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RESOLVED That the updates outlined in the report be noted.
RESOLVED (a) That the revised Participation Strategy Action Plan be noted and that the Strategy be reviewed on an annual basis. (b) That the communications element of the Strategy be added to the Forward Work Programme for the next meeting (June 2024).
RESOLVED (a) That the report be noted. (b) That all Members be encouraged to complete a Personal Development Review. (c) That all Members of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Policy and Pre-decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee be strongly recommended to undertake financial training.
RESOLVED That the report be noted and that the current electronic Petition Scheme remains in place.
RESOLVED (a) That the contents of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales’ Draft Annual Report for 2024-25, be noted. (b) That the Head of Democratic Services be delegated discretion to determine when it will be appropriate to apply a day or a half day rate or to use an hourly rate, where it is sensible to aggregate a number of short meetings. (c) That the current cap on Co-opted Member payments remain in place. (d) That the Committee be provided with a comparison in 2025, to determine which method of payment is most cost effective.
RESOLVED That the Democratic Services Committee Programme/Timetable for 2024-25, with the inclusion of an oral update to be received at the June 2024 meeting regarding Voter ID, be approved.
There were no Declarations of Interest.
Moved by Councillor Di Clements; Seconded by Councillor Joshua Beynon. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 29 September 2023 be approved as a correct record.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED That the updates outlined in the report be noted.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the report and outlined the actions from the 29 September 2023 meeting, as well as progress made against the actions. In considering the report, the following key points were made: • Councillor Di Clements wished for an update regarding multi location meetings, and whether the new process was working for the Democratic Services team. The Head of Democratic Services confirmed that the process was working well, and explained that there were less follow up emails regarding Members’ future meeting attendance. • The Chair sought clarification as to whether Members were providing their apologies, or still required follow up emails. The Head of Democratic Services confirmed that less follow up emails were now required and explained that if there were sufficient numbers, then a determination for in person meetings would be made 48 hours in advance of the meeting regardless. The Recommendation was Moved by Councillor Di Clements; Seconded by Councillor Joshua Beynon. The vote, undertaken by a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the updates outlined in the report be noted.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED (a) That the revised Participation Strategy Action Plan be noted and that the Strategy be reviewed on an annual basis. (b) That the communications element of the Strategy be added to the Forward Work Programme for the next meeting (June 2024).
The Head of Democratic Services presented the report and stated that the Authority had a legal duty to prepare and produce a Participation Strategy, to set out how it would encourage local people to participate in decision making. She explained that the Strategy and the action plan were adopted by Cabinet in January 2023, with Cabinet suggesting that the action plan be monitored by the Policy and Pre-Decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as well as the Democratic Services Committee, to give assurance of progress being made. The Head of Democratic Services then went on to outline the actions from the most recent Policy and Pre-Decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which resulted in a revised action plan to ensure the Council’s efforts in progressing the agenda were focused. The Head of Democratic Services then raised potential duplication of effort, given that the Policy and Pre-Decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee was monitoring the Strategy and the action plan, as well as the Democratic Services Committee. She suggested that a discussion could take place to determine whether to continue monitoring the action plan, or whether to leave the matter to the Policy and Pre-Decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee in future. In considering the report, the following key points were made: • Councillor Joshua Beynon raised concern around the statistics in Appendix 2 to the report, and highlighted that engagement via the consultation platform ‘Have Your Say’ had reduced by half in less than a year. He commented that the language used on such platforms was not engaging and wished to discuss types of messaging and communications, in order to improve engagement. As the Chair of the Policy and Pre-Decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Beynon believed it to be important that the Strategy continued to be reviewed by both committees, as they both focussed on different aspects of the Strategy. • The Chair highlighted that engagement with Town and Community Councils had improved and hoped that it would continue to progress. • Councillor Di Clements referred to the ‘Have Your Say’ consultation regarding the budget over the busy Christmas period, and believed that the timing in relation to gaining public involvement was important. She then mentioned engagement with Town and Community Councils in regards to the Boundary Review. Councillor Clements also stated that meeting reports and minutes were quite lengthy for the public to read, and suggested bullet point lists for ease. Councillor Clements then sought clarification as to whether the election statistics included information regarding the ages of registered voters. In response, the Corporate Planning Manager clarified that the amount of young voters could not usually be identified. • Councillor Michelle Bateman stated that it was difficult to pinpoint which actions within the Strategy were having the biggest amount of impact. She also mentioned getting the balance right on the engagement platforms, especially between the amount of barriers in place to avoid multiple responses, and the ease of use for members of the public. Councillor Bateman commented that the budget modeller on the Council website was very useful. She then stated that conversations with people and other informal engagement was valuable, and highlighted that digital technology continued to be a barrier for some people. • The Corporate Policy and Research Officer welcomed the feedback given regarding the ‘Have Your Say’ platform, and stated that comments would be taken on board and considered, as the team wished to make communication as clear as possible and stated that access was also important. She also referred to the Working Group who were reviewing the platform, and stated that the Committee’s comments were timely. • The Chair then highlighted the importance of information being sent out to local communities via Elected Members. Councillor Clements Moved the Recommendation, with an Amendment that the Strategy be reviewed on an annual basis; . Seconded by Councillor Joshua Beynon. • The Head of Democratic Services wished to clarify the earlier point made by Councillor Beynon regarding communications, and whether the Committee wished for the matter to come back to the next meeting. Councillor Beynon confirmed that he wished for the matter to be added as an item to the next meeting of the Committee, with focus on the language used within communications to the public, specifically via social media. The Head of Democratic Services suggested that Communication colleagues be invited to the next meeting, as well as members of the Working Group previously mentioned by the Corporate Policy and Research Officer. Councillor Clements confirmed that she was happy to include this point within the Motion. The vote, undertaken by way of roll-call, was carried. The votes were recorded as follows: For the Motion: Councillors Pat Davies, Joshua Beynon, Di Clements, Michelle Bateman and Sam Skyrme-Blackhall [5] There were no votes against or abstentions. RESOLVED (a) That the revised Participation Strategy Action Plan be noted and that the Strategy be reviewed on an annual basis. (b) That the communications element of the Strategy be added to the Forward Work Programme for the next meeting (June 2024).
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED (a) That the report be noted. (b) That all Members be encouraged to complete a Personal Development Review. (c) That all Members of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Policy and Pre-decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee be strongly recommended to undertake financial training.
The Learning and Development Manager introduced the report and explained the detail around the ELearning Pembrokeshire Online Development (POD) system, including essential modules, engagements and Meta Compliance. She also referred to the Personal Development Review (PDR), which involved a confidential, supportive conversation with each elected Member in regards to their learning activities, and stated that a pilot had taken place with Councillor Pat Davies. In considering the report, the following key points were made: • In relation to the Personal Development Review, Councillor Davies stated that the pilot was interesting and that it would be helpful for Members who wished to gain more experience and progress what they were doing within the Authority. She suggested that she could speak to Group Leaders to encourage them to support their Members to take up the PDR. • Councillor Di Clements stated that she would be happy to encourage Members to undertake the PDR. She commented that she also urged her Group Members to undertake their training via regular meetings. • Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall agreed that the PDR would be a good way forward in order to express the need for certain training, issues or matters relating to engagement. She stated that when she first joined the Authority, the buddy system in place at the time did not work particularly well. • Councillor Joshua Beynon believed that a PDR would be beneficial to Members, and suggested that an email be sent initially to Members who were elected in 2022, to offer the opportunity first and ultimately determine how well the process would work. • Councillor Michelle Bateman commented that things were always changing within the Authority, therefore it would be useful to have further training in order to gain current knowledge and information. She also referred to the capacity within the Learning and Development team and how the process could potentially not be delivered sufficiently due to low capacity. Councillor Bateman then suggested a timescale for the process, which would allow the Learning and Development team to look for common themes between Members, especially in regards to requested training. • The Learning and Development Manager stated that she would be happy to do a staged process with Members elected in 2022, and agreed it would help to complete the process. • Councillor Clements raised the point of requiring training but not having enough Members to carry out the training, and emphasised the need to not overpromise. The Head of Democratic then outlined the key points around Members training and seminar attendance, as well as potential mandatory financial training for Members of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and the Policy and Pre-Decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as per requests from the relevant Chairs of both Committees. She explained that the Director of Resources had agreed to rerun his financial training session for Members of both Committees and all Members as a refresher. In considering this aspect of the report, the following key points were made: • Councillor Beynon believed that all Members should undertake financial training, but appreciated that the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Policy and Pre-Decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee covered more financial matters within their respective meetings. He also suggested a briefing note of the seminar outlining the key points for Members who may be unable to make the session. • Councillor Clements sought clarification as to the attendance figures for the unconscious bias training, as Members were strongly encouraged to attend at the time. The Head of Democratic Services stated that several Members had not undertaken the training, but highlighted that due to a strong message from the Chairs of the Senior Staff and Democratic Services Committees, numbers were improved. She explained that such training could not be made mandatory, but suggested that the best way forward was to reinforce the message that Members were recommended to undertake the training. • Councillor Clements wished to include the words ‘strongly recommend’ within the Recommendation. • Councillor Bateman wished to include Governance and Audit Committee Members on the recommended training. The Head of Democratic stated that those Members did have specific Governance and Audit training, but explained that the Chair of that Committee had requested that the financial training be available to Co-opted Members as well. The Recommendation was Moved by Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall; Seconded by Councillor Di Clements. The vote, undertaken by way of roll-call, was carried. The votes were recorded as follows: For the Motion: Councillors Pat Davies, Joshua Beynon, Di Clements, Michelle Bateman and Sam Skyrme-Blackhall [5] There were no votes against or abstentions. RESOLVED (a) That the report be noted. (b) That all Members be encouraged to complete a Personal Development Review. (c) That all Members of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Policy and Pre-decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee be strongly recommended to undertake financial training.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED That the report be noted and that the current electronic Petition Scheme remains in place.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the report and stated that whilst considering the report at Council in October 2023, Councillor Alec Cormack requested that other schemes be explored in light of his experience in using the Council’s online petition scheme. She then outlined the detail around other petition platforms and the potential options. In considering the report, the following key points were made: • Councillor Di Clements stated that Option 3 was not a viable option and instead supported Option 1, the Status Quo. She believed that the changes made to the system required time to settle and suggested that those changes could be reviewed in a few years’ time. Option 1, the Status Quo, was Moved by Councillor Di Clements; Seconded by Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall. The vote, undertaken by way of roll-call, was carried. The votes were recorded as follows: For the Motion: Councillors Pat Davies, Joshua Beynon, Di Clements, Michelle Bateman and Sam Skyrme-Blackhall [5] There were no votes against or abstentions. RESOLVED That the report be noted and that the current electronic Petition Scheme remains in place.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED (a) That the contents of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales’ Draft Annual Report for 2024-25, be noted. (b) That the Head of Democratic Services be delegated discretion to determine when it will be appropriate to apply a day or a half day rate or to use an hourly rate, where it is sensible to aggregate a number of short meetings. (c) That the current cap on Co-opted Member payments remain in place. (d) That the Committee be provided with a comparison in 2025, to determine which method of payment is most cost effective.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the report and stated that the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW) issued their draft Annual Report for 2024 in October 2023 for consultation purposes, and that the final report was due to be published at the end of the February 2024. She had been advised that the Panel was unable to confirm the final date of publication, but was assured that there would be no major changes. She then went on to outline the determinations and that the Panel had proposed a 6% increase on the basic allowance for Members, which would be effective from the 1 April 2024. The Head of Democratic Services then explained that the IRPW had recommended flexibility with the payment of Co-opted Members, and had considered moving to an hourly rate, as this would better reflect the new ways of working and hours actually worked. She stated that the Panel recognised that this may not always be appropriate, however, especially to cover in-person meetings scheduled to last several hours. Therefore, it was proposed by the Panel that there should be local flexibility to the relevant Officer, in order to decide when it was appropriate to pay the day or half day rate, or the hourly rate. She also highlighted that a determination needed to be made in relation to the payment cap. In considering the report, the following key points were made: • Councillor Di Clements stated her support for the status quo, but sought clarification as to whether Option B would allow the Head of Democratic Services the ability to determine a full or half day pay. The Head of Democratic Services explained that there was difficulty in determining the process of aggregating small meetings, as it could result in delayed payments and inconsistency across all Local Authorities. She stated that until the final report was received, it would be a safe option to choose the determination as outlined in the report, to allow for flexibility. • Councillor Clements then sought clarification as to whether the determination in the report would create more work for the team. The Head of Democratic Services stated that it would not be more time consuming and commented that the difficulty would be understanding which method of payment to apply each time. • The Chair suggested that a further Recommendation be added, to the effect that discretion be given to the Head of Democratic Services. Councillors Di Clements and Michelle Bateman agreed. • The Head of Democratic Services clarified that the hourly rate option could not be applied across the board, and would only be applied to non-regular meetings and training. She highlighted that it would be worth keeping the matter under review. • Councillor Clements stated her support for the status quo and commented that it would be useful to be provided with a comparison over the next few years to determine which method of payment was most cost effective, and that this point be added to the Recommendation. The Chair agreed. • The Head of Democratic Services agreed to provide the Committee with a comparison in 2025, when the final IRPW report for that year was received. The Recommendation was Moved by Councillor Di Clements; Seconded by Councillor Pat Davies. The vote, undertaken by way of roll-call, was carried. The votes were recorded as follows: For the Motion: Councillors Pat Davies, Joshua Beynon, Di Clements, Michelle Bateman and Sam Skyrme-Blackhall [5] There were no votes against or abstentions. RESOLVED (a) That the contents of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales’ Draft Annual Report for 2024-25, be noted. (b) That the Head of Democratic Services be delegated discretion to determine when it will be appropriate to apply a day or a half day rate or to use an hourly rate, where it is sensible to aggregate a number of short meetings. (c) That the current cap on Co-opted Member payments remain in place. (d) That the Committee be provided with a comparison in 2025, to determine which method of payment is most cost effective.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED That the Democratic Services Committee Programme/Timetable for 2024-25, with the inclusion of an oral update to be received at the June 2024 meeting regarding Voter ID, be approved.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the report and outlined the key changes that had been made to the current Forward Work Programme. Councillor Michelle Bateman wished to receive an oral update in relation to issues encountered with the Photo ID required for elections, following the Police and Crime Panel election in May 2024. The Head of Democratic Services confirmed that this would be added to the June meeting. The Recommendation was Moved by Councillor Di Clements; Seconded by Councillor Michelle Bateman. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Democratic Services Committee Programme/Timetable for 2024-25, with the inclusion of an oral update to be received at the June 2024 meeting regarding Voter ID, be approved.
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