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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED (a) That the report be noted. (b) That the three-year development be endorsed. (c) That mandatory training only be provided in the summary of Member attendance.
RESOLVED That the report be noted and, in light of the survey results, no review of the Overview and Scrutiny arrangements be undertaken at this stage.
RESOLVED That the report be noted.
RESOLVED That the Forward Work Programme, as set out in the report, be approved with the addition of an item on what the Council is doing to promote electoral voting for the next meeting.
There were no declarations of interest made.
Moved by Councillor Di Clements; Seconded by Councillor Michelle Bateman. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 2 February 2023 be approved as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED (a) That the report be noted. (b) That the three-year development be endorsed. (c) That mandatory training only be provided in the summary of Member attendance.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the Training and Development of Members report that was jointly prepared with the former Learning and Development Manager or the consideration of the Committee. The report provided an update on the uptake of eLearning completion; Learning Needs Analysis (LNA) and on the Three Year Development Plan. On eLearning, the Head of Democratic Services noted there had been a significant increase in the number of essential (mandatory) and desirable (non-mandatory) modules completed since February 2023, with 236 modules completed. She attributed the rise to a number of initiatives used by Learning and Development to motivate Members to engage in training, such as automated reminders on POD and sessions to help build confidence with the platform as well individual email reminders, but more needed to be achieved. In considering the report, the following key points were made: · The Chair expressed concern that a number of Members were yet to undertake training, particularly the essential modules, and stressed the importance of completing the training. While no penalties are imposed for noncompliance, she emphasised the value in recording training, particularly for those Members, who produce an annual report, to provide evidence to show that ongoing learning is being completed. · Councillor Elwyn Morse apologised for the delay in completing the eLearning Modulesdue to work commitments and reassured the Committee of his intention to catch up on the required training. · Councillor Di Clements, making reference to Appendix A, suggested breaking down the total number of courses, completed by Members on Pembrokeshire Online Learning (POD) from 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2023, into “essential” and “desirable”/other. She asked that it would be helpful if Members were provided with a list tracking each of their progress towards completing the mandatory training as this may serve as an incentive to those who had not. The Head of Democratic Services agreed to look at this for mandatory training. · Councillor Di Clements also commented that online training was not necessarily convenient for those during normal working hours. · Councillor Michelle Bateman agreed with Councillor Di Clements regarding the issue of logging attendance for a recorded training session after the live event had taken place. The Head of Democratic Services reiterated it was more difficult to capture. Councillor Michelle Bateman put forward whether consideration could be given to Members to ‘’self-certify’’ and record their own completion for desirable (information giving seminars) training. · Councillor Michelle Bateman again referred to the email reminders for eLearning, which she stated were useful. · Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall drew attention to Members encountering difficulties with their training may need additional support. The Chair concluded the discussion by asking the Committee to consider the recommendation with the addition of how Member attendance at recorded training sessions could be explored and captured. She agreed to write to all Members to complete the mandatory training and to offer her support. Moved by Councillor Di Clements; Seconded by Councillor Elwyn Morse. The vote, undertaken by way of roll-call, was carried. The votes were recorded as follows: For the motion: Councillors Jamie Adams, Michelle Bateman, Di Clements, Pat Davies, Elwyn Morse, and Sam Skyrme-Blackhall [6] There were no votes against or abstentions. RESOLVED (a) That the report be noted. (b) That the three-year development be endorsed. (c) That mandatory training only be provided in the summary of Member attendance.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the report be noted and, in light of the survey results, no review of the Overview and Scrutiny arrangements be undertaken at this stage.
The Head of Democratic Services introduced a report summarising the results of an electronic survey of Members’ views on Overview and Scrutiny Committee arrangements in April 2023, with 40 responses received, representing a 67 percent return. The Committee then debated the contents of the report. Councillor Di Clements questioned the need for a review of the overview and scrutiny function being proposed by the Head of Law and Governance, given the positive survey results. The Head of Democratic Services advised the Head of Law and Governance announced the review at the last meeting of the Constitution Review Working Group. In response to a question raised by Councillor Jamie Adams around the mandate for the Head of Law and Governance to undertake such a review when the Committee had not requested one, the Chair confirmed no decision had yet been made. Councillor Michelle Bateman, making reference to the last review of overview and scrutiny committees in 2017, stated it was too soon to review these arrangements. The Head of Democratic Services clarified the last review was approved by Council in 2016 and explained the most significant changes since then had resulted from the Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee being disbanded in 2019 and established as the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee. She added the Partnerships Panel now sat under the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee and apologised for not referencing the changes to these Committee titles and remits in her report. Councillor Di Clements moved the recommendation with the addition that in light of the survey results, no review of the Overview and Scrutiny arrangements be undertaken at this stage; Seconded by Councillor Elwyn Morse. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the report be noted and, in light of the survey results, no review of the Overview and Scrutiny arrangements be undertaken at this stage.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the report be noted.
The Head of Democratic Services reported nine Members had submitted Annual Reports for 2022-23, which were currently being drafted and translated into Welsh and would be published on the Council website from 27July 2023. While there is no obligation on Members to produce an Annual Report under the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011, the Chair expressed disappointment with the low take-up and suggested extending the submission deadline by two months. Councillor Di Clements asked about the number of visitors to the Members Annual Report page on the website. The Head of Democratic Services acknowledged it was difficult to accurately measure visits to a particular page, however, agreed to seek clarification on the data from Communications and report back next time. Moved by Councillor Elwyn Morse; Seconded by Councillor Di Clements. The vote, undertaken by a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the report be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Forward Work Programme, as set out in the report, be approved with the addition of an item on what the Council is doing to promote electoral voting for the next meeting.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the Forward Work Programme for the Committee’s consideration. Members were advised that there were many items of business listed for the October and February 2024 meetings and it was agreed that an item relating to UK Government policy on voter identification at polling stations be discussed at the October meeting. Moved by Councillor Jamie Adams; Seconded by Councillor Elwyn Morse. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Forward Work Programme, as set out in the report, be approved with the addition of an item on what the Council is doing to promote electoral voting for the next meeting.
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