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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 Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 21 September 2023 be approved and signed as a correct record.
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee held on 18 September 2023 be noted.
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Conwy Opportunities Board held on 28 September 2023 be noted.
RESOLVED: That the Annual Health & Safety Report 2022-2023 be noted.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mandy Hawkins, Gareth Jones and Trystan Lewis.
None.
None.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 21 September 2023 be approved and signed as a correct record.
The minutes of the Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 21 September 2023 were submitted for approval. RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 21 September 2023 be approved and signed as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee held on 18 September 2023 be noted.
The minutes of the Governance and Audit Committee meeting held on 18 September 2023 were submitted. RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee held on 18 September 2023 be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Conwy Opportunities Board held on 28 September 2023 be noted.
The minutes of the Conwy Opportunities Board held on 28 September 2023 were submitted. It was noted that an action in relation to Parc Eirias had been omitted from the Minutes. This would be raised at the next meeting of the Conwy Opportunities Board. In relation to Minute Number 4 – Overview of allocated grant funding, the Chief Executive would ascertain if thelist of projects with allocated funding could be shared with Members, subject to some exempt information. RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Conwy Opportunities Board held on 28 September 2023 be noted.
None.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: That the Annual Health & Safety Report 2022-2023 be noted.
The Cabinet Member for Democracy and Governance introduced the Annual Health and Safety Report 2022-2023 and the Corporate Occupational Health and Safety Manager highlighted key points from within the report. In scrutinising the report, Members discussed the following: • It was confirmed that income from commercial activities supplemented the Corporate Health and Safety core staff budget. • Issues with training records had been addressed, a policy for contractors had been implemented and was being monitored and a hazard management module within the CAMMS risk management software was imminent. • Concern that non-compliance had increased in respect of the annual site self-assessment. This may be due to staff capacity issues. • Incidents involving violence and aggression were reported to the Health and Safety executive and any criminal incidents were reported to the Police. • The Corporate Occupational Health and Safety Manager would circulate data to Members in respect of incidents involving violence and aggression. • There had been an increase in reporting in respect of school incidents. It was noted that the majority of these incidents related to 5 pupils. Risk strategy meetings were in place along with a Management Group to monitor violence and aggression within schools. • Vaping within school was being monitored and national guidance was being followed. Schools were responding effectively and Headteachers were sharing good practice. • It was confirmed that Corporate Health and Safety did not have responsibility for carrying out investigations in respect of third party organisations. • Concern in respect of the impact of school budget reductions on their ability to respond to incidents. • The risk regarding the current budget for the department was acknowledged. RESOLVED: That the Annual Health & Safety Report 2022-2023 be noted.
The Cabinet Member for Democracy and Governance introduced the Annual Overview and Scrutiny Report for 2022/2023 and the Head of Democratic Services highlighted key points from within the report. In scrutinising the report, Members discussed the following: • Members felt it was a positive report and thanked Democratic Services for all their help and support. • It was felt that, although there had been some concern in respect of the duration of meetings for some Scrutiny Committees, it was important that Members were given the opportunity to thoroughly scrutinise reports. • The success of the Cabinet model was dependent on the Scrutiny function. • The recommendations from the peer review in relation to how current scrutiny arrangements could be used more effectively, with a more efficient use of Member and Officer time would be further discussed by the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-Chairs • It was acknowledged that some Committees did have a higher workload than others. It was suggested that perhaps the Terms of Reference could be reviewed to balance the workloads. • It was suggested by one Member that perhaps the Education and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committees were less effective as the committees needed to focus on the financial challenges faced by the Council and the need to address the problems. • The process for questions to Cabinet Members could be reviewed by the Constitution Working Group to ensure answers to questions were circulated to all Members (if not provided at the meeting). • Whilst Members were consulted on proposals within their wards, it was important that Local Members were consulted at the earliest opportunity. • It was noted that the majority of reports were reviewed prior to democracy by the Report Review Group and at scrutiny pre-meets to ensure they contained the relevant information required by Members to make an informed decision. • It was acknowledged that some Members submitted questions prior to meetings, making scrutiny more effective. • It was suggested that some questions asked in Scrutiny Committees could be better dealt with in advance or outside of the meeting. • The introduction of multi-location meetings had been positive and had improved meeting attendance. • Whilst there were opportunities for members of the public to speak to Overview and Scrutiny Committees, it was acknowledged that public engagement and participation was an important part of the democratic process. It was noted that the Public Participation Strategy would be considered by the Democratic Services Committee shortly. • It was suggested that the public should also be encouraged to raise local issues with Town and Community Councillors. RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL: That the Annual Scrutiny Report for 2022/2023 be approved.
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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