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There is no summary of this meeting yet. One is written once the council publishes the minutes. The agenda and papers are below.
Councillors Bev Perkins and Jane Mudd
None.
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 21st November 2024 were accepted as a true and accurate record. • The Committee raised that the minutes noted that a draft copy of Terms of Reference for the Task and Finish Group would be presented to the Committee. The Head of Law and Standards (HLS) informed Committee that a meeting is due to take place with Group Leaders and further information will be provided following this meeting.
The Deputy Democratic and Electoral Services Manager (DDESM) presented this item to the Committee. Members considered the report and agreed the following recommendations: Comments and Recommendations: • The Committee recommended that future reports should include the number of attendees to training sessions, and not just percentages, to make the information within the report more meaningful. • The Committee recommended that Member participation in training is posted on the corporate website for the public to view. • The Committee recommended that a resource list is developed for Members on the Intranet which should include materials shared and used within training sessions. • The Committee recommended that the Chairs of Planning and Licensing Committee are sent the training records of Committee Members to be satisfied that the Committee-specific training has been completed. • The Committee recommended that work is done with officers to ensure that training is more engaging including shorter presentations, more interaction with participants and an assessment to track learning. • The Committee recommended that training modules are reviewed to see whether any can be amalgamated. • The Committee recommended that changes to legislation should prompt a training session for Members so they have the most up to date information.
The DDESM presented the information only report to the Committee prior to it’s presentation to Council in April.
The HLS provided a verbal update to the Committee. Members considered the update and agreed the following recommendations: Comments and Recommendations: • The Committee requested that a written report is brought to the next meeting rather than a verbal update. • The Committee recommended that a report summarising the major changes to the Constitution is provided to the Committee along with supporting appendices showing the complete document with tracked changes. • The Committee recommended that a review of how this project will be approached and presented to the Committee is discussed during the upcoming meeting between the HLS and Group Leaders.
The Governance Officer (GO) and DDESM provided a verbal update to the Committee and informed the Committee that a Draft Forward Work Programme will be presented at the next meeting. • The Committee recommended that an item is added to the Forward Work Programme to discuss changes to the Constitution around hybrid meetings.
The date of the next meeting is Thursday 22nd May 2025.
To access a full recording of the discussions that took place during this meeting, please refer to the Council’s YouTube channel: Democratic Services Committee 13th March 2025 - Youtube
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