Agenda and draft minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 8 January 2024 be confirmed.

Please note that, in accordance with the Members' Code of Conduct, when declaring interests members must disclose the existence and nature of the interest, and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) or personal and/or pecuniary.

No declarations of interest were received.

The Democratic Services and Elections Manager:

1.      presented the current programme of dates for Member Development sessions 2025/26 and sought the views of Ethics and Engagement Committee on possible topics to be included as items of discussion

2.      invited the Committee to establish a Working Group to consider Member Development in greater detail in respect of:

•          Setting of the Member Development Programme 2025/26

•          Receiving data on councillor attendance at sessions held in 2024/25

3.      highlighted that Elected members were integral to ensuring that the strategic   aims and objectives of the Council were met and that high-quality, cost-effective services were delivered to the residents of the City

4.      advised that an Internal Audit on Governance Health Check undertaken in 2024 concluded that Ethics and Engagement Committee should receive, at least on an annual basis, the programme of member development and training for the coming year to enable the Committee to take ownership and over sight of development needs for Councillors

5.      requested input from the Working Group into the draft programme of Member Development and Training Sessions for 2025/26 as appended to the report, together with a request that Members of Ethics and Engagement Committee take responsibility/ownership for monitoring attendance at such training sessions

6.      added that local councils played an important role in reducing inequalities and supporting inclusion and cohesion within our communities with specific obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty; members were invited to identify potential topics in this respect for Member Development in the form of dedicated sessions for Members and 'spotlight' sessions on a more regular basis

7.      referred to induction for new members which took place every year local elections were held over a two-day planned programme as further detailed at Appendix B to the report, which the Working Group were also invited to consider for 2026

8.      reported that a flexible approach to training and development opportunities would be adopted to meet potential needs of individuals and groups, including seminars, workshops, e-learning and briefing sessions delivered via a mix of in-person sessions and the use of Microsoft Teams

9.      invited members feedback on the content of the report.

During discussion and questions arising from the report, the following points were noted:

•         The working group would take up to no more than 2 or 3 hour-long meetings in relation to members’ commitment to time.

•         There were some mandatory training sessions already listed within the member development schedule for 2025/26.

•         The 'spotlight' sessions on Equality and Diversity training were a good idea and should be programmed in.

•         Some of the training sessions were mandatory for members of certain committees, however these were always open to other councillors should they be required to sit as a substitute member.

•          A toolkit for new councillors was important and was currently in development by the Policy Team, which would be considered at the next meeting of Ethics and Engagement Committee.

•         It was suggested that those councillors who had submitted apologies to tonight’s meeting would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Democratic Services and Elections Manager:

1.     presented the consultation outcome on Remote attendance and proxy voting in local authorities; consultation results and government response, published on 5 June 2025 as appended to her report

2.     highlighted that following time-limited Covid-19 remote attendance permissions that expired in 2021, local authority committee meetings were required to be held in a single, specified physical place

3.     reported that on 24 October 2024, the Government published a consultation on remote attendance and proxy voting at local authority meetings, which sought views on the practical implications of introducing this process, Ethics and Engagement Committee submitted a response to this consultation

4.     advised that following the consultation results, the Government concluded that in-person authority meetings remained vital for local democracy, however, hybrid, remote attendance, and proxy voting would enable local authorities in England to develop more modern, accessible and flexible working practices, and therefore planned to legislate to support permanent provision in relation to both policies, when parliamentary time allowed

5.     reported that the Government planned to permit local authorities to:

•          Develop their own locally appropriate policies on remote attendance, if they decided to allow councillors to attend committee meetings remotely

•          Required principal (unitary, upper and second-tier) councils to implement proxy voting schemes, to provide consistency for members who were absent when they became a new parent, or for a serious or long-term illness; this requirement would apply to meetings of Council

•          For all other meetings, proxy voting may be used but would not be required as substitute or pairing schemes may be more appropriate

•          The Government also planned for other local authorities not listed above to be enabled, but not required to implement proxy voting schemes for any of their meetings, in the context of member absences for serious long-term illnesses, or becoming a new parent

6.     invited members to note the Government's consultation conclusion and proposed next steps, and await further information to be released following Government legislation on this matter, which would be reported back to Ethics and Engagement Committee to allow local policies to be created.

RESOLVED that:

1.     The Government's consultation and response to its consultation on Remote attendance and proxy voting in local authorities be noted.

2.     Further reports be presented to Ethics and Engagement Committee once further information was available.

The Democratic Services and Elections Manager:

1.     presented the current Ethics and Engagement Committee work programme for consideration by members.

2.     invited members' questions and comments.

A discussion took place regarding how the Council could better engage with young people. During discussion it was suggested that:

•         The Council explored what neighbouring councils do in relation to Local Democracy Week to see if this was something the Council could introduce, North Kesteven District Council was cited as a positive example.

•         Similar to the Citizen’s Panel, it was suggested that the Council could set up a School Panel, via social media, to ask children if they were interested in local government and democracy.

RESOLVED that the work programme be noted.