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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED- That the minutes of the meeting of the Democratic Services Committee held on 14 March 2022 be approved and signed as a correct record.
RESOLVED: That the Forward Plan for the Democratic Services Committee be approved.
RESOLVED: (a) That the Head of Democratic Services consults with Members as follows to gain feedback on the Induction Programme and future training and development needs: · Listening Groups for new Members · Survey of all Members (b) That the information gathered from the above consultation exercises be reported back to the Democratic Services Committee in order to consider and prioritise what areas of training and development should be included within the Member Training and Development Programme 2022/2023, including any mandatory training.
RESOLVED: a) That the actions that have been completed so far and those outstanding actions that need to be addressed within the Diversity in Democracy - Diverse Council Action Plan be noted. b) That the membership of the Democratic Services Committee Working Group be updated and re-established to monitor progress of the adopted Action Plan and to specifically develop a Public Participation Strategy in accordance with the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act requirements.
It was proposed and seconded that both Councillor Cathy Augustine and Councillor Harry Saville be nominated as Vice-Chair of the Democratic Services Committee. Following a vote is was: RESOLVED: That Councillor Cathy Augustine be appointed as Vice-Chair of the Democratic Services Committee.
An apology for absence was received from Councillor Trevor Stott.
None.
None.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED- That the minutes of the meeting of the Democratic Services Committee held on 14 March 2022 be approved and signed as a correct record.
The minutes of the meeting of the Democratic Services Committee held on 14 March 2022 were submitted for approval. RESOLVED- That the minutes of the meeting of the Democratic Services Committee held on 14 March 2022 be approved and signed as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: That the Forward Plan for the Democratic Services Committee be approved.
The Head of Democratic Services presented Members with the Democratic Services Committee Forward Work Plan (FWP). The FWP included regular items, future items and outstanding items for the Democratic Services Committee Working Group. RESOLVED: That the Forward Plan for the Democratic Services Committee be approved.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: (a) That the Head of Democratic Services consults with Members as follows to gain feedback on the Induction Programme and future training and development needs: · Listening Groups for new Members · Survey of all Members (b) That the information gathered from the above consultation exercises be reported back to the Democratic Services Committee in order to consider and prioritise what areas of training and development should be included within the Member Training and Development Programme 2022/2023, including any mandatory training.
The Head of Democratic Services presented a report on the Member Training and Development Programme 2022/2023. Elected Members, particularly those that were newly elected in May 2022, had undertaken a thorough Induction programme. The Induction Programme prioritised strategic issues, providing an overview of service provision and the governance arrangements in place within the Council. The following points were highlighted: • The importance that Elected Members were able to access training and development opportunities to improve the skills and knowledge required to perform their different roles. • Each year a programme of training was developed for Members based on identified need. Training need was identified in a number of ways and was fed into an annual Member Training and Development Programme. • All Welsh Local Authorities had been working with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) to develop a set of e-learning modules. • The Member Training and Development Programme was a working document that could be updated periodically, as and when opportunities and needs arose. Suggested topics included the following: - The Effective Ward Councillor - Personal Safety and Lone Working - Personal Resilience/ Work Life Balance - Bullying and Harassment - Social Media and dealing with on-line abuse • The Member Development and Information Forum was a monthly knowledge and awareness raising session for Members, covering a range of topics from services within the Council or external organisations. • Personal Development Workbooks had been designed by the WLGA as an introduction or a refresher to key knowledge areas for Councilors. Issues covered included: - Chairing Skills - Corporate Parenting - Making Sustainable Decisions - Stress Management and Personal Resilience - The Effective ‘ward’ Councilor. In considering the Member Training and Development Programme, Members discussed the following: · Thanks were extended to Officers for the excellent Member Induction Programme. · Code of Conduct and Safeguarding training were mandatory for Members. - Code of Conduct training had been delivered as part of the Member Induction Programme. - Safeguarding refresher training was required every 3 years. - Mandatory training for School Governors was arranged by the Education Service. - Mandatory training for Officers included violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence, modern slavery and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. - GDPR was not currently mandatory for Elected Members. - Discussions would take place in respect of mandatory training during engagement sessions and feedback would be provided to the Democratic Services Committee. · It was queried as to what steps were being taken in order to ensure that political group leaders were aware of their duty to promote a zero tolerance approach to bullying and harassment by Members. - In response, the Head of Democratic Services advised that training had been arranged for Group Leaders. - The Head of Law and Governance advised that the legislation came into force in May 2022, however guidance was still awaited. - Group Leaders had a duty to report to the Standards Committee annually on how they had promoted good behavior within their group, - The Standards Committee would in turn report to Council annually. - The Code of Conduct was still a matter for individual members and was enforced by the Ombudsman The new duty was in relation to promoting good behavior. · Given the vast amount of information that newly Elected Members have had to digest within a short timeframe, it was intended to expand that knowledge and provide an opportunity for smaller groups to visit smaller sections within larger service areas (such as within Environment, Roads and Facilities). · The Head of Law and Governance extended his thanks to the Democratic Services team in respect of arranging the Member Induction Sessions and for the implementation of the hybrid meeting system. RESOLVED: (a) That the Head of Democratic Services consults with Members as follows to gain feedback on the Induction Programme and future training and development needs: · Listening Groups for new Members · Survey of all Members (b) That the information gathered from the above consultation exercises be reported back to the Democratic Services Committee in order to consider and prioritise what areas of training and development should be included within the Member Training and Development Programme 2022/2023, including any mandatory training.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: a) That the actions that have been completed so far and those outstanding actions that need to be addressed within the Diversity in Democracy - Diverse Council Action Plan be noted. b) That the membership of the Democratic Services Committee Working Group be updated and re-established to monitor progress of the adopted Action Plan and to specifically develop a Public Participation Strategy in accordance with the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act requirements.
The Head of Democratic Services presented a report on Diversity in Democracy – Diverse Action Plan. At its meeting on 8 July 2021, Conwy County Borough Council made a commitment to be a ‘Diverse Council’ and tasked the Democratic Services Committee to develop an action plan to build on the objectives within the outline Diverse Council Declaration. An updated action plan was attached at Appendix A of the report for consideration. The activities and results of work carried out by the Electoral Engagement officer was included at Appendix B of the report. The Electoral Engagement Officer was a Welsh Government grant funded post with a fixed term contract until December 2022. In considering the action plan, Members discussed the following: • It was queried as to how committed Cabinet were to the declaration. - In response, the Cabinet Member for Democracy and Governance advised that all Cabinet Members were aware of their responsibility for promoting diversity and that they were committed to the declaration. • Clarification was sought in respect of the actions to be taken by Group Leaders should a Member not meet the required standards. - In response, the Cabinet Member for Democracy and Governance advised that Group Leaders should seek advice from the Monitoring Officer. - Concern was raised in relation to the high threshold for action taken by the Ombudsman for breaches to the code. - Decisions by the Ombudsman was a standing item on the Standards Committee. - A Group Leader or Political Group could remove a member of their group, this would be a political action with no Monitoring Officer involvement unless there was a breach in code. • Thanks were extended to the Electoral Engagement Officer for his work with schools which had resulted in some 16 and 17 year olds voting for the first time. - The Electoral Engagement Officer advised that engagement with 16/17 year olds had been reduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic. - Other organisations were also engaging with this age group in respect of political issues. - Politics would form part of the new Curriculum for Wales. • There was an obligation, under the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 to develop and publicise a Public Participation Strategy, this would be a priority area for the Democratic Services Committee Working Group. • The completion rates in respect of Elected Member and candidate surveys was sought. - The Head of Democratic Services advised that an in-house Equality and Diversity survey of Elected Members had been circulated at the end of the last administration and again at the beginning of the new administration. This would give the opportunity for a true comparison of the data. The deadline for completing the survey had recently passed but data was not yet available. - A separate survey had been circulated to all local election candidates (not just those that were elected). The deadline for the all Wales candidates’ survey had been extended due to low completion rates, data would be provided by Data Unit Wales. - Results of the in-house survey would be circulated to Members via e-mail and would be discussed at the next meeting of the Democratic Services Committee. - Male to female ratios had improved and age ranges seemed to have improved and were more comparable with the County profile. RESOLVED: a) That the actions that have been completed so far and those outstanding actions that need to be addressed within the Diversity in Democracy - Diverse Council Action Plan be noted. b) That the membership of the Democratic Services Committee Working Group be updated and re-established to monitor progress of the adopted Action Plan and to specifically develop a Public Participation Strategy in accordance with the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act requirements.
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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