Improving Performance of Local Authorities through Elected Member Development
Guidance Notes
and
Self Assessment Template
Background
Any local authority dedicated to meeting community needs, must be committed to developing its elected members. The West Midlands Charter was first launched in 2004 and revised in 2007 .Its purpose is to ‘Improve local authorities’ performance, through the development of elected members’.
The Charter is similar to the Investor in People Award, and operates at two levels Primary and Full It provides a standard against which authorities can measure performance and demonstrate value. The Charter aims to:
· Ensure local authorities deliver quality leadership and services to their public
· Raise performance levels of those responsible for the political management and direction of the local authority
· Raise the profile and encourage commitment to elected member development
· Raise the standard of elected members development and support across the region
· Recognise those local authorities which have demonstrated their commitment and achievement.
Introducing a new streamlined West Midlands Charter
Since 2010, the Charter has been driven by the West Midlands Officer Member Development Network and a consultation exercise confirmed that the majority agreed it was important to work to the Charter standards, but that it was imperative to reduce time taken and costs. Coventry City Council led the development of a streamlined model to:
· Ensure the survival of the Charter in the West Midlands despite the current tough economic climate
· Provide a cheaper alternative to those authorities due for charter status reassessment and encourage other authorities to be assessed.
· Retain existing standards whilst introducing a ‘lighter touch’ to the process for our members and senior officers and reduce the time spent gathering evidence.
The hybrid process developed is based on the North West Employers Charter standards and WM Councils previous approach. It assumes costs will be met through reciprocal arrangements. To keep costs to a minimum, and allow preparation and assessment in a remote ‘virtual’ environment, wherever possible, all liaison/communication and evidence will be electronic/paperless.
Costs
The aim was to keep costs below £1,000, and most assessments will be undertaken on an ‘exchange’ basis, with officer time costs absorbed by authorities
Travel expenses for both officers and member peer reviewers will be paid for actual costs incurred – up to a maximum of £100 per peer per assessment.
For assessments not conducted under a reciprocal arrangement, Member peer reviewers will be canvassed to ask if they are interested in undertaking the assessment for a fixed fee of £250 inclusive.
To maintain standards, external 3rd party quality assurance will cost between £450-600.
Training
WM Councils will provide training for peer reviewers free of charge.
Overview of the Process
There are 3 stages i.e.
Stage 1 – Self Assessmenta. Sign/re-sign the Declaration of Commitment to the Charter principles and email to WM Councils
· Download ‘Declaration’ template from WM Councils website Our Services>‘Supporting Councillors’ pages at: http://www.wmcouncils.org.uk/signing-up-to-the-charter
· Nominate 1 Officer and 1 Member to act as peer assessors. Email details to WM Councils
b. Contact MDO Network rep to allocate and liaise with volunteer lead Officer & Member peer assessors.
· Download ‘Declaration’ template from WM Councils website >Our Services>‘Supporting Councillors’ pages at: http://www.wmcouncils.org.uk/member-development-steering-group
The Officer peer assessor takes the lead for day to day progress/liaison with the client Council
c. Complete Self-Assessment Template
· Download template from http://www.wmcouncils.org.uk/signing-up-to-the-charter
· Gather, collate and cross reference suitable evidence. State clearly and succinctly in the ‘Evidence’ column the evidence source and location. Attach relevant document files/links and save on CD. Make 3 copies, send 1 CD to each peer reviewer for consideration, 1 to WM Councils
· Examples of possible evidence are printed on the template. Find more ideas in WM Councils Member Development Evaluation Toolkit published in its ‘Supporting Councillors’>’ Sharing Learning’ pages at: http://www.wmcouncils.org.uk/regional-information #Toolkit_of_Ideas
f. Peer assessors liaise to review evidence CD, prepare plans & questions for site visit.
The Officer peer leads on arrangements, queries/requests for further information and asks client Council to set up meeting schedule. Send plans/questions to WM Councils for Quality Assurance.
Stage 2 – One day Site Visit
a. Peer reviewers meet key people (in small groups if preferred) in 30-45 minute slots:
· Download template from http://www.wmcouncils.org.uk/signing-up-to-the-charter
b. Include the following
· The Leader or Deputy, Chief Executive/Chief Officer, Opposition Leader, Chair or Portfolio holder, Chair or Training Group Member, New Member, Three randomly selected members, and Officer(s) responsible for Member Training
c. No decision made on day
Stage 3 - Findings Report
a. Peer reviewers liaise to draft findings report. Officer peer sends to WM Councils for Quality Assurance
· Download template from http://www.wmcouncils.org.uk/signing-up-to-the-charter
b. Once finalised, WM Councils email findings report and (where appropriate) certificate to the Council Leader & Chief Executive,
c. WM Councils update web pages and upload final report onto website
d. The opportunity for verbal feedback from peer reviewers can be arranged if desired.
Completing the Self Assessment Template
This charter follows the traditional training cycle approach and contains 4 key criteria which are:
A. Demonstrating a Commitment to Member Development
B. Planning
C. Delivery
D. Monitoring and Evaluation
Under each of the 4 headings the detailed numbered standards are given, with the more stretching requirements for the ‘Full Charter’ clearly indicated.
The form is largely self explanatory. It has been designed to capture sufficient information to allow effective review, without the need for excessive amounts of paper.
When populating the form with evidence details, authorities must make sure entries clearly indicate what and where the evidence can be found, supplying relevant documents, files links etc. The Evidence should be cross referenced to document/photos files etc contained in the accompanying Evidence CD .
Primary and Full Charter Criteria /A. Demonstrating a Commitment to Member Development / Standard Not Met / Standard
Met / Examples of possible Evidence sources / Evidence submitted in support of criteria
(Describe briefly, specify location, attach file/link) /
A.1 Does the authority demonstrate a Commitment to the principles of the West Midlands Charter? (1.1 NW) / No / Yes
Give Evidence / - Leaders can describe strategy in place to develop members
- Other demonstrable evidence /
A.2 Has the commitment to developing its members been communicated to all members of the authority (1.2 NW) / None or little evidence / Yes
Show evidence / - Handbook
- Intranet
- Forward/strategic Plans
- Other council publications
- members can describe that commitment to member development has been communicated
- written strategy available for member development /
A.3 Is there a designated group of members that are focus on supporting member development? (1.3 NW) / No / Yes – Show evidence / - Minutes and terms of reference of group, that inputs into member development-
- Schedule of meetings
- List of members of Group Cab reports
- Documentation expressing clear roles for members
- Evidence of input form members across all parties and groups /
A.4 Is there involvement and commitment to the member development process shared across political parties? (2.4 NW) / None or little evidence / Yes – Show evidence / - Same as A.3 /
A. Demonstrating a Commitment to Member Development (Continued) / Standard Not Met / Standard
Met / Examples of possible Evidence sources / Evidence submitted in support of criteria
(Describe briefly, specify location, attach file/link) /
A.5 Is there a member with responsibility for member development who is part of the member training group or who has a direct line of communication with the member training group? (1.4 NW) / No / Yes – Show evidence / - Minutes of meetings Cabinet meetings
- Minute of cross party group
- Portfolio list for member /
A.6 Is there an appointed officer/s who has specific reference to their responsibilities for member development included in their job/role description? (4.1 NW) / No / Yes
Show evidence / - Job descriptions
- Members can confirm there is an officer who supports member development
- Development strategy/policy
- Other communications to members
- Role descriptions of officers and members /
A.7 Besides the allocated officer support, are there financial resources available for member learning and development? (4.4 NW) / No / Yes – Show evidence / - Evidence of dedicated budget for member development
- Evidence that budget meets priority needs /
B. Planning / Standard Not Met / Standard Met / Examples of Evidence / Evidence submitted in support of criteria
(Describe briefly, specify location, attach file/link) /
B.1 Do members complete personal development plans? (3.1 NW) / No / Yes – show evidence / - No. of members completing PDPs or equivalent training needs analysis
- Primary - min of 50%
- Full - min of 75% /
B.2 Are members actively involved in identifying their development needs and how these might be met? (3.2 NW) / None or little evidence / Yes – show evidence / - Link shown between PDPs and training programme
- Cabinet reports
- Statistical evidence of course attendance
- Self-Assessments
- Learning style questionnaires
- Member satisfaction survey
- PDPs /
B.3 Is there a mechanism in place which involves members analysing the information gathered from a training needs analysis? (3.3 NW) / None or little evidence / Yes – show evidence / - Minutes of cross party meeting
- Reports
- PDPs
- Corporate Plans
- Cabinet reports /
B.4 Is there a link between member personal development plans and the training needs, and the development opportunities offered to members? (3.4 NW) / No / Yes – show evidence / - Training programme
- Formal reports explaining how needs prioritised
- Statistical evidence of course attendance
- Summary of training needs form PDPs
- Training needs analysis /
B. Planning (Continued) / Standard Not Met / Standard Met / Examples of Evidence / Evidence submitted in support of criteria
(Describe briefly, specify location, attach file/link) /
B.5 Is the available officer/s able to advise members on identifying their learning styles and development needs, and provide information on suitable internal and external learning events to meet these needs? (4.3 NW) / No / Yes
show evidence / - Statistical evidence of attendance on courses
- Evidence of members undergoing PDP
- Self-assessments/ 360o
- Learning style questionnaires/analysis
- Member satisfaction surveys
- Implementation of 6 political skills toolkit
- Programme showing range of opportunities reflection different learning styles /
B.6 Is there a strategy which sets clear direction for member development? (5.1 NW) / No / Yes
show evidence / - Provide copy of strategy
- Provide strategy has been communicated to members (handbook/intranet/bulletins handbook/intranet/bulletins
- Members can describe the strategy in place
- Corporate Division Plans
- /
B.7 Is there a clear link between the member development strategy and the corporate aims and objectives of the authority? (5.2 NW) / None or little evidence / Yes
show evidence / - Copy of Council Plan
- Copy of cabinet/formal report
- Annual programme
- Document that that references corp obj and show events meet needs
- Business Plans
- Divisional Plans
- promote the role of the Councillor / - /
B. Planning (Continued) / Standard Not Met / Standard Met / Examples of Evidence / Evidence submitted in support of criteria
(Describe briefly, specify location, attach file/link) /
Full Charter Requirement
B.8 (FC)
Shared Learning Approaches
Evidence on how elected member learning is shared within the organisation, and externally how it shares and learns from other organisations, and how this contributes to improved performance / - Programme of joint learning exchanges
- Hosting case study visits
- Councillor Champions for topic areas
- Formal process for disseminating information and learning to members /
Full Charter Requirement
B.9 (FC)
Actively promotes the role of councillor
The authority can demonstrate what actions it takes to promote the role of the councillor, how it seeks to achieve representative membership on the council / None or little evidence / Yes – show evidence / - Local democracy week action plan/review
- Youth council
- Presentations targeting underrepresented groups, to promote role of councillors
- Prospective councillor events, materials, role descriptions – recruitment packs
- Citizenship links with local schools etc.
- Links with local businesses /
Full Charter Requirement
B.10(FC)
Monitors/reviews investment against current and future corporate priorities - The authority can demonstrate how it ensures that investment is aligned with current and future corporate priorities on an on-going basis / - Case studies
- Individual Learning and Development Plans that link with corporate objectives /
C. Delivery / Standard Not Met / Standard Met / Examples of Evidence / Evidence submitted in support of criteria
(Describe briefly, specify location, attach file/link) /
C.1 Is there clear reference to learning and development opportunities during the induction process for new members? (2.1 NW) / None or little evidence / Yes – show evidence / - Handbook
- Induction day slides
- Copy Induction programme on intranet
- Induction agenda
- Policy
- Structured Induction programme in place /
C.2 Is there an appropriate communication process in place to publicise and promote the development opportunities which are available to all members via appropriate channels? (2.2 NW) / None or little evidence / Yes – show evidence / - Satisfaction Survey
- Website access
- Newsletters
- Training Plan /
C.3 Is there take-up of learning and development opportunities by members? (2.3 NW) / None or little evidence / Yes – show evidence / - Attendance statistics and list showing 50% of members have taken up learning and development opportunities in the last 12 months
- Evidence of take up across all roles and groups
- Evidence of inducements to attend
- Statistical evidence of attendance on courses
- Evidence of members undergoing PDP
- Self-assessments