The Democratic Services Committee met on Monday 18 March 2024 and approved a Councillor Development Strategy. The committee also approved the minutes from their previous meeting.

Councillor Development Strategy

The committee approved the draft Councillor Development Strategy, which aims to equip councillors with a wide range of skills and knowledge to fulfil their roles effectively. The strategy also seeks to encourage councillors in their own development and ensure political groups are committed to the councillor training programme.

Huw Evans, Head of Democratic Services, presented the strategy, explaining that it complements the existing Councillors Training Programme. He highlighted that the strategy aims to support councillors in their demanding and varied roles, acknowledging that development needs can change during a councillor's term of office. The strategy outlines different types of development, including core knowledge and skills, corporate development, service-specific issues, and specific committee issues.

During the discussion, Councillor Joe Hale raised the importance of including overarching principles such as honesty, integrity, and confidentiality, and the public sector duty of candour. Huw Evans confirmed that honesty and transparency are covered by the Code of Conduct, and that Code of Conduct training is provided. He agreed to look into the public duty of candour further.

Councillor Peter May raised a practical issue regarding the tracking of councillor training, suggesting a pro-forma or matrix to make it easier for group leaders to report on their members' training to the Standards Committee. Huw Evans explained that councillor training is recorded on the Oracle system and published on the council website, but acknowledged the difficulty of tracking training by group. He stated he was working on improving this accessibility.

Several councillors, including Councillor Mair Baker and Councillor Joe Hale, raised concerns about difficulties encountered with the Oracle system for completing mandatory training, particularly safeguarding training. Huw Evans acknowledged these issues, stating that they had been fed back to the Oracle team and that efforts were being made to improve the system and guidance. He assured the committee that the council understood the frustration and was committed to making the training process as seamless as possible.

The recommendation to approve the Councillor Development Strategy and recommend it to the Council for adoption was agreed by the committee.

Minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting, held on 13 November 2023, were approved and signed as a correct record.