Agenda item

To ask Committee members for observations on the induction arrangements following the May 2022 Election.

To accept the report and submit observations on the induction arrangements following the Election in May 2022.

RESOLVED:

To accept the report and submit observations on the induction arrangements following the Election in May 2022.

A summary of the arrangements developed for welcoming New Councillors following the 2022 election were presented. The Members were guided through the report detailing the arrangements of the Results Day, Welcome Day and Training Programme.

It was reported that positive comments had been received on a whole with some lessons learnt for the future. It was explained that two welcome days were held on the 10th and 11th of May with 5 Members joining virtually over both days.
Positive comments were received on these arrangements. It was succeeded in presenting the main necessary information to the Members by distributing a Booklet that was developed by the Democracy and Language Service as a directory resource and organising IT provision for all Members.  It was acknowledged that challenges had arisen during the first welcome day due to a wi-fi connection problem in a meeting room. Despite this the arrangements were adapted by the second day where IT equipment had been provided for the Members without any delays.

Details were provided by every Head of Department on the virtual sessions held which gave an opportunity for Members to receive a presentation on the work of the Departments as well as an opportunity to ask questions. It was added that these sessions had been recorded and were available on the Members’ Intranet.

It was added that the timetable had been challenging between the results day and the Welcome Day/first Council Meeting with lots of work to be done and it was assumed that this element would need to be adapted for the future. It was also believed that there would be a need to determine a day or specific days for IT matters namely choosing, receiving and setting up equipment.

During the discussion the following observations were made:

-        Thanks were expressed for the work of preparing Members and the efforts made by the Officers to enable Members to attend meetings virtually, which had saved travelling time.

-        An observation was made that the Results Day was brilliant with plenty of information provided to Members without overloading and positive observations were expressed on the Welcome Day.

-        What was noted in the report on the delay with the IT provision during the first Welcome Day was reiterated and it was assumed that this element should be held on a separate day.

-        Appreciation was expressed that the Head of department sessions were recorded. A few observations were made that the sessions that were held at 4pm had worked better compared to the sessions held in the morning.

-        An observation was made that a certain ward's results box seemed to be counted slowly and it was felt that counting could have been commenced earlier in this instance. It was suggested that there should be more flexibility in terms of counting on Results Day in the future.

-        It was noted that there was a feeling that the voting cards had been sent out prematurely and should have waited until after the nomination period in order to save money and avoid confusion amongst members of the public who didn't have an election in their ward.

-        A request was made for details regarding the arrangements for Councillors who had lost their seats or Councillors who had not re-sat the Election, i.e. badges, e-mails and ongoing ward work. 

-        It was felt that training on the new IT equipment should be offered to Members and to also consider offering IT sessions. One Member expressed that they had already received one to one training and they praised this support.

-        It was believed there insufficient information had been shared  on how to claim costs during the Welcome Day. A request was made for an e-mail to be sent to all new Members with guidelines on how to complete the cost claiming / allowances forms.

-        Frustration was expressed on the lack of communication from the National Park noting that no e-mails had been sent to a Member with their ward within the Park's boundaries.

-        The paper from with the contact details of the Council's Main Officers was commended but it was questioned whether it was possible to update this form when people moved jobs. It was believed that Members should be updated when duties / staff changed in order for them to adapt their paper form.

-        It was questioned when the screens to accompany the new laptops would be distributed to Members. The problem of downloading documents from the new devices was also mentioned.

In response to these observations:

-        It was noted that the Democracy Service would forward the Members’ observations to the Elections team for consideration by the next Election to see what would be possible. It was added that maybe some things had to be done in a certain way to follow processes and legal requirements.

-        It was added that the confidence level and the ability of Members varied especially if they had received new and different equipment; the Members were encouraged to contact Cara Williams or Ken Richardson for further training sessions. It was added that Ken offered one-to-one sessions.

-        It was noted that an e-mail had been sent to every Councillor that was standing for re-election to explain what would happen as a result of wages arrangements and IT accounts if they would lose their seat. It was acknowledged that this message had not been clear enough for Members and therefore was something further for the Service to look at in the future when anyone's period would come to an end. It was added that work was going on in the background to collect the IT provision back from the previous members.

-        It was reported that instructions on claiming travelling costs were noted in the Members’ Handbook. It was noted that a session could be held before the next full Council meeting in the Autumn if the Members wished in order to have the opportunity to go through such matters.

-        It was noted that the Democracy and Language Service Manager was contacting the Park's Officer to make enquiries and would welcome a discussion outside of this meeting with the Member.

-        It was reported that the Members received a weekly bulletin which included information if there were any changes amongst the Council's Managers. It was explained that arrangements were ongoing for the communication team to contact Members to notify them if there were any change in duties within the Council to ensure that the Members received an update. Members were also reminded to keep an eye on the Members’ Intranet.

-        It was explained that the additional monitors had been ordered before the Election but the It Unit had not received them yet. Officers from the IT service would be in touch soon.