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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED: That the minutes be approved as a correct record.
RESOLVED: (a) That the draft Forward Work Programme, as amended, be approved, and (b) That the Democratic Services Manager, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises.
RESOLVED: (a) That the Committee notes and accepts the ‘workstreams’ outlined in Para. 1.06 of the report; (b) That the Committee forms three Working Groups, each chaired by the Chair of the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee. Each Working Group will be responsible for two ‘workstreams’; (c) That the Committee agrees to the timetable for the review outlined in Para. 1.08 of the report; (d) That all meetings of the Constitution Working Groups be held in public; (e) That all Councillors be invited to observe (not speak at) Working Group meetings, and notified of the time, date and location of meetings; and (f) That Groups without a voting Member will be entitled to send a representative with speaking, but not voting rights, to allow all Groups to contribute to discussion. The same rights will be extended to Non-Aligned Members.
RESOLVED: (a) That the Contract Procedure Rules be amended to reflect that for Goods, Services & Works procured between the value of £30,0001 to £300,000, an additional check is carried out following sign-off by the Team Manager; and (b) That subject to the amendment listed above, the Committee recommend the updated Contract Procedure Rules to Cabinet and full Council.
RESOLVED: That the Review of the Flintshire Standard report be deferred to a later date.
RESOLVED: (a) That Members be invited to contact the Democratic Services Manager to discuss any suggestions for future development ‘topics’ for inclusion on the training programme; and (b) That the Committee receives a regular report of attendance at each of the sessions delivered.
RESOLVED: To note that at the Annual meeting, Council resolved that Councillor Hilary McGuill be appointed as Chair of the Committee.
Councillor Gina Maddison nominated Councillor Ian Hodge. This nomination was seconded by Councillor Rob Davies. Councillor Alasdair Ibbotson nominated Councillor Andrew Parkhurst. This nomination was seconded by Councillor Gillian Brockley. Councillor Ron Davies nominated Councillor Allan Marshall. This nomination was seconded by Councillor Paul Johnson. Following an initial vote, Councillor Hodge and Councillor Marshall went forward to a second vote for the position of Vice-Chair. RESOLVED: That Councillor Ian Hodge be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.
None.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: That the minutes be approved as a correct record.
The minutes (agenda item 5) of the meeting held on 25 March were submitted. RESOLVED: That the minutes be approved as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: (a) That the draft Forward Work Programme, as amended, be approved, and (b) That the Democratic Services Manager, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises.
The Democratic Services Manager presented the report (agenda item 6) to consider the Committee’s current Forward Work Programme (FWP), the action points from previous meetings and the progress made in completing them. Councillor Andrew Parkhurst referred to the action in the minutes relating to the Register of Intimidating Behaviour kept by the Monitoring Officer which he said had not been included in the action tracking document. The Democratic Services Manager said that he would pick this up as an action ahead of the next meeting. Councillor Paul Johnson asked that an item to investigate methods of recording votes at County Council be added to the FWP and considered as soon as possible. The Chair said that she had spoken to the Chief Officer (Governance) and Democratic Services Manager to investigate the electronic system suggested by Councillor Johnson and asked that this be considered as a matter of urgency. Subject to the above amendments the recommendations were supported. RESOLVED: (a) That the draft Forward Work Programme, as amended, be approved, and (b) That the Democratic Services Manager, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: (a) That the Committee notes and accepts the ‘workstreams’ outlined in Para. 1.06 of the report; (b) That the Committee forms three Working Groups, each chaired by the Chair of the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee. Each Working Group will be responsible for two ‘workstreams’; (c) That the Committee agrees to the timetable for the review outlined in Para. 1.08 of the report; (d) That all meetings of the Constitution Working Groups be held in public; (e) That all Councillors be invited to observe (not speak at) Working Group meetings, and notified of the time, date and location of meetings; and (f) That Groups without a voting Member will be entitled to send a representative with speaking, but not voting rights, to allow all Groups to contribute to discussion. The same rights will be extended to Non-Aligned Members.
Prior to consideration of the report (agenda item 7), Councillor Marion Bateman suggested that this item be deferred until a new political balance had been reviewed and agreed by Group Leaders. She felt that there was an imbalance around the number of Members within a Group and the number allocated to the Working Groups as shown within the report. The Democratic Services Manager explained that the purpose of the report was to set up the Working Groups with the membership of those Groups being reviewed once the amended political balance had been approved at the full Council meeting in July. He advised that deferring this item until the next meeting in September would be pressure on the timeline around when the review could be completed. Following further comments by Councillor Bateman, the Chief Officer (Governance) suggested that the political balance of the Working Groups be re-assessed following approval of a revised political balance at full Council in July, ahead of the first meeting of the ‘Working Groups’. The Democratic Services Manager advised that it had been necessary to amend the political balance of the three Working Groups following amendments to the membership of the Committee since the report was published. The revised political balance was as follows:- Political Group No WG 1 WG 2 WG 3 Eagle 1 1 Lb Dem 2 1 True Ind 1 1 FPV 2 1 1 Ind 4 1 1 2 Lab 6 2 2 2 16 5 5 5 Councillor Ibbotson proposed the following additional recommendations, to those listed in the report:- • That all meetings of the Constitution Working Groups be held in public; • That all Councillors be invited to observe (not speak at) Working Group meetings, and notified of the time, date and location of meetings; • That Groups without a voting Member will be entitled to send a representative with speaking, but not voting rights, to allow all Groups to contribute to discussion. The same rights will be extended to Non-Aligned Members; and • When a meeting is discussing a suggestion, the person who submitted it will be invited to attend to explain it, or answer questions. When put to the vote, the additional recommendations, together with the recommendations outlined within the report were not supported. Councillor Ron Davies proposed that the Committee support the three recommendations as outlined within the report. This was seconded by Councillor Simon Jones. Councillor Ibbotson proposed an amendment that the three recommendations outlined within the report, together with the four additional recommendations he had previously proposed, as shown above, be voted on individually. This was seconded by Councillor Hodge. Councillor Johnson asked that guidance around how motions were moved and seconded be circulated to all Members as a matter of urgency. RESOLVED: (a) That the Committee notes and accepts the ‘workstreams’ outlined in Para. 1.06 of the report; (b) That the Committee forms three Working Groups, each chaired by the Chair of the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee. Each Working Group will be responsible for two ‘workstreams’; (c) That the Committee agrees to the timetable for the review outlined in Para. 1.08 of the report; (d) That all meetings of the Constitution Working Groups be held in public; (e) That all Councillors be invited to observe (not speak at) Working Group meetings, and notified of the time, date and location of meetings; and (f) That Groups without a voting Member will be entitled to send a representative with speaking, but not voting rights, to allow all Groups to contribute to discussion. The same rights will be extended to Non-Aligned Members.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: (a) That the Contract Procedure Rules be amended to reflect that for Goods, Services & Works procured between the value of £30,0001 to £300,000, an additional check is carried out following sign-off by the Team Manager; and (b) That subject to the amendment listed above, the Committee recommend the updated Contract Procedure Rules to Cabinet and full Council.
The Chief Officer (Governance), Revenues and Procurement Manager and Collaborative Procurement and Framework Manager jointly presented a report (agenda item 8) which provided a brief overview of the Procurement Act 2023 and contained, for information and approval, the necessary amendments to the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs). Councillor Andrew Parkhurst proposed an amendment to the revised CPRs, that for Goods, Services & Works procured between the value of £30,0001 to £300,000 an additional check is carried out following sign-off by the Team Manager. RESOLVED: (a) That the Contract Procedure Rules be amended to reflect that for Goods, Services & Works procured between the value of £30,0001 to £300,000, an additional check is carried out following sign-off by the Team Manager; and (b) That subject to the amendment listed above, the Committee recommend the updated Contract Procedure Rules to Cabinet and full Council.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: That the Review of the Flintshire Standard report be deferred to a later date.
The Chief Officer (Governance) asked that this item be deferred. This was supported by the Committee. RESOLVED: That the Review of the Flintshire Standard report be deferred to a later date.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: (a) That Members be invited to contact the Democratic Services Manager to discuss any suggestions for future development ‘topics’ for inclusion on the training programme; and (b) That the Committee receives a regular report of attendance at each of the sessions delivered.
The Democratic Services Manager presented a report (agenda item 10) to provide an update on Member Training & Development. Councillor Paul Johnson suggested that some of the topics around personal safety and health and safety deemed ‘Discretionary’ should be revised to ‘Mandatory’. He also referred to the Welsh Language Standards Annual Monitoring Report 2024/25 considered by the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee and said that in view of the Council’s commitment in promoting the use of Welsh, Welsh Language Standards training should also be deemed ‘Mandatory’. The Democratic Services Manager advised that Members could not be mandated to attend training & development sessions, but by deeming them ‘Mandatory’, this highlighted their importance. He suggested that a review of the topics deemed ‘Mandatory’ be undertaken ahead of the report being amended and submitted to the next scheduled Committee meeting in September. Councillor Gina Maddison suggested that ‘Lone Working’ training be deemed ‘Mandatory’. RESOLVED: (a) That Members be invited to contact the Democratic Services Manager to discuss any suggestions for future development ‘topics’ for inclusion on the training programme; and (b) That the Committee receives a regular report of attendance at each of the sessions delivered.
None.
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