I would agree with Christopher. Of course, CPD should only cover actual learning (as this thread title states). I often refer to various sources of data when reviewing designs, and the majority of these I have accessed before, so I wouldn't count that as CPD.
I'm sorry, that is probably blindingly obvious!
Work experience is an interesting one. I could perhaps claim more than I actually do? There are lots of activities that develop one's skills (including the soft skills), and these are CPD.
Yes, 30 hours a year should not be a difficult target to achieve.
Finally, I suggest you opt in to the IET's CPD Monitoring Scheme to make sure you are on the right track. See here for details: communities.theiet.org/.../395
As others have stated how many CPD hours you record for self-paced learning through reading or work experience depends on the amount of learning that directly contributes to your CPD. When you're recording completed activities you should also reflect on what you learned and consider if there are follow up activities you may want to consider to consolidate or deepen your learning.
There is no limit to the amount of CPD hours you can record as self-study, but you should try to plan for a balance of CPD Activities - further information on the types of CPD as well as a directory of suggested CPD activities that are available is available on the CPD Policy page: http://www.theiet.org/membership/career/cpd/policy/index.cfm
