Agenda and minutes

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

At this point in the meeting, Members were asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on the agenda. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 16^th April 2012.

RESOLVED:                That the minutes of the Steering Group meeting held on 16^th April 2012 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this pointing the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Committees remit can do so. The deadline for registering is 5:00pm on Wednesday 18^th July 2012.

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

This report sets out the revised remit for the Steering Group, as agreed by Council on 12 July, in relation to its advisory role on the wider Member support function.

Members considered a report which set out the revised remit for the Steering Group, as agreed by Council on 12 July 2012, in relation to its advisory role on the wider Member support function.

Officers outlined the report and asked Members to consider the revised remit alongside the Steering Group’s work plan and asked them to identify any areas that they may wish to consider in more detail. Officers reminded Members that work is ongoing on the new Zone 47 and a further report on this was expected later in the year.

Some members queried whether it would be appropriate for the Steering Group to consider the findings of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) prior to the report going to a full Council meeting. Officers advised that Group Leaders would need to be consulted to establish whether they agree with this course of action.

Members suggested that it would be useful to have a discussion item included on a future agenda to consider the barriers and difficulties faced by Councillors in carrying out their role.

RESOLVED:       That Members noted the new remit and area of operation of the Steering Group and identified the additional areas of focus as outlined above.

REASON:           To enable closer cross party working with Members on all aspects related to supporting Members.

This report sets out further information for the Steering Group to consider as part of their review of Personal Development Reviews.

Members considered a report which provided further information for the Steering Group to consider as part of their review of the Personal Development Reviews (PDR’s).

Officers outlined the report and advised that a review of the Personal Development Review process had been carried out at the request of the Steering Group. Currently the PDR process is carried out by an external provider and some Members are not satisfied with the current system.

The steering group were provided with the following options:

·        Keep the present PDR system.

·        Use another provider

·        Provide the service in-house

·        360 reviews.

Members commented that many work places utilise online systems and suggested that they would like to take up the offer of a free trial of the 360 online self assessments.

Officers advised that they would look into the system recommended by Local Government Yorkshire and Humber. It was suggested that the Steering Group has a suitable range of Councillors with varying experience who could take up the 3 trial places.

RESOLVED:                That Members requested that the free trial offered by the providers of  360° be undertaken.¹

REASON:                     In order to identify a suitable PDR process

This report informs Members of the take-up and evaluation from the municipal year 2011/12.

Members considered a report which informed them of the take-up and evaluation in respect of development activities offered to Members.

Officers outlined the report, in particular that there is still the issue of Members not reporting their attendance on external courses or their involvement in activities which could count towards their target of 12 qualifying sessions during the municipal year.

Officers confirmed that any activity which results in a Member learning something new may count towards their training total, but it would need to be relevant to their role as a councillor.

RESOLVED:                That Members noted the report and asked for paper copy evaluation forms to be continued.

REASON:                     To keep the steering group up to date with take up and feedback.

Members are asked to consider the Work Plan for the Member Support Steering Group.

Members considered the work plan for the Steering Group to March 2013.

Members noted the following changes and amendments following discussions throughout the meeting:

·        September 2012 meeting – the report on Zone 47 would now be brought to the January meeting as work is still ongoing on Zone 47.

·        A discussion item on the barriers faced by Councillors in carrying out their role would be added to the September meeting.

·        The item scheduled for the September meeting on the results of the six monthly surveys of training courses would be carried out as a focus group.

RESOLVED:                That the work plan and amendments detailed above be noted.¹

REASON:                     In order to provide the Steering Group with a work programme for future meetings.