The pilot of the Elected Members Continuous Professional Development Framework is progressing well. Almost half of the elected members across five of the councils piloting the Framework (East Lothian, Falkirk, Scottish Borders, South Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire) now have a Development Profile report, which outlines their key strengths and development areas.
Elected members in each of these councils will shortly be participating in a Personal Development Planning meeting with an officer from their council, which will result in the preparation of a Personal Development Plan.
The CPD Framework has now been launched in the final pilot council - Fife - and the Development Profiles will be issued to elected members to complete during March and April. The CPD Framework pilot project board has agreed to conduct a phased evaluation of the pilot project, to enable elements of the Framework to be rolled out to all councils on a phased basis.
The evaluation of the online Development Profile tool will shortly commence, with each elected member and each 360 degree reviewer being asked to provide feedback on the content of the CPD Framework and the format of the online Development Profile tool, developed in partnership with Brightwave. The CPD Framework and Development Profile will then be reviewed based on the feedback and rolled out to all councils in summer 2009.
The next phase of the evaluation will be to review the Personal Development Planning process early summer and the CPD Framework Development Programme later this year.
The CPD Framework will be demonstrated at the COSLA/IS Conference on 4 to 6 March 2009, and also at the SOLAR Conference in March. The Improvement Service will also be meeting with SLARC during March to discuss the pilot project and roll out plans.
For further information on the CPD framework for elected members, contact Sarah Gadsden on 01506 775558.
Related links
Document: Draft continuous professional development framework for elected members in Scottish local government
News: Two-thirds of councillors sign up for CPD framework pilot scheme (Nov 2008)
News: Seven councils to pilot councillor CPD framework (May 2008)
