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 to approve the minutes of the 22ND April 2024 as an accurate reflection of the meeting.
RESOLVED: i. To review the draft Annual report, as appended at Appendix 1 of the report. ii. To a gree for the Monitoring Officer to endorse the Standards Committee Annual Report 2023/24 to a future Council meeting.
RESOLVED: i. To approve the Work Programme for the Municipal Year 2024-2025, as set out in Appendix 2 to the report
RESOLVED: i. To consider the recent decisions made by the Adjudication Panel for Wales (as appended to the report); and ii. To determines whether there are any possible messages or lessons to be learnt arising out of the decisions that could be communicated as part of future training for Members on the Code of Conduct.
RESOLVED: i. To consider the feedback of the Council’s Democratic Services Committee following its consideration of an amended version of the Council’s Member-Officer Relations Protocol, and ii. That a further version of the protocol be presented to the Standards Committee, following rephrasing of 9.4 of the protocol.
RESOLVED: i. To consider the contents of the report and provide any comments/feedback on the complaints received by the Ombudsman during the period 1st April 2024 – 31st August 2024.
RESOLVED: i. To note and consider the contents of the summary of investigation outcomes concerning alleged breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct, originally published by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales on the ‘our findings’ section of her website and attached as Appendix 1 to the report.
In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, there were no declarations made pertaining to the agenda.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the 22ND April 2024 as an accurate reflection of the meeting.
It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the 22ND April 2024 as an accurate reflection of the meeting.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED: i. To review the draft Annual report, as appended at Appendix 1 of the report. ii. To a gree for the Monitoring Officer to endorse the Standards Committee Annual Report 2023/24 to a future Council meeting.
The Monitoring Officer presented to Members a draft Annual report of the Committee for the previous 2023-2024 municipal year. Members were advised that subject to Members approval the draft would be presented to full Council for consideration at a future date. The Monitoring Officer provided a brief overview of the report and the achievements listed, which although were not exhaustive, reflected some of the Committees considerations over the last year. Notable examples were provided of how the Committee has worked to tackle important issues in a collaborative and efficient way which included commencing the review of the Member- Officer Protocol. Members commetned on the report and reflected on the meeting arragenments for the forthcoming year, which the Chair agreed to review, to ensure the Committee undertook its meeting to best suit all Members needs. The Committee RESOLVED: i. To review the draft Annual report, as appended at Appendix 1 of the report. ii. To a gree for the Monitoring Officer to endorse the Standards Committee Annual Report 2023/24 to a future Council meeting.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED: i. To approve the Work Programme for the Municipal Year 2024-2025, as set out in Appendix 2 to the report
The Monitoring Officer provided Members with the Standards Committee’s Work Programme and the proposed items for consideration by the Standards Committee during the Municipal Year 2024-2025. The Committee were reminded of the Standards Committee’s Terms of Reference, which set out the remit of the Committee to monitor, review and advise on matters relating to the Ethical Code, Members Code of Conduct and associated matters of governance and probity. Members’ attention was drawn to Appendix 2 of the report, where the draft Work Programme for the Committee for the Municipal Year 2024-2025 was detailed. The Work Programme sought to reflect the ongoing priorities, standard reports and the frequency of reporting for the Committee’s consideration. Following discussions, the Standards Committee RESOLVED: i. To approve the Work Programme for the Municipal Year 2024-2025, as set out in Appendix 2 to the report
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED: i. To consider the recent decisions made by the Adjudication Panel for Wales (as appended to the report); and ii. To determines whether there are any possible messages or lessons to be learnt arising out of the decisions that could be communicated as part of future training for Members on the Code of Conduct.
The Monitoring Officer outlined the report for Members consideration, providing detail of the recent decisions made by the Adjudication Panel for Wales (APW). Members were referred to the appendices of the report, which detailed a number of APW decision notices, that had been issued following the conclusion of the cases. Members discussed aspects of the decisions taken forward and sought clarification whether in relation to one specific case whether any safeguarding issues had been raised following the outcome. The Monitoring Officer was able to advise that a review of safeguarding procedures was taken forward by the Local Authority following consideration of the decision. Members commented on the similar themes highlighted within the cases presented to Committee and queried the proactive preventive measures that could be put in place to ensure such cases were not repeated. The Chair suggested the continued promotion of training to all Members in respect of the Code of Conduct and the Monitoring Officer advised that refresher training was due to be rolled out to Members and Community and Town Councils across the Municipal Year. Following discussions, the Committee RESOLVED: i. To consider the recent decisions made by the Adjudication Panel for Wales (as appended to the report); and ii. To determines whether there are any possible messages or lessons to be learnt arising out of the decisions that could be communicated as part of future training for Members on the Code of Conduct.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED: i. To consider the feedback of the Council’s Democratic Services Committee following its consideration of an amended version of the Council’s Member-Officer Relations Protocol, and ii. That a further version of the protocol be presented to the Standards Committee, following rephrasing of 9.4 of the protocol.
The Monitoring Officer presented the report to Members, which provided the feedback of the Council’s Democratic Services Committee following its consideration of the amended version of the Council’s Member-Officer Relations Protocol, as annexed at Appendix 1 to this report; and looked for Members determination as to whether to commend an amended version of the Protocol to Full Council for adoption. Members were reminded of the protocol and its aims and objectives and the rationale fo the review. The Committee heard that the Democratic Services Committee considered the proposed amended protocol on 1st May 2024, following a referral by the Standards Committee. The Democratic Services Committee thanked the Standards Committee for providing them with the opportunity to review the protocol which they felt was a very important document as regards the relationship between Members and Officers. Members were happy to accept the content with the proposed revisions, subject to a review of the language used to ensure it was gender neutral where possible. The Monitoring Officer was able to advise that the protocol had since been further amended to take into account the Democratic Services Committee’s feedback and was attached at Appendix 2 to the report. A Member sought clarification in respect of section 9 of the protocol in respect of Correspondence and Emails, with specific reference to 9.4 and the meaning in relation to ‘note taking’ of meetings between Members and Officers. The Monitoring Officer agreed that this could cause ambiguity in its current form and agreed to relook at the phrasing to provide clarity on the intended outcome. Following discussions it was RESOLVED: i. To consider the feedback of the Council’s Democratic Services Committee following its consideration of an amended version of the Council’s Member-Officer Relations Protocol, and ii. That a further version of the protocol be presented to the Standards Committee, following rephrasing of 9.4 of the protocol.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED: i. To consider the contents of the report and provide any comments/feedback on the complaints received by the Ombudsman during the period 1st April 2024 – 31st August 2024.
The Monitoring Officer provided the Standards Committee with a summary of complaints made against Members and submitted to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (the ‘Ombudsman’) for the period 1st April 2024 – 31st August 2024. As part of the report, brief details of two ongoing investigations by the Ombudsman in relation to two county borough councillors was provided. The Monitoring Officer agreed to provide updates on the cases as and when appropriate. The Committee RESOLVED: i. To consider the contents of the report and provide any comments/feedback on the complaints received by the Ombudsman during the period 1st April 2024 – 31st August 2024.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED: i. To note and consider the contents of the summary of investigation outcomes concerning alleged breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct, originally published by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales on the ‘our findings’ section of her website and attached as Appendix 1 to the report.
The Monitoring Officer provided Members with the summary of investigation outcomes concerning alleged breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct as published by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) on the ‘our findings’ section of her website for the period 1st April 2024 – 31st August 2024. Members were reminded that the PSOW considers complaints that members of Local Authorities in Wales have breached the Code, and were reminded of the four findings the PSOW can arrive at: (a) that there is no evidence of breach; (b) that no action needs to be taken in respect of the complaint; (c) that the matter be referred to the authority’s Monitoring Officer for consideration by the Standards Committee; (d) that the matter be referred to the President of the Adjudication Panel for Wales (the APW) for adjudication by a tribunal. Furthermore, it was noted that occasionally an investigation may be discontinued, where circumstances change during the course of an investigation and it is considered that it would not be in the public interest to continue to investigate. The Monitoring Officer referred Members to the appendix to the report which contained a summary of those cases, originally published in ‘Our Findings’ and not previously reported to the Committee. Members queried whether the number of cases were increasing and the Monitoring Officer advised that there was a small reduction compared to previous years, although highlighted that there were still some serious cases reported. Members repeated again the importance of training for Members and Town and Community Councillors and the need to highlight the mandatory training. The Monitoring Officer confirmed the continued promotion of training opportunities to all. Members queried whether there was a correlation between the complaints raised and potential lack of training. The Monitoring Officer advised although there wasn’t figures to indicate this, anecodally from reading reports over the years, there did seem to be a correlation with such investigations and lack of training. The Monitoring officer referenced the ongoing Welsh Government review of the Standards framework in Wales, which may manifest in changes in procedure or legislation which could be the mandating of code of conduct training. Following discussions it was RESOLVED: i. To note and consider the contents of the summary of investigation outcomes concerning alleged breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct, originally published by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales on the ‘our findings’ section of her website and attached as Appendix 1 to the report.
With the agreement of the Chair, the Monitoring Officer provided an update in relation to the review undertaken of the Ombudsman Office. Members were advised that the staff Member in question in respect of the review had resigned, although the review was continuing of historic cases to re-establish confidence with the work of the Ombudsman office. The Committee RESOLVED to note the update.
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.