The Lambeth Council Standards Committee met to discuss member training and standards. Councillors agreed to note the progress of the Member Learning Development programme and the annual member complaints report. They also agreed to recommend that the cross-party Member Learning and Development Working Group continue to facilitate the development and delivery of the Member Induction programme following the 2026 local elections, as well as the ongoing Member Learning and Development Programme.

Member Learning and Development Programme

The committee discussed the Member Learning Development Programme, and made several suggestions for improvement.

• Skills Training Councillor Jackie Meldrum said that skills training should be prioritised, as well as knowledge based training. She gave the example of a recent chairing skills training session which she found very useful. She also raised the importance of evaluating training sessions to improve them, and said:

Some of the presenters are very tedious and you don't learn very much. And some of them are really good. And we need to get more of the good ones.

• Members Enquiries Several councillors raised the importance of training for dealing with members enquiries[^1], with Councillor Jackie Meldrum suggesting that it should be a focus early on in a councillor's term. Councillor Ben Curtis said that he still wasn't sure he understood the members inquiry system after three years as a councillor. Councillor James Bryan suggested providing case work journeys from initial receipt to resolution to help new councillors understand the geography of case work.

  [^1]: A 'member enquiry' is a request for information or assistance from a councillor, typically on behalf of a constituent.

• Navigating Lambeth Councillor Ben Curtis suggested a less formal, in-person briefing on navigating Lambeth, with all of the corporate directors present. He suggested that the briefing should cover what Lambeth does, can do, and can solve, as well as what Lambeth doesn't do, and can't solve. He also suggested creating a Lambeth guide, similar to a booklet he received from the residence forum, which he described as a bible.

• Online Training Councillor James Bryan raised concerns about the workload on officers and the expectation on councillors to attend numerous training sessions. He suggested that many of the training sessions, such as those on Prevent[^2], GDPR[^3], and EDI[^4], could be delivered as online modules that councillors could complete in their own time. He also suggested that online portals could include a test to assess who has done the training and how they have scored.

  [^2]: Prevent is part of the UK government's counter-terrorism strategy, aiming to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. [^3]: GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation, a law that regulates how personal data is collected and used. [^4]: EDI stands for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion.

• LGA Training Councillor Jackie Meldrum suggested making more use of the Local Government Association (LGA)'s training courses, which she described as fantastic and tried out. She asked officers why Lambeth Council favoured delivering training in house rather than using online resources that already exist. Officers responded that in-house training could be more Lambeth-centric, and that they had no means of assessing who had attended external training.

• Safeguarding Sue Gower MBE, the independent person, raised concerns about the safeguarding courses not being taken up, and highlighted significant policy changes in children's services that councillors need to be aware of. She suggested a core session on what being a councillor means, explaining how council meetings run, the OSC[^5] situation, and subcommittees. She also suggested a two-part session on member inquiries, one on induction and one a few months later to pick up on the reality of dealing with them.

  [^5]: OSC likely refers to Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

• Train the trainers Councillor Jackie Meldrum suggested that officers who deliver training should have completed a train the trainers course first.

• Licensing Training Councillor Ben Curtis noted that there were lots of people who hadn't done their licensing training this year, and that most of the committee members he had spoken to didn't know that they had to train each year.

• Pre-election Information Councillor Ben Curtis suggested disseminating information about the code of conduct and the Nolan principles[^6] to candidates before they are elected, as well as key dates for induction and the annual general meeting (AGM).

  [^6]: The Nolan principles, also known as the seven principles of public life, are standards of ethical conduct for public office holders.

Annual Member Complaints Report

The committee noted the annual member complaints report. The report stated that during the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, the Monitoring Officer received nine complaints, which was four more than the previous year. Five of these complaints were made by residents, two by councillors, and two by members of staff. All of the complaints were dealt with informally, save for one which was still outstanding. The complaints mainly related to members not responding to emails and correspondence, and behaviour allegations.

Standards Update

The committee noted the standards update, which detailed a proposal from the government to reform the local government standards regime, and provided examples of decided cases based on a breach of the code of conduct at other local authorities. The consultation proposed legislative changes including a mandatory national code of conduct, formal standards committees with published outcomes, powers to suspend councillors or mayors for serious breaches (including interim suspensions), a new disqualification category for repeated or gross misconduct, and a national appeals body. Sue Gower MBE noted that interim suspensions were already current practice in some councils, where party membership had been revoked following police involvement.