Agenda item

William Brooks, Principal Adviser, introduced the item. He advised members about the changes to the NGDP (the LGA’s flagship management trainee), providing them with an update on the progress of the scheme. He discussed the need to encourage more to join the scheme, and the possibility of developing an option to recruit locally. Councils were currently charged a fee of £2,400 to participate, although there would be a new pricing regime soon. The deadline for signing up was the 30 March.

In the discussion which followed, members made the following points:

·         There was a discussion around officer and councillor interface, and it was highlighted that the contact junior officers had with the political dimension within councils was limited. This needed addressing.

·         Concerns were raised that there was a lack of understanding of the work of an effective opposition.

·         Members asked whether there would be an option for smaller councils to join together and share the cost of the fee for participating.

·         There was a discussion around when the new pricing regime would begin, and how much money the LGA should use to subsidise the scheme.

·         Members asked whether it would be possible to track the trainees and their careers to measure the scheme’s success, and whether there was a mechanism to show if the fees for the training programme could be recaptured. It was highlighted that recent figures illustrated that 88% of people went on to work in a local authority.

Decision

1.    The Improvement and Innovation Board endorsed the programme, agreeing to promote it to the sector and within their own organisations

Action

1.    Officers to proceed with work as directed by members.