The Standards Committee of Trafford Council met on Thursday 27 June 2024 to discuss the Ombudsman Complaints Report for 2022/23 and the induction training for councillors. The committee noted the contents of both reports and discussed several suggestions for future improvements.

Ombudsman Complaints Report 2022/23

The Chair introduced the Ombudsman Complaints Report 2022/23 in the absence of the Monitoring Officer. The report highlighted areas for improvement in handling complaints. Councillor S.J. Gilbert inquired about the circumstances under which the council paid out for waste collections. The Head of Resources and Waste clarified via email that payments were made due to repeated failures to collect bins on scheduled days.

Mr. R. Brown suggested including aggregated payouts from complaints in future reports. The Governance Manager confirmed this could be done. Councillor P. Eckersley asked for clarification on nominal payments, which the Governance Manager agreed to include in future reports.

Induction Training for Councillors

Victoria Talbot, the Organisational Development and Learning Officer, presented the report on induction training for councillors. The report covered member development opportunities and training for incoming councillors. Key topics included e-learning statistics, enhanced training in planning and licensing, and the future migration to 360 and SharePoint for information sharing.

The induction plans for newly elected councillors included a blended approach involving Northwest Employers and the Local Government Association (LGA), a welcome meeting with the Chief Executive, and inductions with each of the council’s directorships, One Trafford, and L&Q Housing Association. The officer also mentioned the creation of a one-stop shop on the intranet for councillors.

The Chair praised the improved opportunities and inquired about the buddying system for new councillors. Talbot explained that the system worked well within parties, with a document drafted by the steering group and shared with party leaders.

Mr. R. Brown expressed concern over the low completion rate (16%) of safeguarding children training among councillors. Talbot noted that many councillors completed this training in other roles, such as school governors, and encouraged them to report this. Councillor W. Frass suggested using councillor appointments to outside bodies to chase up training completion and proposed looking at all-time data for councillors. Talbot agreed to consider this.

Councillor H.K. Spencer suggested that training reminders highlight the knowledge and information gained. Talbot agreed and mentioned providing monthly updates to party leads or committee chairs on training completion.

The committee resolved to note the report and for the Organisational Development and Learning Officer to consider members' suggestions for training and induction improvements.