Loading
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 Standards Committee held on 27 June 2022 be signed and approved as a correct record.
RESOLVED- That the Councillors’ Register of Interests be approved by the Standards Committee.
RESOLVED- That the register of Gifts and Hospitality be approved by the Standards Committee.
An apology for absence was received from Anne Mellor (Independent Member).
None.
None.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED- That the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 27 June 2022 be signed and approved as a correct record.
The minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 27 June 2022 were submitted for approval. RESOLVED- That the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 27 June 2022 be signed and approved as a correct record.
The Monitoring Officer provided the following update: • An induction programme, following the Local Elections in May 2022 was ongoing. • Welsh and English Code of Conduct training had been delivered virtually to Town and Community Councils in July 2022. - A recording of the training was available to Town and Community Councils who had been unable to attend. • Following Richard Penn’s Independent Review of the Ethical Standards Framework in Wales, a National Standards Forum was being established and Terms of Reference were currently being drafted. • As per the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, political Group Leaders were duty bound to promote good conduct within their groups. - A training session had been delivered to Group Leaders in respect of their new responsibilities which included reporting annually to the Standards Committee. - The Standards Committee would report annually to Council. • The number of complaints to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales had decreased following the Local Elections in May 2022. • An update on complaints lodged with the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales in respect of County Councillors and Town/Community Councillors would be provided at the next meeting of the Standards Committee.
The Chair, Clive Wolfendale had attended a Caerhun Community Council meeting on 27 June 2022. The following points were highlighted: • The meeting was conducted properly. • Declarations of interest were not included as an agenda item and were not referred to during the course of the meeting. • All paperwork and proceedings were provided through the medium of Welsh. • Feedback was provided to the Clerk who acknowledged issues in respect of declarations of interest. Independent Members Gill Murgatroyd and Anne Mellor had attended a Conwy Town Council meeting on 25 July 2022. The following points were highlighted: • The meeting was well structured and declarations were made in the correct manner. • Registers of interest were not available on the Town Council website. Following discussions with the Clerk, this would be rectified. • It was not clear on the Council website as to which Councillors were co-opted. This would be addressed by the Clerk. The Vice-Chair, Brenda Bignold, along with Independent Member Gill Murgatroyd had attended a Llanfairfechan Town Council meeting on 27 July 2022. The following points were highlighted: • Hybrid facilities were available. • The meeting had been lengthy due to the chairing style. • A good understanding was shown in respect of declarations of interest, however there was some confusion in respect of personal and prejudicial interests. • Feedback was welcomed and areas for improvement were acknowledged. The following was discussed: • Significant issues arising from Independent Member attendance at meetings should be referred to the Monitoring Officer. • The legislation in respect of bilingual meetings was queried. - In response, the Monitoring Officer advised that the Council had a responsibility to ensure that a Councillor could undertake their role in the language of their choice. - Translation facilities should be available if required. - Translation should also be available for the public, who had a right to request a translated version of minutes after the meeting. • It was acknowledged that Clerks, in particular Community Council Clerks were not always remunerated for their role. • Assurance was sought in respect of the impact of budgetary constraints on the threshold in respect of conduct matters and that compromises would not be made. - In response, the Monitoring Officer advised that the Council had an obligation to deal with code of conduct matters. - Assurance was provided that the Council would endeavour to meet their obligations. - How obligations would be met with a diminishing budget was to be discussed. - Code of conduct issues were referred to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales and only a very small number were referred back to the Standards Committee. - Code of Conduct training would assist with reducing the number of issues. Good practice was monitored and joint working took place across Wales in order to ensure consistency.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED- That the Councillors’ Register of Interests be approved by the Standards Committee.
The Councillors’ Register of Interests was presented for the inspection of the Standards Committee. RESOLVED- That the Councillors’ Register of Interests be approved by the Standards Committee.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED- That the register of Gifts and Hospitality be approved by the Standards Committee.
The Councillors’ Register of Gifts and Hospitality was presented for the inspection of the Standards Committee. RESOLVED- That the register of Gifts and Hospitality be approved by the Standards Committee.
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.
Lists the council's current councillors only. Co-opted members, officers and former councillors aren't shown.