TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT POLICY - ELECTED MEMBERS
 

 
 

Policy Aim:
 

 
 

The Council is committed to providing an approach to training and development for elected members which enables them to fulfil their responsibilities of
 

·

leading the community
 

·

providing high-quality services at economical cost
 

·

an effective scrutiny function.
 

 
 

Background:
 

 
 

The Council has been proud of its attainment of Investor in People status in 1993, and has worked hard to maintain and improve on that standard.  The principles of IIP apply to elected members as well as staff and underpin this policy (see Appendix 1 for a copy of the IIP standard).
 

 
 

The key themes to be drawn from IIP are:
 

 
 

a)

The Council is fully committed to developing both elected members and employees in order to achieve its aims and objectives.
 

b)

The Council is clear about its aims and objectives and what its elected members and employees need to do in order to achieve them.
 

c)

The Council develops its elected members and employees in order to improve its performance.
 

d)     The Council understands the impact of its investment in people on its performance.
 

 
 

Roles and Responsibilities of Councillors and Office Holders
 

 
 

Many members will bring to the Council valuable knowledge and expertise from their ‘outside’ lives, whether from the workplace, voluntary work or personal experience.  All these aspects can add value to the Council and the way it serves the local community.  However, inevitably, there will be some gaps to be filled by training and development.
 

 
 

The role of any elected member is wide-ranging.  In addition some members have special roles and responsibilities.
 

 
 

These are stated in detail in the Constitution, and appended for ease of reference.  Also appended are lists of relevant skills and knowledge.  These are not exhaustive, and will be developed and refined over time, with the help of feedback from members themselves.
 

 
 

Identification of needs:
 

 
 

a)

All elected members have a personal responsibility for identifying their own training and development needs, both for the core competencies required of all elected members, and for the particular needs of any specialist role to which they may have been appointed, or aspire.
 

b)

Group leaders, or their nominees, also have a role in identifying and agreeing with the members concerned, what the development needs of their group members are.  This is both for their members’ current roles, and as part of succession planning. They have a further responsibility for requesting appropriate budgetary provision to meet those needs, subject to the Council’s overall financial constraints, and in accordance with normal budgetary procedures.
 

NB)     Training needs of a party political nature would not be funded by the Council.
 

c)

Attached as Appendix 5 is a proforma to help members identify their training and development needs.
 

 
 

Training and Development Plans:
 

 
 

Group leaders are responsible for drawing up training and development plans for their group members, based on the agreed training needs, and defining appropriate means of meeting those needs together with likely associated costs.
 

 
 

A priority order should also be indicated, in case financial constraints preclude all the identified needs from being met.
 

 
 

Plans should be regularly updated, as a minimum, twice a year.  These key dates are following annual Council to reflect any changing roles, and September, to feed into the budget process.
 

 
 

Modes of Training and Development:
 

 
 

In drawing up training plans, the various methods of learning should be included, not just “going on courses”.  These include coaching by more experienced members; coaching on specialist topics by senior staff; on-line learning; personal study/directed reading; conferences and courses (both internal and external), and visits aimed at learning from our partners etc.  All are valuable.  The most appropriate mode of training will vary from member to member and training topic to training topic.
 

 
 

Records of Member Training and Development:  
 

 
 

A record of the training and development undertaken by members, together with their evaluation of its effectiveness, (both from a training and cost-effectiveness perspective) should be kept by group leaders (or their nominees) and copied for information to the Head of Personnel and Member and Electoral Services Manager.  This should assist with year-on-year improvement in the effectiveness of training and development support for elected members.
 

 
 

Appendices
 

 
 

1. Investor in People Standard
 

2. Roles and Responsibilities
 

3) Skills and knowledge
 

4) Proforma for helping identify training and development needs
 

5) Proforma for training and development plans and records