Agenda item

Angela Page (Head of the Conservative Group Office) introduced the item. She explained that recently undergone a review of the member peer management procedure, as per the directions from the previous board meeting.

She explained that the process for managing member peers differed for every political group and briefly described the approaches. She identified a common lack of feedback on the performance of peers between all groups. She also explained that the Conservative Group was currently working with Cllr Glen Sanderson (National Lead Member Peer) to improve these feedback mechanisms.

Discussion

Members discussed the following issues;

• The need to formalise feedback mechanisms for the peer review process, including the performance of the peer review team. The feedback should be fed through the corporate peer challenge team and the group offices at the LGA. It could also include follow ups conducted by the Principle Advisers.
• The importance of supporting member peers in their continuous personal development through formalised training as well as the feedback provided above.
• The possibility of refreshing the training provided to the existing member peer pool.
• The importance of developing a mechanism to demonstrate the value (both financial and more broadly) of the corporate peer challenge programme to DCLG. 

Decisions

Members;

1.          Noted the approaches for managing peers adopted by the Group Offices.

2.          Advised officers to consider formal performance management processes to be carried out in conjunction between the group offices and the corporate peer challenge team.

Action

Officer to proceed with the development of a formalised performance management process, including the retraining of the existing member peer pool.