Agenda item

To note the observations and accept the report.

To accept the report.

The Democracy Team Leader presented the report. Reference was made to the Satisfaction Questionnaire which was distributed to members annually enquiring about the service provided by the Democracy Services Team. It was noted that 27 Members had responded to the Questionnaire, which was below the average that had responded over recent years. It was acknowledged that the busy period with extraordinary meetings of the Full Council and Scrutiny Committees may have led to fewer responses. However, it was highlighted that 88% had said that the service was “very good” with 11% stating “good”, which was an increase from last year when one Councillor said that the standard was “acceptable”. Attention was drawn to some examples of the comments received which indicated a high level of satisfaction, with the availability and punctuality of the team's response highlighted in the high-quality support they provided. Reference was made to members' suggestions to improve the provision. It was noted that a member had proposed that ‘it would be useful to have up-to-date and accurate information on the Council's site for Councillors about the names of staff and telephone numbers of every department’. A Member proposed the idea of developing an App, and the Team Leader confirmed that she would be contacting the individual to discuss the idea further. With reference to the members’ bulletin, which was sent out to members on a weekly basis, it was confirmed that the questionnaire showed that most members did read it and were satisfied with its contents. It was reported that Members had expressed frustration at delays in responses from Officers and Departments within the Council, and it was assured that further work was underway by the Corporate Director to investigate the matter in detail. It was hoped that a further update on this work would be presented to this Committee during the summer term. Members were welcome to contact the team at any time for any assistance. A Member expressed that he had experienced difficulty completing the Members' on line Questionnaire. In response, it was confirmed that the Department would post him a paper copy in future. Referring to the Questionnaire, it was clarified that the information obtained from the responses would be used in preparing the election work for next year. A Member asked for more details about the proposed improvements by the 2027 election. In response, it was assured that the service was committed to providing the best possible support to the county's members. It was confirmed that the Democracy Team Leader and Service Manager were currently putting together a work programme for the 2027 election to develop and refine the service provided. It was hoped that a report on the work could be presented to the Democracy Services Committee in June, which would set out the planned actions and serve as an opportunity for the members to have input to ensure they were involved in the proactive process of formulating the welcome and induction programme by the election period. It was elaborated that a second questionnaire had been sent out this year - 'Intranet and More' - with 19 members stating that they made regular use of the members' Intranet. It was noted that elements needed to be improved to ensure that the information was consistent and up to date. In response to an enquiry, it was confirmed that several officers were responsible for updating the Members’ Intranet, primarily the Democracy Team Officers, the Members Learning and Development Officer and the Communications Team. It was explained that the updates were a cross-departmental responsibility, as the relevant knowledge and expertise was within different teams. It was confirmed that the Democracy Services Team was responsible for ensuring that the Members’ Intranet provided comprehensive information and worked effectively for the benefit of the members, as this team was responsible for providing direct support to the Council's members. A Member asked why all informal meetings, such as the area forums, had not been included in the Calendar of Meetings for the year. In response, it was confirmed that these meetings were internal and informal, and therefore were not published on the Modern Gov system used by the department. It was clarified that the meeting papers were not public and were only sent out to the relevant members. It was explained that only the public meetings were included in the Calendar of Meetings on the website for public information. Consideration was given to including internal meetings in the Calendar of Meetings for the year and it was confirmed that Officers would be assessing this in the future. It was acknowledged that there were still some differences between different types of meetings and forums, and that the department planned to review and sort out these details over the next year.