Agenda and minutes

At this point, Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2009.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of the Member Development Steering Group held on 23 June 2009 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or a matter within the Group’s remit can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00 pm on Tuesday 13 October 2009.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report advises Members about the forthcoming events for Local Democracy Week.

Members considered a report which informed them of the upcoming event ‘A Councillor? Who, Me?’ which is one of three initiatives being run in conjunction with the ‘National Democracy Week’ theme. The report advises members how these initiatives actively contribute to one of the themes required to achieve iDEA Member Charter Status, that being actively encouraging citizenship.

At the last Member Development Steering Group, members supported the proposal to hold a seminar event to encourage members of the community to become involved in local democracy. A course facilitator has been organised to deliver the event which will be aimed at encouraging residents from all walks of life who may be interested in becoming a councillor in the future to learn more about the role and its remit.

Officers updated that there had been a good response to the event following an advertising campaign using bus advertising and posters and leaflets which had been undertaken by the marketing department.

Members expressed some concern regarding the wording contained in the marketing materials as it appeared to encourage independent candidates. They queried whether the content of the seminar will address the potential difficulties surrounding standing as an independent candidate, along with the fact that many people may be disqualified from standing from election for various reasons. Officers advised that the course facilitator would cover these aspects.

RESOLVED:             That the Member Development Steering Group noted the contents of the report.

REASON:                  To keep members informed on events for local democracy week.

This report sets out the first draft of the proposed Member Training and Development Policy for 2009/10.

Members considered a report which introduced the first draft of the proposed Member Training and Development Policy for 2009/10.

The following recommendations and comments were agreed (by reference to the page numbers in the Draft Member Training and Development Policy 2009/10).

• Page 1 – Officers to re-visit the style of language to ensure plain English.
• Page 2 – first bullet point to be amended to read ‘Carrying out their existing roles efficiently, including effective community leadership’.
• Page 3 – first paragraph, the word ‘leader of their community’ be changed to ‘community leader’.

-Add to the list of appointments -  Councillors represent communities and have involvement in policy development and decision making.

-Review the wording under the heading ‘The Aims’.

-The key principles be amended to state ‘We will..’ where appropriate.

·        Page 5 – Member to Member Support section to be revised. Officers to look at splitting the first sentence to make it clearer.

-In the section ‘Officer Support’, at bullet point 3 revise the use of ‘one2one’ and at bullet point 7 add the words ‘in consultation with the Member Development Steering Group’.

·        Page 7 – Under ‘Induction’, Officers to revise the order of the bullet points.

·        Page 8 – Under ‘Our Approach to Communication and Raising Awareness’, the first bullet point be amended to state ‘The Steering Group (MDSG) creating a supportive environment..’ and the second bullet point be amended to state ‘ The role of the Council’s Management Team will reinforce’.

·        Page 9 – first paragraph under the heading ‘Our Approach to Monitoring and Evaluation’ to read ‘To be of real benefit, effective training has to try to match..’

-Fifth bullet point be amended to read ‘ensure Members achievements are recognised and acknowledged’.

RESOLVED:(i) That the draft policy be endorsed subject to the changes agreed above.

                                    (ii)     That the policy be referred to the Standards          Committee with a request that they recommend it            to Council for approval.

REASON:                  To support the requirements of the Charter in having a clear framework for providing effective development for York’s elected Members.