Members discussed the impact of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and training/development opportunities to prepare Members for the transition. For induction, Members considered the importance of being prepared for any administration changes. Suggestions included induction programmes for new Members pitched at the correct level, preparing Officers and Members on the Member/Officer Protocol, sharing the LGA’s ‘Be a Councillor’ guide with agents and prospective candidates so they’re fully aware of what the role involves, building relations with the groups, providing information about practical things e.g. pay, parking provision, hours, times of meetings.

Members also added:

·         Digitising the induction programme and providing a library of training.

·         Creating prospective councillor videos – with explanations of what the role involves, including the role of the Monitoring Officer, decisions that Members can take, resources available and funding.

·         That the Steering Group take stock of and review training provided previously.

·         LGR will make it simpler to advise prospective candidates on their role, as it will be a single tier authority.

·         Cllr Luke Cousin added that the Chief Executive had shared a useful infographic on the various roles of County, District and Parish – which he would share with the SDSSO to circulate.