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RESOLVED To grant the dispensation to Councillors Jones and Burns allowing them to speak and vote at Council meetings regarding the Llangattock Community Benefit Society Ltd: 1. where the Councillors have more than 100th of the total share capital the dispensation will come into effect and 2. provided that there is no pecuniary interest and where any pecuniary interest occurs the dispensation will automatically end. The Monitoring officer advised he would confirm the decision in writing. Councillor Jones thanked the Committee for its consideration. C. Ombudsman Wales – Our Findings The Community Sub-Committee noted that details of cases are available in Ombudsman Wales - Our Findings. D. Adjudication Panel for Wales Details of cases considered by the APW are available on its website Decisions | The Adjudication Panel for Wales (gov.wales) E. Meeting Dates The following Sub-Committee dates were noted. The meetings will follow the Standards Committee meetings which commence at 2pm: 18 June 13 October
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following item of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 8 of The Council’s Access to Information Rules. Councillor S Deeks D’Silva left the meeting.
Resolved that 1. a number of Sub-Committee members would observe an online meeting of the Council and feedback views to the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer, 2. on receipt of the feedback the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer would contact One Voice Wales [OVW] to enquire if OVW could provide training to the Council and 3. the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer would write to the Council in question advising it of the above inviting it to a meeting of the Standards Community Sub-Committee to discuss issues and 4. a response would be sent to the PSOW advising it of the above actions.
The Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer apologised to Councillors Steve Deeks D’Silva, Tim Jones, Helen Burns for the delay in starting the meeting due to IT issues. Apologies for absence were received from Mr J Goolden, Independent Member and Councillor R White, town councillor.
The Chair was authorised to sign the minutes of the previous meeting of the Sub-Committee held on 25 October 2023 as a correct.
There were no declarations of interest.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED To grant the dispensation to Councillors Jones and Burns allowing them to speak and vote at Council meetings regarding the Llangattock Community Benefit Society Ltd: 1. where the Councillors have more than 100th of the total share capital the dispensation will come into effect and 2. provided that there is no pecuniary interest and where any pecuniary interest occurs the dispensation will automatically end. The Monitoring officer advised he would confirm the decision in writing. Councillor Jones thanked the Committee for its consideration. C. Ombudsman Wales – Our Findings The Community Sub-Committee noted that details of cases are available in Ombudsman Wales - Our Findings. D. Adjudication Panel for Wales Details of cases considered by the APW are available on its website Decisions | The Adjudication Panel for Wales (gov.wales) E. Meeting Dates The following Sub-Committee dates were noted. The meetings will follow the Standards Committee meetings which commence at 2pm: 18 June 13 October
The Committee received the report of the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer (copy filed with signed minutes). A Referral of Councillors to Public Services Ombudsman A1. Town and Community Councillor Referrals The abbreviations used in the headings are as follows: MO – Monitoring Officer OW – Ombudsman Wales Stds – Standards Community Sub-Committee APW - Adjudication Panel for Wales The column titled “Date OW notified MO of complaint” has been deleted as such notifications are no longer received. The current position regarding matters with the Ombudsman is detailed below: Ref Date OW advised investigating or not investigating Date OW’s decision Date considered by Stds Date considered by APW 03/22 26/09/22 investigating 06/22 31/05/23 investigating 03/23 14/09/23 not investigating --- ---- --- 04/23 21/11/23 not investigating --- --- --- 05/23 29/11/23 investigating 06/23 19/03/24 investigating 01/24 30/07/24 not investigating --- --- --- 02/24 30/07/24 not investigating --- --- --- 03/24 30/07/24 not investigating --- --- --- 04/24 14/08/24 investigating 05/24 04/11/24 not investigating --- --- --- 06/24 16/12/24 not investigating --- --- --- 07/24 04/12/24 not investigating --- --- --- 08/24 04/12/24 not investigating --- --- --- 09/24 04/12/24 not investigating --- --- --- 10/24 07/12/24 not investigating --- --- --- 11/24 07/12/24 not investigating --- --- --- 12/24 10/12/24 not investigating --- --- --- 13/24 16/12/24 investigating 14/24 16/12/24 investigating 15/24 14/01/25 not investigating --- --- --- 16/24 30/01/25 not investigating --- --- --- B. Dispensations - Applications by Town and Community Councillors The Chair welcomed Councillors Helen Burns and Tim Jones of Llangattock Community Council to the meeting. The Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer thanked Councillor Jones for the useful update received earlier in the day, which had been circulated to the Committee. In the update Councillor Jones advised that he and Councillors Burns have been appointed by the Llangattock Community Council to be its representatives on the Board of the Llangattock Community Benefit Society [LCBS] Limited. The Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer advised that these appointments would be a personal interest if the matters relating to that Society were discussed at the Community Council. It would not be a prejudicial interest preventing them from participating and voting in those debates as Section 12 (2) (iii) of the Code of Conduct excludes there being a prejudicial interest where the Council is considering business which relates to a body upon which councillors have been elected, appointed or nominated to represent their council. They would not need a dispensation as they would not have a prejudicial interest which would prevent them from participating in any debate or vote. However, their application also refers to both the Councillors being “paid up members of the one member, one vote Society”. Section 10 (2) (a) (iv) of the Code of Conduct states that there will be a personal interest if the councillor has a 100th or more of the total issued share capital of the company. Therefore, this issue needs to be considered and the Committee needs further information from the councillors on: i. whether or not they each individually would hold more than 100th of the total share capital in the company and ii. whether they would abstain from obtaining shares in the Society, so avoiding a personal interest and they just relied upon their membership of the organisation via their Community Council appointment. Councillor Jones thanked the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer for the clarification regarding the issue of shares. He advised that the Society hoped to have more than 100 Members. There are 1000 residents within Llangattock and on the basis of the interest of volunteers and responses to a survey they hope there would be over 100 members. At this point in time a share offer has not yet been issued and so it is not possible to say with absolute certainty that over 100 members would be achieved but it is hoped and anticipated. In respect of the second point raised by the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer, one of the rules of the Society is that in order to be a director the councillors would be required to be Members and so have shares. Councillor Jones advised that he and Councillor Burns have been leading this process through the Llangattock Community Place Plan and because of their background and skills and their previous involvement they are ideally placed to take this forward with the support of the community. It is for this reason that they are seeking this dispensation and would ask the Committee to consider the bigger view on this and they are acting in something which even if it did create a pecuniary interest it would be a very small one. The Society is not anticipated to make a lot of money. In response to a question Councillor Jones advised that based on the current set of rules setting up the LCBS any income would be reinvested or redistributed to local causes. The intention is that a share offer would be made and this would state that any income would be redistributed in the community. However, in the future the membership may change the rules and this would then need to be addressed further. Councillor Burns confirmed the points made by Councillor Jones. The intention is to provide a community hub with a shop and cafe facility, which was in response to residents’ views expressed in the Place Plan. She advised it was not a money-making venture but the facilities had to support itself. She advised that there were restrictions within the rules of the Community Benefit Society to ensure that that individuals do not profit from this. In response to a question she advised 60 people have already volunteered to be involved. In response to a question Councillor Jones advised that they could be involved without holding shares but they have to have shares if they are directors. He advised that one of the key roles is community engagement and Councillor Burns is one of the leaders of Llangattock Village Society, which is very active in trying to get volunteers. He advised he is a communications professional and supports the Community Council and other bodies with stills and videos etc and so it is possible for him to do that without being a director. However, he with others had been involved in driving through the Place Plan and it would seem appropriate for them to be involved in the next stage. He indicated that if the rules precluded them from being involved they would look at how to work a way around it. He is the Chair of the Community Council and would not want to give that up. In response to a question about what would happen if the community shop was successful and a retailer offered to buy it, Councillor Jones advised that the Society’s rules put forward to the Financial Conduct Authority includes a voluntary asset log and the shareholding could only pass assets to a similar body constituted in a similar way. The Committee moved into private session to consider the applications. On their return the Chair announced the Sub-Committee’s decision. RESOLVED To grant the dispensation to Councillors Jones and Burns allowing them to speak and vote at Council meetings regarding the Llangattock Community Benefit Society Ltd: 1. where the Councillors have more than 100th of the total share capital the dispensation will come into effect and 2. provided that there is no pecuniary interest and where any pecuniary interest occurs the dispensation will automatically end. The Monitoring officer advised he would confirm the decision in writing. Councillor Jones thanked the Committee for its consideration. C. Ombudsman Wales – Our Findings The Community Sub-Committee noted that details of cases are available in Ombudsman Wales - Our Findings. D. Adjudication Panel for Wales Details of cases considered by the APW are available on its website Decisions | The Adjudication Panel for Wales (gov.wales) E. Meeting Dates The following Sub-Committee dates were noted. The meetings will follow the Standards Committee meetings which commence at 2pm: 18 June 13 October
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following item of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 8 of The Council’s Access to Information Rules. Councillor S Deeks D’Silva left the meeting.
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following item of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 8 of The Council’s Access to Information Rules. Councillor S Deeks D’Silva left the meeting.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
Resolved that 1. a number of Sub-Committee members would observe an online meeting of the Council and feedback views to the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer, 2. on receipt of the feedback the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer would contact One Voice Wales [OVW] to enquire if OVW could provide training to the Council and 3. the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer would write to the Council in question advising it of the above inviting it to a meeting of the Standards Community Sub-Committee to discuss issues and 4. a response would be sent to the PSOW advising it of the above actions.
The Sub-Committee considered the letter from the Public Service Ombudsman Wales [PSOW]. The PSOW has advised that for the year 2023/24 it had received a disproportionate and significant number of complaints about a Council and had asked the Sub-Committee how it considered it could support it in respect of Code of Conduct issues. The Sub-Committee considered the issues. Resolved that 1. a number of Sub-Committee members would observe an online meeting of the Council and feedback views to the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer, 2. on receipt of the feedback the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer would contact One Voice Wales [OVW] to enquire if OVW could provide training to the Council and 3. the Head of Legal and Monitoring Officer would write to the Council in question advising it of the above inviting it to a meeting of the Standards Community Sub-Committee to discuss issues and 4. a response would be sent to the PSOW advising it of the above actions.
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.
Dyw'r cyngor ddim wedi cofnodi presenoldeb ar gyfer y cyfarfod hwn.
Yn rhestru cynghorwyr presennol y cyngor yn unig. Nid yw aelodau cyfetholedig, swyddogion a chyn-gynghorwyr yn cael eu dangos.