East Midlands Councils

Councillor Development Network

15 December 2010 - 10 am to 12 noon

Action Notes

Attendees: / Apologies
Name / Council / Name / Council
Julie Fish / Broxtowe Borough Council / Liz Read / Blaby District Council
David Dalby / Charnwood Borough Council / Sue Rodden / Broxtowe Borough Council
Phil 0’Brien / Derby City Council / Cllr Debbie Mason / Rushcliffe Borough Council
Ratna Taylor / Derbyshire County Council / Jacqui Mansell / Ashfield District Council
John Makinson-Sanders / East Lindsey District Council / Cllr Ted Webster-Williams / Blaby District Council
Kirsty Lowe / East Midlands Councils / Kath Whittingham / Bolsover District Council
Moira Hunt / East Midlands Councils / Steve Swaine / City of Lincoln Council
Rachel Reeds / East Northamptonshire / Rachel Morris / Nottingham City Council
Janet Dickinson, Helen Blakeman / High Peak Borough Council / Ian McFadyen / Derbyshire County Council
Cllr Mary Malin, Anne Ireson / Kettering Borough Council / Lisa Butterfill / East Midlands Councils
Nigel West / Lincolnshire County Council / Mark Pemberton, Julie Grainger / Mansfield District Council
Cassie Triggs, Rozey Plowright / Northampton Borough Council / Marcella Heath / North Kesteven District Council
Julie Brailsford / Nottinghamshire County Council / David Ellis / Nottinghamshire County Council
Liz Reid-Jones / Rushcliffe Borough Council / Frazer Powell / North East Derbyshire District Council
Neil Betteridge / South Derbyshire District Council

Apologies:

Agenda Item / Actions/Information / Who
1. / Welcome and introduction / David Dalby welcomed network members Melton and thanked them for attending. He informed the network that he would be chairing the network meeting on this occasion as Jacqui Mansell had sent apologies.
2. / Apologies and Minutes 30thSeptember 2010 / Notes of the Last Meeting
Minutes agreed as a true record.
Matters arising:
No matters arising.
3. / Prospective Councillor Events Discussion / David introduced a discussion on prospective Councillor events and experiences across the East Midlands.
Charnwood Borough Council – Prospective Councillor event held on 6 December, with only 6 people attending.
Lincolnshire County Council – In 2009 decided not to hold prospective Councillor events for political reasons.
Derby City Council – had similar political issues to deal with, but decided to hold prospective Councillor event, with each political party present for anyone interested and not already affiliated to a Political party.
Bridget Harris provided details of the “Be a Councillor” initiative, which has good practice examples and useful information for prospective Councillor events.
Kettering Borough Council informed the network that they hold one to one sessions for anyone interested in being a Councillor who is not affiliated to a political party, to provide information on the election process and on the Council.
East Lindsey District Council – previously held a prospective Councillor event in the September before the May election. It was felt that this may have been too early for some.
A discussion followed on promotion of these events. Bridget Harris informed the network that the “Be a Councillor” website has prepared material that can be used to help promote sessions.
Bridget informed the network that Kirklees Council have good practice guidance, available from

Councillor Role Profiles, Incorporating the Kirklees Skills & Knowledge Framework:

A discussion took place on how Councils could promote being a Councillor by attending other Council events and occasions.
4. / Planning for Induction in 2011 / David welcomed Bridget Harris and thanked her for attending the network meeting.
Bridget provided details of the 21st Century Councillor project and work undertaken with Leicestershire County Council on their induction programme.
Bridget provided details of what an excellent induction programme may look like based on what the best rated programmes were doing.
  1. Guidance on Community Leadership
  2. Political mentoring
  3. Member-led learning
  4. Pre-election taster sessions for candidates
  5. Arrange key meetings in wards
  6. Ward walks
  7. Administration / opposition sessions
Bridget updated the network on the revised average score for the East Midlands, which is now 58%.
Bridget provided details of what she thought were the 4 key areas for induction;
  1. Cover statutory obligations
  2. Councils to get to know the Councillor
  3. Review how the Council welcomes Councillors and how business is conducted
  4. Good induction means on going Councillor involvement in development and their role
Bridget informed the network that she had funding to support authorities with induction.
David suggested that interested authorities should contact Lisa Butterfill, so that interested can be fed to Bridget.
5. / Themes & Format of the network for 2011 /
  • Localism Bill
  • Extending the demographics of new Councillors
  • Format of the meeting could be changed, to provide further opportunities for authorities to share information.
  • Those with the Charter, supporting each other on how to sustain the momentum after they have achieved the Charter, to meet after the network meeting.
  • Those who have achieved the Charter could present on areas of their Charter assessment where they felt they excelled
  • Ongoing budget restraints
  • Approaches to PDPs
  • Community Budgets and community empowerment
  • Induction, the network agreed to share induction plans and documents at the next network meeting.
Action: Network members to bring induction plans and documents to the next network meeting.
The network agreed to continue to meet quarterly in Melton.
It was suggested that the next meeting in March should take place in early March. / ALL
6. / Achieving the Member Development Charter / David provided details of authorities who have recently achieved the Charter;
  • Mansfield District Council
  • Blaby District Council
  • Nottingham City Council
  • High Peak Borough Council
Congratulations were offered to High Peak Borough Council who had been awarded the Charter on Tuesday 14 December.
Moira invited network members to let her know if they are interested in becoming an assessor.
7. / Any Other Business / Moira informed the network that the National Member Development Charter criteria and the East Midlands Member Development Charter are to be updated to reflect the introduction of the Big Society and Localism, with the inclusion of two extra areas under area 4. Moira informed the network that the new version would be circulated.
Action: Moira to circulate a copy of the latest version of the East Midlands Member Development Charter / .
Moira
8. / Date of Future Meetings / To be confirmed.

1