The Democratic Services Manager presented a report which updated the Democratic Services Committee on the delivery of the Council’s Member Training and Development Programme and related activities. He requested  the Committee to identify topics for inclusion on the Member Development Programme and Pre Council Briefings.

The Democratic Services Manager explained the member development training, Development Control Committee Training and Pre Council Briefing Sessions that had been provided since 6^th June 2019 which were listed at 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 of the report.

He provided the future schedule of Pre Council Briefing Sessions to date, these included:

•           23 October 2019: Strategic Development Plan

•           20 November 2019: Local Area Energy Strategy and Smart Energy Plan

•           18 December 2019: New Curriculum Changes 

•           11 March 2020: Education Outcomes

•           Welfare & Benefits System – TBC

He advised that January/February had been intentionally left free as this was the time of the year that the budget was considered. He explained that there had been some ambiguity with the schedule of this so had not planned any briefing sessions for the time being.

The Democratic Services Managed outlined the scheduled Development Control Committee Training Sessions which were detailed at section 4.5 of the report.

He also outlined the future proposed Member Training sessions which included:

• 31 October 2019 – Managing Abusive and Aggressive Telephone Calls, Conflict Management & Personal Safety Awareness
• Using Bridgemaps
• Scrutiny Questioning Skills – TBC
• Scrutiny Charing Skills – TBC

The Democratic Services Manager advised that the scheduled training for the 31^st October would be delivered twice for that day, with one session being delivered in the morning and a repeat session in the afternoon. This was to ensure that Members who may have struggled to make a morning session could attend an afternoon session, and vice-versa.

The Democratic Services Manager informed the committee of the E-Learning service that had been made available to them via the Learning Pool. He advised that work had been undertaken through the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) Heads of Democratic Services / Member Support Officer Network to develop national E-learning modules to be available on the All Wales Academy.  Further details were provided at section 4.7 of the report.

A Member asked for clarification regarding the proposed Welfare & Benefits System training on the content of this training and what Councillors would be expected to do as a result of it.  The Democratic Services Manager explained that the training would be purely for knowledge to be able to signpost a constituent in the right direction. He stressed that Councillors would not be expected to give advice on benefits but should have greater knowledge in the services available so that constituents could be advised on where to seek further information.

The Democratic Services Manager explained that he had been in contact with the Benefits and Financial Assessments Manager who agreed that a fact sheet and list of agencies would be beneficial and could be provided at a later date.

RSOLVED: That the Democratic Services Committee:

1. Noted the contents of the report
2. Agreed to wait for recommendations from Development Control Committee on further Pre Council Briefings and Member Development Training Sessions
3. That members identify any additional topics for pre-Council briefings to the Head of Democratic Services;
4. That members identify any additional Member Development topics for inclusion in the Member Development Programme to the Head of Democratic Services;
5. That members identify any additional e-learning topics for inclusion in the Member Development Programme to the Head of Democratic Services;

That the proposed pre-Council Briefing on the Welfare & Benefits System be instead taken forward with Members receiving a factsheet on the types of benefit that are available.