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Agenda Item No. 4

 

The Vale of Glamorgan Council

 

Democratic Services Committee: 25th July, 2018

 

Report of the Head of Democratic Services

 

Vale of Glamorgan Member Support and Development Evaluation

 

Purpose of the Report

  1. To inform Members of the feedback / comments received during the independently led Focus Group on the 20th April 2018 and to seek the Committee's views on suggested changes in practice.

Recommendation that the Committee-

  1. Considers the combined feedback from the Focus Group facilitated by the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) including, the suggested areas for improvement and determines what steps should be taken in regard to on-going Member development and training in conjunction with the next report to be considered by the Committee .
  2. Considers what future arrangements should be put in place, for both Candidates and Elected Members, in those areas where the Council has control in time for the next Local Government elections in 2022.

Reason for the Recommendations

1&2   To ensure any additional actions are clearly identified to support Members following the focus group undertaken by the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA).

Background

  1. All new Members were approached earlier this year with the view to establishing a focus group to review the experiences of new Councillors of the support, information and training received in their period of office since May 2017.
  2. Taking account that eight months had passed since the Local Government elections it was timely to review new Member experience of the support provided to date and to use the feedback to form the session to assist officer forward planning for the next induction round post Local Government elections in May 2022.
  3. New Members were subsequently invited to attend a Focus Group on 20th April which was facilitated by the WLGA Policy and Improvement Officer. Of the 25 new Members invited 6 attended on the day.

Relevant Issues and Options

  1. Officers were very interested to get feedback from new Members regarding their experiences as potential candidates, candidates and newly elected Members and of the information, support and learning opportunities they received.
  2. In addition, officers were also keen to learn from said experiences, to find out what had worked and what had not to plan Member continued support and shape support for new Members in the future.
  3. With the support of Sarah Titcombe from the WLGA, the Focus Group was asked questions relating to the following four areas of discussion:
  • Discussion 1. Potential candidates
  • Discussion 2. Candidates
  • Discussion 3. Newly Elected Members
  • Discussion 4. Now - One Year In
  1. The outcomes of the Focus Group were subsequently collated into an anonymised report of the collective views of those Members who had attended.  As indicated within the report, "it reflects all the views put forward rather than the consensus".
  2. A copy of the anonymised report produced by the WLGA is attached for the Committee's consideration and comment at Appendix A. Whilst only a small group of Members attended the group session their comments are considered to be representative of the wider new Member cohort.  
  3. It should be noted that Members attending the Focus Group were requested to provide an honest account of their experiences.  No Council officers were in attendance at the Focus Group session and played no role in the collation of the WLGA report.
  4. The main issues identified from the report can be summarised as follows:
  • Potential Candidates
      • before standing for office most Members knew very little about the detail of the role;
      • political parties provided little information about the role except the logistical information which potential candidates need to stand;
      • Members believe that there is a perception amongst some potential candidates that the work of the Council is undertaken by older, white males and therefore not relevant for younger people, women and members of the Black and Minority Ethnic community;
      • prior knowledge and understanding of the role was related in some cases to Members' reasons for standing;
      • for some, election was a surprise as they were recruited to the party originally to stand at Community and Town Council level;
      • the vetting process undertaken by political parties is judged in most cases to be very detailed;
      • remuneration was not seen as a reason to stand as Councillors are more concerned with issues than remuneration;
      • there is nothing wrong with potential candidates having a "cause" but pursuing single issues is problematic after election, as Members need to focus on all aspects of the job;
      • young people need to be attracted into the role.  Members believe that it is the job of the Party to inform schools about the role but there should also be "civics" lessons in the curriculum, perhaps from Year 6 upwards to give young people an understanding of politics and the importance of participating in local democracy;
      • the Council might also like to consider staging youth parliaments; 
      • Councillors themselves should also speak to young people in schools, either directly to discuss the role or as part of consulting on Council business;
      • Mentoring schemes for potential candidates would be useful.
  • Candidates
      • parties do not provide candidates with information about the role of Councillor;
      • many Councillors just used the nomination forms out of the information packs they were provided with;
      • social media was not always helpful for candidates as there were some unpleasant comments from others in the community.
  • New Members
      • Members were very happy with the arrangements made for them when they first joined the Council;
      • an orientation day would also be useful where they could be shown the different Council sites, the Alps, Docks offices, CV1, etc., and have an opportunity to meet those based there;
      • the staff directory supplied to new Members was very helpful and it would be useful to have this on the first day;
      • Members found the induction very useful and agreed that it should continue to be mandatory as this promotes attendance and is useful even for returning Members
      • it would be helpful if there was similar mandatory induction for some key individual Member roles;
      • the 'market place' approach was useful but felt a little rushed;
      • Members believed that they gained more from the smaller group discussion induction sessions than "death by PowerPoint";
      • it would be helpful to have presentations in advance and then ask questions rather than receive all the information "cold"; 
      • Members would value some pre-information about what to expect from the induction process in its entirety such as what would happen, when, where and why;
      • the ICT training was considered to be very useful and Members appreciated the availability and helpfulness of ICT staff and their ongoing support; 
      • a 'fresher's day' for new Members (rather than for candidates) would be useful, possibly as an extension to the 'market day' approach;
      • when discussing the early days on the Council, some concern was expressed about how senior Council roles are allocated.  New Members had little understanding of what roles were available, how and when they should express an interest and how candidates would be selected.  Members suggested that the methodology and timescale for this should be more transparent so that they could express an interest as currently those who were "in the know" had more opportunities;
      • Members suggested that if the Cabinet was made up of Members who are more representative of the community served.
  • Future Support for Members
      • Members would benefit from some practical skills workshops and information about how to participate effectively in Full Council.  Particularly on the rules of debate, when and how to ask questions, giving Notice on Motions, receiving petitions and the requirements of Standing Orders.  Also, how to work effectively with the press, specifically how to issue press releases and respond to press enquiries;
      • more information about the Scrutiny call-in process would be welcomed;
      • Members needed more time to build confidence in scrutiny and be prepared to ask questions;
      • Members identified access to a competency framework would be useful in identifying future development needs;
      • the preferred style of training is for interactive workshops with plenty of discussion;
      • e-learning is generally unpopular as it is a solitary activity but still useful as a flexible method of reinforcing training;
      • MemberNet is seen as a useful resource;
      • opportunities to learn cross party are valued as Members are able to understand other points of view and issues and learn from each other;
      • the volume of e-mails from constituents, the Welsh Government and parties is difficult to cope with;
      • Members were very appreciative of the work of the officers supporting Scrutiny but questioned the effectiveness of the wider function saying that sometimes the work of Scrutiny appears to be redundant, as work appears to be already done or decisions taken before coming to Scrutiny Committees;
      • suggestion was that Members might meet new staff during their induction, so that contacts and relationships could be formed early on and both parties could gain more understanding of each other's roles;
      • any suggestions for changes are made with the positive intention of effecting improvements, in short, "making a good service even better".
  1. As a starting point in terms of progressing matters identified within the WLGA report, the findings have been used to inform proposals set out in the next report on the agenda for this meeting, related to Members' general skills and competencies.
  2. Consideration has already been given to arranging a Member Orientation following the completion of the Space project and a Member Development Session based on Rules of Debate as requested following Induction Training Sessions via the Survey Monkey Tool.

Resource Implications (Financial and Employment)

  1. There are no direct implications as a result of this report. Ongoing support / development identified as a result of this report will be funded within existing resources.

Sustainability and Climate Change Implications

  1. There are no direct implications as a result of this report.

Legal Implications (to Include Human Rights Implications)

  1. The Local Government Act 2000 and the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 detail requirements for Member Development. 

Crime and Disorder Implications

  1. There are no direct implications as a result of this report.

Equal Opportunities Implications (to include Welsh Language issues)

  1. The delivery of a Member Development Programme will reflect the need to ensure training is accessible to all Members, including holding sessions at varying times to maximise attendance.

Corporate/Service Objectives

  1. The Council is committed to the ongoing development of its elected Members as detailed within its Member Development Strategy and to allow the effective delivery of corporate objectives. 

Policy Framework and Budget

  1. The Council's Corporate Plan 2016-2020 contains the values that all colleagues require and will inform the Member Development Programme.

Consultation (including Ward Member Consultation)

  1. As this report is not Ward specific, no consultation has been undertaken.

Relevant Scrutiny Committee

  1. All

Background Papers 

Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 and associated guidance documents.

Previous report to the Committee in April 2018 relating to Member Induction / Member Development.

Contact Officer

Jeff Rees, Operational Manager Democratic Services

Officers Consulted

Rob Thomas, Managing Director

Responsible Officer:

Jeff Rees, Head of Democratic Services