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RESOLVED That the Learning Needs Analysis be approved.
RESOLVED That a seminar be arranged for all Members and a further update be brought to the next Democratic Services Committee.
RESOLVED To recommend to Council as follows: That the Constitution be amended to allow for Assistants to the Executive; and the draft section set out in Appendix 1 of the report be agreed. The Committee then went onto discuss whether Executive Assistant roles should be remunerated highlighting the following points: · There were mixed views expressed in terms of whether the Assistants should be remunerated. It was suggested that without remuneration it would limit the people attracted to such a post and therefore not increase diversity and as such would be an unsustainable model. A view was expressed that Members should be undertaking the role for the right reasons rather than for an allowance. Others considered that they could support remuneration if it was cost neutral and within the funding envelope of the Executive allowance given that the financial constraints facing the Authority will inevitably become greater. · Given that the roles and responsibilities that Executive Assistants would undertake were unknown at present, and whether they would be used by the Leader, the Committee decided that they should remain unremunerated for 12 months. This would enable Council to understand how the roles and responsibilities would be defined and to understand the level of commitment required and then to review the matter thereafter. Moved by Councillor Jamie Adams; Seconded by Councillor Alan Dennison The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED To recommend to Council as follows: That an Executive Assistant role be unremunerated for a period of 12 months and be subject to review after that time.
RESOLVED That the Presiding Member should remain unremunerated and that the matter be considered as part of the Constitutional Review.
RESOLVED That delegated authority be given to the Head of Law and Governance to respond accordingly to the consultation document.
RESOLVED That the timings of Council Meetings survey be approved.
No declarations of interest were received.
Moved by Councillor Di Clements; Seconded by Councillor Joshua Beynon The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 31 March 2022 be approved as a correct record.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED That the Learning Needs Analysis be approved.
The Learning and Organisational Development Advisor presented the Training and Development of Members report. She provided an update on the progress of the Elected Member Induction Training 2022 to date, which included eLearning through Pembrokeshire Online Development (POD). It was also noted that Elected Members would be invited to undertake a Learning Needs Analysis (LNA) to determine individual training needs based on members role profiles, with the Committee asked to consider the LNA attached as an Appendix before being circulated to Members. In response to a query from the Chair on e-learning completion rates compared to five years ago the Learning and Organisational Development Advisor stated that activity had increased. She highlighted the ongoing work with the Learning Management System on email reminders. Councillor Alan Dennison referred to the cyber security e-learning module and advised that the module could have been more interactive. The Learning and Organisational Development Advisor outlined that uptake for this had been good although there was still work to be done on increasing awareness and that she would feed back his comments on the module. Councillor Joshua Beynon commented that he believed the LNA process had been really helpful to him when he was a new member and that it was important to get that message across to new Members. He suggested the Committee members could adopt a champion type role to encourage members to complete the LNA. The Chair in response also highlighted that group Leaders can play a role in promoting that message. Councillor Michelle Bateman suggested that reminders for e learning completion could include uptake figures. She also referred to the LNA stating that it was a good and detailed document; however, the difficulty would be to get Members to complete it. She concluded by referencing the Learning and Development Member Champion role. Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall concurred that the LNA process was important for new Members In response to Councillor Alan Dennison’s query on mentoring, the Learning and Organisational Development Advisor outlined the link officer process for new Members highlighting the importance for feedback from Members. She also highlighted that the link officer group were meeting on a regular basis to identify any common needs and themes. Moved by Councillor Di Clements; Seconded by Councillor Alan Dennison The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Learning Needs Analysis be approved.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED That a seminar be arranged for all Members and a further update be brought to the next Democratic Services Committee.
The Corporate Research and Policy Officer presented the Local Government and Elections Act Participation Strategy Update report. The report set out the progress on the development of a Participation Strategy, which was a requirement under the Local Government and Elections Act. It asked the Committee to note the progress to date and that a further update would be brought to the next Democratic Services Committee meeting. The Committee considered the update report. Councillor Joshua Beynon commented that this was an opportunity for the Authority to do things differently and gave examples of citizens’ assemblies and trialling different strategies that other Authorities or parliaments use. He highlighted the importance of getting communities involved and changing the relationship with the Council and communities. He also highlighted working with the third sector and Town and Community Councils. Councillor Jamie Adams queried the need for such direct access as Members were elected to be the conduit and act on the public’s behalf, although he recognised that there were occasions when the knowledge and experience of Members did need to be supplemented. He highlighted the issue of the public getting fatigued with too many consultations and the importance of getting the right balance. The Chair suggested a seminar might be useful for Members to provide a better understanding of the Participation Strategy. The Corporate Research and Policy Officer highlighted that the strategy was to identify the key priority policy areas and run broader engagement around key policy areas and feed into the more formal decision making processes, so engaging less frequently. She referred to a number of sessions with employees who had highlighted the same issue of consultation fatigue. She asked about future engagement for Members and whether there should be a working group or open to all Members. Councillor Jamie Adams commented that the amount of engagement was dependent on the subject matter and can sometimes be difficult to get valuable feedback in areas where there was limited interest. Councillor Joshua Beynon highlighted that although Members do represent their communities, they can only represent the views that have been expressed to them. He stated that there were large parts of society that were not engaged in the process and therefore do not get their views represented and the strategy needed to look at building trust within communities to enable better engagement. In terms of future engagement with Members on the strategy, Councillor Beynon stated he felt the process should be open to all Members while overseen by this Committee. In response to Councillor Alan Dennison’s query on consultations, the Corporate Research and Policy Officer advised that formal consultations often were a statutory requirement and had formal processes to follow. Where the Authority consult and there was no statutory requirement then the Authority try to follow the Gunning principles established through case law. Councillor Sam Skyrme – Blackhall highlighted the positive local engagement that had happened in her area in relation to a local housing development where engagement with the local community had started in the early stages There was consensus by the Committee that engagement on the strategy should be open to all Members through a seminar. Moved by Councillor Di Clements; Seconded by Councillor Alan Dennison The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That a seminar be arranged for all Members and a further update be brought to the next Democratic Services Committee.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED To recommend to Council as follows: That the Constitution be amended to allow for Assistants to the Executive; and the draft section set out in Appendix 1 of the report be agreed. The Committee then went onto discuss whether Executive Assistant roles should be remunerated highlighting the following points: · There were mixed views expressed in terms of whether the Assistants should be remunerated. It was suggested that without remuneration it would limit the people attracted to such a post and therefore not increase diversity and as such would be an unsustainable model. A view was expressed that Members should be undertaking the role for the right reasons rather than for an allowance. Others considered that they could support remuneration if it was cost neutral and within the funding envelope of the Executive allowance given that the financial constraints facing the Authority will inevitably become greater. · Given that the roles and responsibilities that Executive Assistants would undertake were unknown at present, and whether they would be used by the Leader, the Committee decided that they should remain unremunerated for 12 months. This would enable Council to understand how the roles and responsibilities would be defined and to understand the level of commitment required and then to review the matter thereafter. Moved by Councillor Jamie Adams; Seconded by Councillor Alan Dennison The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED To recommend to Council as follows: That an Executive Assistant role be unremunerated for a period of 12 months and be subject to review after that time.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the report for the consideration of the Committee on Providing for Assistants to the Executive Pursuant to the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021. It was noted that the report had been considered by Council on the 26 May 2022 and was referred to this Committee for further consideration. In considering the report the Committee made the following points: · There was a consensus that the appointment of Executive Assistants provided a good way to involve backbench Members in the Executive decision-making process and to assist their understanding of how the Executive operated. It was considered that these roles would provide the opportunity for the progression and development of Members and a means of utilising the various skills that existed amongst backbench Members. It was also considered beneficial for succession planning. · Councillor Jamie Adams pointed out that the idea was not radical as Assistants had operated in the Executive some 20 years ago. Those Assistants were appointed on a cost neutral basis with the Assistants receiving a third of the SRA of the full Cabinet Member. · The Chair raised concern that the appointment of Executive Assistants could be used as a power building exercise. However, it was suggested that this was no different to how political groups operated in terms of voting. Moved by Councillor Jamie Adams; Seconded by Councillor Joshua Beynon The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED To recommend to Council as follows: That the Constitution be amended to allow for Assistants to the Executive; and the draft section set out in Appendix 1 of the report be agreed. The Committee then went onto discuss whether Executive Assistant roles should be remunerated highlighting the following points: · There were mixed views expressed in terms of whether the Assistants should be remunerated. It was suggested that without remuneration it would limit the people attracted to such a post and therefore not increase diversity and as such would be an unsustainable model. A view was expressed that Members should be undertaking the role for the right reasons rather than for an allowance. Others considered that they could support remuneration if it was cost neutral and within the funding envelope of the Executive allowance given that the financial constraints facing the Authority will inevitably become greater. · Given that the roles and responsibilities that Executive Assistants would undertake were unknown at present, and whether they would be used by the Leader, the Committee decided that they should remain unremunerated for 12 months. This would enable Council to understand how the roles and responsibilities would be defined and to understand the level of commitment required and then to review the matter thereafter. Moved by Councillor Jamie Adams; Seconded by Councillor Alan Dennison The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED To recommend to Council as follows: That an Executive Assistant role be unremunerated for a period of 12 months and be subject to review after that time.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED That the Presiding Member should remain unremunerated and that the matter be considered as part of the Constitutional Review.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the report, which asked Members to consider whether the Presiding Member should receive a Senior Responsibility Allowance (SRA). It was noted that Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW) sets the basic, senior and civic salaries for elected Members of principal Councils. The Panel also sets the maximum number of Council membership eligible for payment of senior salaries based on populations, as they have concluded that the size of population remains a major factor in influencing levels of responsibility. The Committee considered the report. Councillor Jamie Adams queried how many Members had indicated support that the Presiding Member should be remunerated and from which political group. It was noted that four Members unaffiliated to any party had indicated support, with it clarified that the Constitution was being reviewed and that this matter would form part of that review. Councillor Jamie Adams stated he was not comfortable with a piece-meal approach and concerned that the proposal would be adding to the democratic function budget and therefore he was not in favour of a remuneration package. He commented that he believed the number of Members on each committee could be looked at as part of the review of the Constitution. Councillor Alan Dennison referred to option C within the report in terms of merging the Policy and Pre-decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee with the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee and agreed that there was confusion and crossover between the two remits. Councillor Elwyn Morse suggested that due to a reduced workload in the Chairman’s role could there be a possibility to use some of that remuneration for the Presiding Member. In response, the Head of Democratic Services, clarified that the Chairman and Vice Chairman were roles that were remunerated from the Civic allowance and not from the SRA allowance. Councillor Joshua Beynon stated that he believed that the Presiding Member was an important role and had a different skill set to that of the Civic role of the Chairman. He expressed his support for the Presiding Member to be remunerated and that his preference was option A in the report, which was to use the tenth cabinet member allowance that was not currently being utilised. Councillor Michelle Bateman queried whether the IRPW could increase the SRA cap on request and for the Chairman and Vice Chairman remuneration to be reduced, so that it would be cost neutral. It was noted that the Chairman and Vice Chairman were paid at a set level so could not be reduced; however, it was clarified that there was an option to not remunerate a Vice Chairman. In response to a query on timescales for a review of the Constitution, the Head of Democratic Services advised that review work was already underway and that it would be presented to the Constitutional Review Committee in Autumn 2022. The Chair commented that any remuneration should be cost neutral and suggested work should be done on how to use the Vice Chairman remuneration for the Presiding Member as part of the Constitutional Review. Councillor Jamie Adams highlighted that it would be unfair to make the role remunerated at this stage, as if the role had been remunerated Members might have put themselves forward for the role. The Head of Democratic Services confirmed that this report and discussion would feed into the Constitutional Review. Moved by Councillor Jamie Adams; Seconded by Councillor Di Clements The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Presiding Member should remain unremunerated and that the matter be considered as part of the Constitutional Review.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED That delegated authority be given to the Head of Law and Governance to respond accordingly to the consultation document.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the report on the Consultation on Statutory Guidance and Directions made under the Local Government Act 2000, the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 and the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021. The Committee was asked to consider whether it wished to respond to the consultation document and if delegated authority be given to the Head of Law and Governance to respond accordingly. In considering the report Councillor Jamie Adams queried capacity within the Democratic Services team to put together a response and suggested a short, bulleted response be provided. In response the Head of Democratic Services advised that capacity was an issue in the team: however, engagement in the process would be beneficial. Moved by Councillor Alan Dennison; Seconded by Councillor Jamie Adams The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That delegated authority be given to the Head of Law and Governance to respond accordingly to the consultation document.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED That the timings of Council Meetings survey be approved.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the report which asked the Committee to consider a draft survey seeking Members’ views on the timing, length and frequency of meetings of full Council and any Committee or Sub-Committee. It was noted that by virtue of section 6 (2) of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011, local authorities must have regard to this Guidance in respect of the times and intervals at which meetings of a local authority were held. In considering the draft survey the Members made no changes and approved that the survey be sent out to Members to seek their views on the timings of council meetings. The Head of Democratic Services clarified that the findings of the survey would be reported back to this Committee in September 2022. Moved by Councillor Jamie Adams; Seconded by Councillor Di Clements The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the timings of Council Meetings survey be approved.
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