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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED to: • Note the arrangements put in place to date to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by members and co-opted members of the South East Wales Corporate Joint Committee; and • Receive a further report from the Corporate Joint CC’s statutory duties in relation to standards of conduct in six months’ time.
Apologies for absence were received from Chrissie Nicholls and Cllr Latif.
No declarations of interest were received in accordance with the Members Code of Conduct.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to: • Note the arrangements put in place to date to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by members and co-opted members of the South East Wales Corporate Joint Committee; and • Receive a further report from the Corporate Joint CC’s statutory duties in relation to standards of conduct in six months’ time.
The Chair welcomed Jayne La Grua, Monitoring Officer for the South East Wales Corporate Joint Committee to the first meeting of the Committee. The report provided enabled the Committee to consider the arrangements that had been put in place to date to maintain high standards of conduct by members and co-opted members of the South East Wales Corporate Joint Committee (‘the CJC’). A very detailed presentation had been provided, however the MO provided the Committee with an outline of the Governance Structure, including • How the new joint committee was established, advising that the governance arrangements, (Constitution) were adopted on the 18th March and have been in operation since 1 April 2024. • Membership of the CJC and key roles • The decision making process and matters reserved to the CJC and delegation of duties to Portfolio holders. • The sub-committees, delegation of duties and membership Members were provided with information about the induction sessions that have been provided, however, the Programme is still being developed with a view to any training sessions being tailored to needs of members. However, there has already been some targeted inductions for the individual sub-committees. Members asked questions and sought clarification on the following: Members queried the amounts of money the CJC was dealing with and were advised City Deal is comprised of two parts, the wider investment fund part which the CJC manages is 495m, there has been a recent investment zone award which is 160m. There are also budgets which relate to statutory functions; regional transport and strategic development. The MO confirmed that the CJC managed a lot of money. The MO confirmed that funding from the City Deal is UK Government funding that comes via Welsh Government but the City Deal has some match funding which comes from the 10 local authorities who make proportionate contributions according to their electorate. A member queried the membership of the joint overview and scrutiny committee (JOSC) believing that the Membership was 9 Labour and the 1 Independent. The MO advised that the JSOC was sitting during the next week, it is hosted by RCT and the membership is published on the website which shows that whilst the majority of members were Labour members, there is a Conservative member and a Plaid Cymru member. She further advised that the CJC does not have any input into political proportionality, the nominations are made by the principle authorities. It was not hosted by the CJC it was hosted by Rhonda Cynon Taff Council; likewise this Standards Committee is hosted by Cardiff Council. As a result of a further question from the member the MO advised that it was not Cardiff’s MO who provided the legal advice to the JOSC, it was her. The Committee RESOLVED to: • Note the arrangements put in place to date to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by members and co-opted members of the South East Wales Corporate Joint Committee; and • Receive a further report from the Corporate Joint CC’s statutory duties in relation to standards of conduct in six months’ time.
The next date of the Committee would be on Wednesday 22 January 2025, the time of the meeting is to be confirmed.
No urgent items were tabled.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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