An apology for absence was received from Cllr Lee Croxton and Cllr Makhan Singh; Cllr Shane Mochrie-Cox and Cllr Brian Sangha appeared as their respective substitutes.

An apology for absence was also received from Cllr Leslie Hills.

The Minutes of the meeting held 14 February 2019 were signed by the Chair.

No declarations of interest were made.

The Committee Services Officer (Scrutiny) provided Members of the Overview Scrutiny Committee with a summary of the training that has taken place for Members during the 2018-19 municipal year.

During 2018-19, 14 training sessions have been provided to Members on a number of different aspects of council services including:

IT strategy & Digital Strategy

Environmental Health

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Disability Awareness

Safeguarding

Statement of Accounts

Mental Health Awareness

Equality and Diversity

Housing Benefits Assessments Training (Refresher)

First Aid / AED

National Planning Policy Framework & Conservation =

Local Authority Trading Company

Heritage Quarter Briefing

The Committee Services Officer (Scrutiny) highlighted the feedback that had been provided by Members, as detailed in Appendix 3 to the report, and explained the following:

·         In response to Member feedback the microphones in the Council Chamber have been assessed and reconfigured to provide better sound quality for training sessions.

·         In response to Member feedback a larger projector screen has now been fitted in the Council Chamber to improve the visuals / presentations at training sessions.

A Training Plan for 2019-20 will be included within the Member Induction Plan following the May Borough Election. The Induction Plan is currently being finalised in consultation with the three Group Leaders.

The Committee discussed the content of the report and highlighted the following:

·         The attendance levels at training sessions are disappointing. Members should make every effort to attend the training sessions that are arranged for them, where possible.

·         It would be useful to know how many apologies were received for each training session; perhaps this could be incorporated into future reports.

·         The training provided has improved over the last few years in breadth and quality, internal officers are doing a good job. It would be beneficial if officers would speak to external trainers to let them know what members expect and pass on their training knowledge / skills that are specific to GBC.

·         The optimum length for a training session is about 1 hour 30 minutes.

·         The Council could look at working with other local authorities to share training ideas / sessions.

·         Officers could flag up the content of training session more to make them more appealing and encourage better attendance.

·         Trainers need to use microphones (a roving microphone would be best) at all times and stand in the middle of the room.

Resolved that the Overview Scrutiny Committee noted the report.

The Committee thanked Cllr Burden for all his good work as Chair of the Committee over the last 4 years.

The Chair thanked the Committee for all their input over the last 4 years.