Wrthi'n llwytho
Y penderfyniadau fel y mae cofnodion y cyngor yn eu cofnodi. Bydd crynodeb mewn iaith glir yn dilyn pan fydd wedi'i ysgrifennu.
RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED to: • Agree the content of the Draft Democratic Services Committee Annual Report 2025 shown at Appendix A, subject to formatting amendments mentioned. • Delegate to the Head of Democratic Services in consultation with the Chair to the finalise report prior to its submission to Council. • Submit the finalised report to Council for consideration at the earliest opportunity. Receive a publicly accessible concise version of the Democratic Services Committee Annual Report at the next meeting of the Committee.
RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED to: • Defer this matter until the meeting on 27th April 2026 whilst further details of the event can be clarified by the Head of Democratic Services.
RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED: • That the proposal from CfGS would be shared with Committee Members for consultation and feedback. • Delegate to the Head of Democratic Services in consultation with the Chair to the finalise the arrangements for the workshops currently scheduled to take place on 5th and 10th February 2026.
RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED to: • Note the proposed Work Programme appended as Appendix A to the report • Approve its Work Programme.
The Chairperson reminded Members of their responsibility under Part III of the Members’ Code of Conduct to declare any interest in general terms and to complete personal interest forms at the start of the meeting and then, prior to the commencement of the discussion of the item in question, specify whether it is a personal or prejudicial interest. If the interest is prejudicial, Members would be asked to leave the meeting and if the interest is personal, Members would be invited to stay, speak and vote. No declarations were received.
The minutes of the meeting held on 29th September 2025 were approved by the Committee as a correct record and were signed by the Chairperson.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED to: • Agree the content of the Draft Democratic Services Committee Annual Report 2025 shown at Appendix A, subject to formatting amendments mentioned. • Delegate to the Head of Democratic Services in consultation with the Chair to the finalise report prior to its submission to Council. • Submit the finalised report to Council for consideration at the earliest opportunity. Receive a publicly accessible concise version of the Democratic Services Committee Annual Report at the next meeting of the Committee.
The Democratic Services Committee received a summary of the Annual Report which covered the calendar year 2025. It was explained that this is the draft version, and some formatting errors had been identified, which will be corrected before it goes to Full Council. The plan is also to develop a less technical version, following approval, which will be publicly accessible to be used by anyone wanting to stand in the 2027 election, and this will be brought back to the committee for input in April. Areas of the report summarised included the plans for budget reprofiling going forwards, and concerns around low attendance at training offered for Councillors. Members commended Officers on the variety and depth of training available and suggested that low attendance could be attributed to a number of things: Time pressures; Professional experience or experience in other areas of work meaning training was not needed; No interest or need for training in some areas offered. It was also mentioned that there are a lot of different types of training available and that appealing to 79 Councillors training needs will always be a challenge. They agreed that the figures were disappointing, but felt the subject areas were beneficial and it was important to continue to offer these opportunities. Members asked how the topics were decided upon and whether this was demand led, and Officers explained that the current process is part of the Members Learning and Development Strategy and is that if a request is received from an individual member for an area of training and there is interest from other members or needed for a Cabinet briefing or from recommendations from Scrutiny Committees, then it is set up. It can also be done if it is part of an Individual Members review. Members commented on ICT training and the amount of compliance training required, which seemed to be weekly, and not always recorded when completed. They were surprised that this type of training was not mandatory, and Officers explained that it is mandatory for Officers but not Councillors and that reminders are sent weekly via email and the training is done via TEAMS. Members suggested involving group whips to increase attendance at training or sending specific emails detailing nonattendance. Officers explained that reminders emails are sent and the training available is included in the weekly emails sent by the team, but this is worth considering. Members asked about the plans relating to the budget and ICT equipment, given there was 1 more full year for this Administration and Officers explained that there would always be situations where breakage are unavoidable due to accidents or wear and tear, but are confident that the software will comply until 2027 and equipment is not at end of life. Members asked about the plans for the budget and claims for carer’s allowance which had not been included in the budget, especially relating to any contingency for this to increase as currently it is not always claimed, and Officers explained that it is allocated based on the previous year’s spend and if it cannot be absorbed, it is done so centrally. Currently, this is part of the budget reprofiling plan for 2026/2027. Members suggested that when the concise public Democratic Services Report is created, it would be useful to have links to Task and Finish group reports and Officers confirmed that will be done for this report and is also done for Scrutiny Annual Reports. The Chair thanked Officers for the comprehensive and detailed report. RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED to: • Agree the content of the Draft Democratic Services Committee Annual Report 2025 shown at Appendix A, subject to formatting amendments mentioned. • Delegate to the Head of Democratic Services in consultation with the Chair to the finalise report prior to its submission to Council. • Submit the finalised report to Council for consideration at the earliest opportunity. Receive a publicly accessible concise version of the Democratic Services Committee Annual Report at the next meeting of the Committee.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED to: • Defer this matter until the meeting on 27th April 2026 whilst further details of the event can be clarified by the Head of Democratic Services.
The Democratic Services Committee received a summary of the Members Workshop Proposals, including a possible session to be run to develop and induction programme for Councillors. The 2nd of February had been identified as a provisional date for all members to attend. 20 had confirmed, some had declined and there had been no replies from some. The draft proposal from Birmingham University is to provide 2-hour sessions during the day and would be open to all members and some Officers. Following the session, the proposal for the Framework would come back to the Committee in April. This is not in the pack but can be sent out following the meeting. Members asked for clarification on the process and how it would work and Officers explained that the 10 identified characteristics of the 21st Century Councillor would be considered and prioritised during this session with Members, and this would be used to create the Induction programme ourselves. Members asked whether the University was needed for this or whether we could do this internally, and whether they understood the Welsh Context. Officers explained that the Chief Executive had suggested working with Birmingham University initially due to their experience in England and that one of the professors was the Scrutiny Manager in Swansea, so has a background in Welsh Local Government. Members expressed concern over the costs and asked if this session was for training or part of the University’s research and Officers explained that research had been done in England to identify the characteristics and this was being used to develop a framework and to prioritise needs to feed into the Induction training plans. Members suggested that the cost would be better spent if more Councillors could commit and asked how the date for the session had been identified and Officers explained that this has been based on a very busy period towards the end of February and March, but it is provisional and other dates could be considered if that was preferred. Members felt that involving Whips in enlisting more support from Members to create training for future councillors would be a better use of this money and would create more rich data. Clarification was sought on whether this would be separate from the research the University is doing, or whether it is training, as it seemed unfair to pay for a session which feeds into research. Officers will seek clarification on this. Officers agreed to defer this matter until the meeting on 27th April, to cancel the provisional session on 2nd February, re assess and consider if this could be developed internally. RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED to: • Defer this matter until the meeting on 27th April 2026 whilst further details of the event can be clarified by the Head of Democratic Services.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED: • That the proposal from CfGS would be shared with Committee Members for consultation and feedback. • Delegate to the Head of Democratic Services in consultation with the Chair to the finalise the arrangements for the workshops currently scheduled to take place on 5th and 10th February 2026.
The Democratic Services Committee received a summary of the Member Workshop Proposals - Addressing Performance Panel Assessment (PPA). Officers explained that a series of workshops are planned following recommendations from scrutiny to look at the number of pre-decision reports and have been provisionally planned for 5th and 10th February. An independent review is being developed by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CFGS). They are impressed with work done by scrutiny, the approach, how we engage with members and the public. Scrutiny is felt to be working well but this will give an independent confirmation. CFGS have received our proposal but there has been a delay due to bereavement, but their response will be shared as soon as it is received. What we require will then be confirmed and £5,000 has been allocated to fund this from the Scrutiny reserve. Members asked what else can be covered on the PPA given the level of discussion already taken place and Officers explained that to complete an independent review and have this feedback to decide on changes, we need to give opportunities for independent feedback. We will then have data and validation, or detail on recommended changes, and this need to be completed by May 2026. RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED: • That the proposal from CfGS would be shared with Committee Members for consultation and feedback. • Delegate to the Head of Democratic Services in consultation with the Chair to the finalise the arrangements for the workshops currently scheduled to take place on 5th and 10th February 2026.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED to: • Note the proposed Work Programme appended as Appendix A to the report • Approve its Work Programme.
The Democratic Services Committee received a summary of the Forward Work Programme contents included in Appendix A. RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED to: • Note the proposed Work Programme appended as Appendix A to the report • Approve its Work Programme.
There were no urgent items.
27th April 2026 at 4pm.
Rhaid i gynghorwyr ddweud pan fydd ganddyn nhw gysylltiad personol â rhywbeth sy'n cael ei drafod, fel swydd, eiddo neu aelod o'r teulu. Mae buddiant sy'n rhagfarnu yn ddigon cryf i'r cynghorydd adael yr ystafell fel arfer a pheidio â chymryd rhan.
Caiff datganiadau eu darllen o'r cofnodion unwaith y byddan nhw wedi'u cyhoeddi.
Yn rhestru cynghorwyr presennol y cyngor yn unig. Nid yw aelodau cyfetholedig, swyddogion a chyn-gynghorwyr yn cael eu dangos.