The Democratic Services Manager presented a report which provide the Committee with an update on the delivery of the Council’s Member Training and Development Programme and related activity.

He explained that the Committee had the following functions with support from the Head of Democratic Services as necessary:

1. Review the adequacy of provision by the Authority of staff, accommodation and other resources to discharge Democratic Services functions,
2. Make reports and recommendations to the authority in relation to such provision.

The Democratic Services Manager provided Members with the training and development sessions that had been given since 30 April 2018 until 2 May 2019. He also explained to Members the Pre Council Briefing ad Development Control Committee Training Sessions that had been provided since the last Democratic Services Committee held on 14 March 2019.

The Democratic Services Manager explained of a further planed training session on Chairing Skills session.  The Committee considered that this would be a worthwhile topic. 

The Democratic Services Manager asked Members to provide any training sessions that they believed would be beneficial to them.

A Member asked if training could be provided on the Welfare and Benefits Systems. This would provide all Members with more insight to be able to direct their constituents to the right places. He asked if it were possible for it to be an E-Learning Module which could give a brief overview of the basics.

The Democratic Services Manager explained that this was something that could be provided as a Member Development session or as a Pre-Council Briefing.  

A Member asked if clear information could be given during this training on what a Councillor can or cannot do/say. The training should be more about signposting their constituents rather than giving advice to them.

A Member asked if training could be provided on having difficult conversations with the public so that they could be better equipped to deal with aggressive situations and sensitive situations etc.  The Democratic Services Manager explained that this could be provided, as there was already training available to Officers for this. He explained that he would contact HR and see if this training could be tailored to Members.

The Democratic Services Manager said that in addition to this he would be happy to provide a report to the next committee on Lone Working which could go hand in hand with this topic. 

A Member asked if further instructions or training could be provided on how to Log on and use the E-Learning system as many Members were experiencing difficulty in accessing the E-Learning modules.   The Democratic Services Manager stated that he would email all Members encouraging them to complete the E-learning modules and could provide members with the necessary log on information.  

A Member asked if training could be provided on the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) as many Members were in receipt of it but did not know many of the details. The Democratic Services Manager said that he would see if training could be put on for all Members.

RESOLVED: That the Democratic Services Committee:

(1)   noted the contents of the report,

Identified further topics for Member Development on the Welfare and Benefits System; Dealing with Difficult Conversations and Chairing Skills with details on this to be provided at a later date.