The Charter for Elected Member Development - accreditation guidelines

1.    Commitment to councillor development

• Top political and managerial leadership commitment to development of elected members
• Councillor Learning and Development Policy
• Access to learning and development takes into account diversity of needs
• Designated Budget for councillor development
• Officer support for councillor development

2.    Strategic approach to councillor development

• Councillor led strategy
• Councillor roles are clearly defined
• Individual Learning and Development Plans
• Political Leadership and Executive Team development and management
• Committee Learning and Development
• Development opportunities are promoted and take in to account access requirements
• Joint learning activities with officers, partners and the wider community
• Corporate Councillor Learning and Development Plan prioritising activities
• Structured Induction process for all new councillors
• Evaluation mechanisms that inform future plans
• Councillor Learning and Development Reference Group

3.    Learning and development is effective in building capacity

• Councillors learn and develop effectively
• Learning is shared with other councillors and where appropriate, with officers and stakeholders
• Investment in learning and development is evaluated in terms of benefits and impact
• Improvements to learning and development activities are identified and implemented

4.    Supporting Councillors

• Council provides an appropriate level and range of support as well as assisting those with caring responsibilities
• Council examines how council business is conducted to allow for equality of access to key political decision making processes
• Council holds events for the community to encourage people to become future community leaders
• Councillors are provided with development and briefings to enable them to understand and fulfil their role in relation to community involvement and its impact on their wider role as councillors
• Councillors are provided with the skills to enable them to fulfil their role as leaders of an organisation

*Please note the bold items are key indicators that the Charter will be measured against.

In January 2011 the Charter accreditation was updated by SEE and the LGA. Any authority who commits to the Charter after January 2011 must work towards the new framework, any authority who committed before January 2011 is still able to work against the old accreditation.

You can download the new accreditation here; Accreditation Guideline  895Kb
The new Self Assessment Framework can be accessed here; Self Assessment template  1Mb

Further information

• The Charter – what is it and why do we need it?
• How does the Charter work - stages of achieving the Charter

For further information contact Janine Gill