KINGSTON UPON HULL CITY COUNCIL

ELECTED MEMBERS DEVELOPMENT PLAN

HULL CITY COUNCIL

ELECTED MEMBER DEVELOPMENT

PLAN

2015 - 2016

Accountability: / S40 / Next Review: / July 2016
Issue Number: / 05 / Last Review: / 24 September 2015

CONTENTS

1.Introduction

2.Identifying Learning and Development Needs

2.1Induction

2.2Leadership

2.3Role Development

2.4Legal and Statutory Responsibilities

2.5Personal Development

2.6External Development

  1. Delivery

4.Roles and Responsibilities

4.1Elected Members

4.2Officers

4.3Member Leadership and Development Steering Group

4.4The Council

  1. Monitoring and Evaluation
  1. Risk Assessment
  1. Appendices

Appendix 1 – Key priorities 2015 – 2016

Appendix 2 – Personal Development Plan

Appendix 3 – Member Leadership and Development Steering Group Terms of Reference

1.INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this plan is to set out a comprehensive approach to Elected Member learning and development.

The Resources Directorate willprovide an effective Member Development Strategy and Plan ensuring that Members are provided with the most appropriate and effective training and development to ensure that they have the right skills and capabilities to carry out their roles. This must be done by the most cost effective means.

Elected Members have a variety of roles within the Council and in the community. This plan provides a flexible, relevant and appropriate approach in identifying and meeting those development needs. To support the Council’s priorities and Members individual skills needs this plan will ensure that:

  1. A planned and structured approach to Elected Member development is taken.
  1. All Members have access to the appropriate learning and development activities to enable them to acquire the skills and knowledge required to be an effective political and community leader.
  1. Elected Members are encouraged to identify their own development needs.
  1. The plan identifies a number of key activities for 2015/16 to support and develop Members in their Council and community role (appendix 1: Key Activities 2015-2016).
  1. All aspects of the Member Development Programme are evaluated in terms of delivery, quality and value for money.

2.IDENTIFYINGLEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT NEEDS

Learning and development needs will be identified at a number of levels:

2.1Induction

The induction programme is reviewed annually, in consultation with the Member Leadership and Development Steering Group and Group Leaders, to establish effectiveness and changes made as necessary.

The induction programme commences shortly after the local elections to help newly Elected Members familiarise themselves with the authority and their new role.

2.2 Leadership

A programme of leadership development activities supports current and future leaders, ensuring they have the right skills and knowledge to equip them for the challenges and changes ahead.

The member development budget sponsors two places per annum on the Leadership Academy main programme. Cabinet and shadow cabinet members with new roles and responsibilities are also given the opportunity to attend focussed programmes that concentrate on a specific theme, and allow them to share experiences with Members from different authorities with similar challenges.

2.3Role Development

There are particular roles held by Elected Members that require them to undertake specific training. This training generally takes place after annual Council and before the first formal committee meeting.

2.4 Legal and Statutory Responsibilities

The Member Leadership and Development Steering Group have identified a number of key development activities required to equip Members with the necessary information to fulfil their legal and statutory responsibilities.

2.5 Personal Development

All Members are encouraged to complete a personal development plan annually to identify and prioritisetheir training needs (appendix 2: Personal Development Plan).

2.6External Development

All Members are provided with external development opportunities. Attendance at national, regional and local conferences, visits to other authorities to share good practice and, where appropriate, joint regional / sub regional development sessions to avoid duplication of resources.

3.DELIVERY

Elected Members have a diverse range of development needs and learning preferences which will be delivered through a range of options:

The programme will include a range of learning styles:

  • In-house briefings / workshops delivered by Officers
  • Written learning materials (briefing notes)
  • Development sessions delivered by external providers
  • National and regional conferences / seminars
  • LGALeadership Academy
  • Peer mentoring (internally and externally)
  • Good practice visits to other authorities

4.ROLES AND RESPONSIBILTIES

4.1Elected Members

All Elected Members are responsible for identifying their own development needs and are encouraged to complete an annualPersonal Development Plan.

4.2Support

The importance of member development is recognised in the Council through the provision of a dedicated officer to co-ordinate Elected Member learning and development. The Member Development Officer (MDO) works within theResources Directorate and reports to the Information Governance and Member Support Manager. The MDO supports the Member Leadership and Development Steering Group and acts as liaison between the key stakeholders within the authority.

4.3Member Leadership and Development Steering Group

The Member Leadership and Development Steering Group’s purpose is to provide the focus for member development for the council. This cross party group will help to formulate, implement, monitor and evaluate member development, review the Member Development Plan and Strategy and consider ideas for continuous improvement (appendix 3: Member Leadership and Development Steering Group terms of reference).

4.4The Council

The Council is responsible for providing adequate resources to ensure an effective learning and development programme can be delivered, as well as offering practical support and encouragement to all Elected Members.

5.MONITORING AND EVALUATION

The MDO undertakes a variety of different evaluation techniques to measure the effectiveness of the Elected Member Development Programme in terms of delivery, quality and value for money.

(i)A monthly update brochure provides clear objectives for each development activity so Members understand what they can expect to learn.

(ii)Evaluations sheets are completed by Members after each development activity to identify to what extend the objectives were met.

(iii)The outcomes from the evaluations are presented to the Member Leadership and Development Steering Group, detailing cost, attendance and feedback from the Member Development Programme, external events and conferences.

(iv)Members’ personal development plans will be reviewed by the MDO after six months to ensure individual skills needs are being met.

(v)All feedback is used as a mechanism for future developments.

6.RISK ASSESSMENT

This plan ensures a planned and structured approach to member development. This includes identifying and managing factors that may impact on the quality of the Elected Member Development programme:

6.1Members not attending training in relation to their legal and statutory responsibilities can impact on the decision making process. These key areas of development are identified in Member Development Plan to ensure Members are equipped with the necessary information to make sound decisions.

6.2Members not taking part in the personal development planning process will impact on their personal and professional development. Individual Members have to take responsibility for their own personal development, as well as:

(i)The Member Leadership and Development Steering Groupgaining a commitment from Members to take responsibility for identifying their personal development needs.

(ii)The MDO ensuring alternative methods of identifying Members’ personal development needs are available

6.3Poor communication can reduce attendance at development activities. To maximise members’ attendance the MDO will:

(i)Ensure member development activities do not clash with other Council committees and meetings that Members are expected to attend.

(ii)Produce and circulate a monthly update brochure with details of all member development activities so they can plan in advance. Member support staff are also copied in to help with diary management.

(iii)Recognise that Members like to receive information in different forms, e.g. hard copy, verbal, email.

(iv)Use text messaging as a quick and easy way to confirm and remind Members of development activities.

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KINGSTON UPON HULL CITY COUNCIL

ELECTED MEMBERS DEVELOPMENT PLAN

APPENDIX 1

ELECTED MEMBER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Key Priorities 2015 – 2016 (to be reviewed annually)

/ Documents / briefing notes / guidance notes available in the Members Handbook on Alfresco.
/ E-learning course available on Oracle
Activity / Outcomes / Delivery / Target
Audience / Provider / Action/Comments
LEADERSHIP / Peer Mentoring / Cabinet and shadow Cabinet develop their role and improve their overall political leadership skills. / July –
April / Nominations from Group Leaders / LGA / Nominations from Group Leaders for those with new roles and responsibilities
LeadershipAcademy / Members have the leadership skills and knowledge to meet the challenges of local government. / Sept –
Feb / Nominations from Group Leaders / LGA / 2 places sponsored from the member development budget.
Cllr Alan Clark attending July, Sept, Oct – nominated by The Leader following his appointment to the Cabinet in May 2015
(fully funded by LGA).
ROLE DEVELOPMENT / Activity / Outcomes / Delivery / Target
Audience / Provider / Action / Comments
Appeals (Personnel related) / Members on the Appeals Committee receive mandatory training before sitting on a personnel dismissal appeal panel. / 12 June / Members and substitutes of the Appeals Committee / HR & Legal Services / Cllr Mike Thompson attended as a new Member of the Appeals Committee. Training also offered to Members as a refresher – Cllr Petrini attended.
Audit / New Members of the Audit Committee understand the role of the committee and its annual reporting cycle. / July - April / Members of Audit C’ttee Audit Working Party / Corporate Planning & Finance / New Members receive training shortly after appointed to the Audit Committee.
A programme of themed training to be agreed with the Audit Working Party and delivered throughout the year.
Directors’ Duties / Outside Bodies / All Members appointed as Directors/ shareholders/ representatives on outside bodies understand their responsibilities and the potential conflicts of interests that can occur. / 5 June / Members appointed as Directors, Shareholders and/or reps on outside bodies / Town Clerk’sService
Emergency Planning / Members gain an overview of what constitutes a major emergency and emergency response and understand their role within the Council’s emergency planning procedures / 18 Nov / All Members / Public Health Directorate
Health & Wellbeing / All Members understand the changes to the Care Act 2014, the Children & Families Act 2014 and their duty to provide integrated care. / 10 June / All Members / Town Clerk’s Service / A session on the Care Act 2014 was delivered as part of the induction programme and opened up to all Members. Members who attended this session requested further information on Adult Safeguarding / HCC Safeguarding Plan (see Safeguarding Adults page 12)
Activity / Outcomes / Delivery / Target
Audience / Provider / Action / Comments
Licensing / All Members of the Licensing Committee have the knowledge and information to consider and determine applications under the Licensing Act 2003 and the Gambling Act 2005 together with miscellaneous licensing matters / 4 June
8 June / Members and nominated substitutes of the Licensing Committee / Legal Services / All new Members of the Licensing Committee received training prior to their first meeting.
All Members of the Licensing Committee received annual update training.
A Councillors Guide to the Licensing Committee is available on Alfresco in the Members Handbook / Section 4 (Role Guides). / / All Members
Planning / All new Members of the Planning Committee have the information required to make sound decisions on planning applications. / 2 June
15 June
8 July / Members and nominated substitutes of the Planning Committee / Legal Services / Economic Dev &
Regen / All new Members of the Planning Committee received training prior to their first meeting.
All Members of the Planning Committee received annual update training. In addition, 5 nominated substitutes received the appropriate training making them eligible to ‘sub’ for other Members of their Group.
A Councillors Guide to the Planning Committee is available on Alfresco in the Members Handbook / Section 4 (Role Guides). / / All Members
Activity / Outcomes / Delivery / Target
Audience / Provider / Action / Comments
Procurement / Contracts / Members have the knowledge and information to make sound decisions in accordance with the revisions to the EU Procurement Directives. / 5 June
4 Sept / All Members / Town Clerk’s Service / A session on the Council’s External Companies was delivered as part of the Induction programme and opened up to all Members. Members who attended this session requested further information on the tendering / procurement process
Following a Council motion in July 2015 a session on Conflict-Free Procurement will be available to all Members.
Scrutiny / All new Members understand the decision making and scrutiny framework. / 20 May
24 June / Newly Elected Members / Town Clerk’s Service / Two Governance and Decision Making sessions were delivered as part of the Induction Programmeand were attended by all 4 newly Elected Members.
All Members of overview and scrutiny commissions have the skills and knowledge to be an effective scrutiniser. / TBC / All Members
A Councillors Guide to Overview and Scrutiny is available on Alfresco in the Members Handbook / Section 4 (Role Guides). / / All Members
LEGAL & STATUTORY RESPONSIBILITIES / Activity / Outcomes / Delivery / Target
Audience / Provider / Action / Comments
Corporate Parenting (including regulation 33 visits) / Members understand the role of the Council, Officers and Elected Members as corporate parents. / TBC / All Members / Children &
Family
Services / Area Committee’s appoint Members to undertake 6 monthly visits to a designated children’s home in that area.
A Councillor’s Guide to Corporate Parenting is available on Alfresco in the Members Handbook / Section 4 (Role Guides). /
Safeguarding Adults / Members know the role of the Council, Officers and Elected Members in relation to safeguarding adults and the circumstances that makes them vulnerable. / 22 Sept / All Members / Adults &
Social Care / Members that attended the session on the Care Act 2014 requested additional information / training on Adult Safeguarding and the HCC Safeguarding Plan.
Information on Safeguarding Adults can be found on Alfresco in the Members Handbook / Section 5 (Legal & Statutory responsibilities). /
Data Protection / information security / Members comply with the Data Protection Act and understand their responsibilities in terms of handling personal information.
The Information Governance team register all Members with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) at a cost of £35 per Member. / 11 May / All new Members / Information Governance Team / This session was delivered as part of the induction programme and attended by all 4 newly Elected Members.
/ Oracle E-learning / Members can complete the Data Protection e-learning course on Oracle > HCC Learner Self Service
/ Alfresco
Activity / Outcomes / Delivery / Target
Audience / Provider / Action / Comments
Equality and Diversity / Members are informed and supported in their role of promoting fairness and equality in respect of their duties under the code of conduct. / TBA / All Members / HR
An equalities resource book is available on Alfresco in the Members Handbook / Section 5 (Legal & Statutory responsibilities). / / Alfresco / A useful resource that contains statistics on age, gender etc per ward.
Health and Safety / Members understand they have a role to play in ensuring the health, safety and well-being of entire communities. / 17 June / All Members / HR
. / The induction session on Lone Working / Personal Safety also highlighted Members role with the Council’s H&S Policy.
Further information is available on Alfresco in the Members Handbook / Section 5 (Legal & Statutory responsibilities). / / Alfresco
Risk Management / Members can identify and manage risks effectively. / TBA / All Members / Corporate Planning & Finance
A quick guide to Risk Management is available on Alfresco in the Members Handbook / Section 5 (Legal & Statutory responsibilities). / / Alfresco
Activity / Outcomes / Delivery / Target
Audience / Provider / Action / Comments
PERRSONAL DEVELOPMENT / Chairing / facilitation skill / Chairs and Deputy Chairs effectively manage and influence meetings to achieve the desired outcomes. / TBC / Chairs and Deputy Chairs / External
provider / All new Chairs and Deputy Chairs have the opportunity to attending Chairing Skills session(s).
Handling casework / Time Management / Members increase their output by prioritising the key elements of their role and making effective use of the support available. / TBA / All Members / External provider / To be arranged if identified as a need within Members’ personal development plans.
Handling difficult situations / Members manage difficult situations in an assertive, friendly and professional manner and resolve difficult situations before they become major issues / TBA / All Members / External provider / To be arranged if identified as a need within Members’ personal development plans.
ICT Skills / Members have the necessary ICT skills to carry out their role. / TBA / All Members / HCC ICT Training Unit / To be arranged if identified as a need within Members’ personal development plans.
Lone Working / Personal Safety / Members understand the risk associated with lone working and take the appropriate actions to mitigate these risks. / 17 June / New Members / Strategic Health & Safety Team / Delivered as part of the Induction Programme and attended by 2 newly Elected Members.
Media Skills / Members are fully prepared and equipped to deal with the media; have the skills and confidence to handle any kind of interview: have positive media “experiences” and protect their reputation and that of the Council. / 25 Nov / Nomination by Group Secy’s / Comms & Marketing /
External
provider / An overview of how to approach press, radio and TV interviews, preparation formula and key communication skills, include individual practice scenarios, review and feedback.
Activity / Outcomes / Delivery / Target
Audience / Provider / Action / Comments
Public Speaking/ presentation skills / Members are confident when making a personal presentation or speech. / TBA / All Members / External provider / To be arranged if identified as a need within Members’ personal development plans.
Speed Reading / Members use the skills, knowledge and techniques to improve the effectiveness of time spent reading. / TBA / All Members / External Provider / To be arranged if identified as a need within Members’ personal development plans.

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