COUNCILLORS could undergo assertiveness training - because they feel intimidated by council officers.

A report into the training needs of Teesdale District Council is recommending the move after it found that some councillors are lacking in confidence to ask meaningful questions.

The report was written by the council's overview and scrutiny committee as it looked at the recovery process from a Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA).

The CPA report, which was published last year, criticised the council for its poor political and managerial leadership and decision-making process.

Part of the recovery plan is a member development project, which examines the training needs of councillors.

In his report, committee chairman Councillor Newton Wood has recommended several areas where members could benefit from more training.

One problem he found was that members were lacking the ability to challenge anything for fear of looking foolish in the eyes of others.

Coun Wood said: "There is a need for officers to involve members to a greater extent than they do at the moment.

"I do feel however, that it is often up to members to initiate contact with officers rather than expecting officers to always get in touch with members. Members need to be pro-active. Perhaps members need assertion training so they do not feel intimidated?"

Other identified training needs include developing formats to put across complex information more simply, writing reports in plain English, better definition of members' roles, IT training, communication and a better understanding of the different departments of the council and the corporate plan.

Susan Reay, director of corporate services at the council, and project manager, said it played an important role in the CPA recovery process and pointed out that some parts had already been implemented. She said: "One of the things we have been working on is comprehensive communications which does include communications between offices and members.

"We need to have greater clarity around the roles of the council and how members bring complaints to the attention of officers.

"We want to build up a whole series of member training workshops."