Agenda item

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk reviewing the Member Development offerings from the last quarter in terms of feedback and attendance figures. It also sought endorsement for sessions planned for the next quarter and provided a forward-look at the quarter beyond this. It was hoped that always looking two quarters ahead would help to effectively address recent criticism as to lack of notice around training offerings. It was reported that the Member Portal appeared to be a successful tool to date, however, it was noted that viewing figures of training recordings were not as high as hoped to date. Finally, it was highlighted that this report sought endorsement of the process by which individual Members could submit requests for external training.

The Chair commented that the more recent training events had been advertised in good time with regular reminders also sent to all. Despite this, attendance had still been disappointing. Different timings and formats had also been explored this quarter with little impact upon overall take up. Going forward, it was felt that consideration could therefore be given to mandating certain training around Chairmanship and Safeguarding for example.

A Member commented favourably on the training sessions they had attended to date but queried whether sessions that were shorter – 90 minutes as opposed to two hours - might appear more attractive. In terms of feedback, they added that the current Microsoft Form format used was often difficult to access on certain devices.  They therefore queried whether a training session on Microsoft Tools and other relevant IT skills might be of use to all in the next quarter.

Another Member suggested that Outlook calendar invites be sent to all Members for forthcoming sessions with all encouraged to either accept or decline in order to give those facilitating the sessions a good idea of attendance numbers. It was felt that this should be sent to all in the first instance with Members given the option to opt out in order to try and foster a culture of learning and training across the board.

In terms of the Member Portal and viewing the recordings of recent training sessions, a Member commented that these should be placed more centrally on the site for ease of access. He stated that it would be worth reviewing the page layout and web design as a whole going forward. He commented that it appeared to be relatively text heavy at present. Another Member commented that those viewing recordings of training sessions could also be asked to submit feedback on the offering and queried whether there was a means by which such feedback forms could be sent automatically once a recording had been viewed. In response to further questions, the Town Clerk clarified that whilst the Portal was able to provide viewing figures for each recording it was not possible to discern which individual Members had viewed these. Records of attendees at sessions (both in-person and virtually) were held centrally.

In terms of external training, the Chair commented that this tended to be expensive and that, generally, if a session were to be of maximum benefit, it would be preferable to offer it to more than one member. The Sub-Committee stated that each application should be considered on its merit with funds fairly apportioned but that the default position should be to offer training in-house insofar as possible. A Member commented that it was useful to have external training for certain areas that were statutorily mandated such as Licensing but that this tended to be offered to the full Committee as opposed to individual Members. Another Member commented that external training could also be beneficial in terms of viewing the organisation in a wider local authority/local government context which may go some way to addressing certain behavioural issues and avoid Members from becoming too insular. In this vein, A Member commented that there were various bodies such as the LGA offered training and development opportunities to elected members free of charge. The Chair suggested that all Members be invited to feed in any knowledge of such free courses to the Town Clerk so that these could be shared amongst the Court. It was noted that these were useful in terms of networking as well as learning.

RESOLVED: - That the Sub-Committee:

·       note the report and feedback as to Quarter 3 (September to December 2023) offerings, delivery and attendance;

·       agree to cancel future sessions with fewer than eight registrants a week ahead of the scheduled offering;

·       approve the content and direction proposed in respect of future offerings outlined for Quarter 4 (January to March 2024) and the potential offerings for Quarter 1 (April to June 2024); and

·       approve the process by which Members are able to apply to attend non-City learning events