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There is no summary of this meeting yet. One is written once the council publishes the minutes. The agenda and papers are below.
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The minutes of the previous meeting held on 6th June 2024 were accepted as a true and accurate record. • The Committee raised a point of clarification under item 4 and noted that only an update was to be provided in this meeting. The Interim Head of Law and Standards assured Committee that a draft of the Model Constitution has been provided but will not be adopted at present. It is for the Committee to review section by section and make their comments and recommendations. The Interim Head of Law and Standards informed the Committee that these reviews would be done on a meeting-by-meeting basis and then collated at the end.
The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager presented this report to the Committee. • No questions were asked by the Committee.
The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager presented this report to the Committee. The following was discussed: • The Committee enquired how artificial intelligence (AI) would benefit the Council and the team. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed Committee that AI is used for transcription which supports the team in the development of accurate minutes. • The Committee enquired about the current staffing levels within the team. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed the Committee that recruitment was carried out within the last 12 months and all posts are currently filled and the team is fully trained. The Committee stated how pleased they were to see that the team was adequately resourced. • The Committee queried whether training and specific pieces of work like the Declaration of Interest form for Members had created additional demand for the team. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed Committee that initial induction training for Members took place in 2022, which was quite an intense period of work. Further dates for training have been scheduled for the coming year. They advised that they are looking to carry out a survey and were happy to take suggestions from Members on sessions they would find beneficial. • The Committee agreed to adopt and endorse both reports.
The Interim Head of Law and Standards presented this item to the Committee. The following was discussed: • The Chair invited the Presiding Member to participate in the meeting. • The Committee enquired how outside bodies would be invited to Council meetings and put forward a recommendation that Councillors proposed a motion to invite an outside body to attend. • The Committee enquired whether the Presiding Member had prior notice of the proposed changes to the Constitution and if not, should they have a meeting with the Interim Head of Law and Standards so they can act on behalf of the best interests of the entire Council. The Chair noted that they have no objection with the Presiding Member being consulted. The Interim Head of Law and Standards informed Committee that the Presiding Member was consulted and provided with a copy of the report at the same time as the Committee and . They added that the Leader, Chief Executive and Senior Officers have had sight of these proposed changes so there is visibility across the top of the organisation. • The Chair clarified to the Committee that they were voting on the proposed amendment to the Constitution going to full Council on the 24th September and, if approved, the changes would come into immediate effect. • The Interim Head of Law and Standards informed Committee that there were two strands to this item, 6a is to amend the existing Standing Orders which will come into force for the next 12 months if adopted and 6b which is the redraft of the Model Constitution using the Browne Jacobson model. They informed the Committee that it is important to capture their feedback on the draft of the Model Constitution that can then be reviewed and implemented. • The Committee enquired how inviting outside bodies to Council is different to inviting them to a Members’ training session or Scrutiny Committee. The Committee felt that further clarity was needed and more consideration of the time impact the proposed changes would have on Council. The Committee highlighted their concern that the meeting could be dominated by discussion with the outside body as this has happened in a sister meeting. The Interim Head of Law and Standards informed Committee that the attendance of outside bodies would be capped similar to Police questions suggested could take the place of Police questions at some meetings. The proposed change to Leader’s Questions is an extension of 5 minutes in total with the questions being printed on the agenda and both the question and answer being capped at two minutes. • The Committee highlighted their concern that omitting the police from the Council meeting is unacceptable. The Committee felt more work needed to be done around these proposed changes with them potentially being implemented at a later Council meeting. • The Presiding Member informed the Committee that these changes did not mean an outside body should attend every Council meeting but it gave the Council an opportunity to raise concerns. The Interim Head of Law and Standards assured the Committee that these proposed changes did not exclude Gwent Police but allowed for other bodies to be invited to speak at Council meetings. They agreed to take the feedback to make the necessary amendments to the proposed Standing Order changes. • The Chair informed the officers that based on the discussion the Committee would not be in a position to make a decision on this item today and felt that it needed to be reviewed and brought back to the Committee. The Interim Head of Law and Standards noted that there were three things to look at. Firstly, a deferral of participation of outside bodies at Council. Secondly, a deferral to proposed changes of Leader’s Questions and thirdly a deferral of the whole item of the redraft of the Browne Jacobson Model Constitution. They informed the Committee that the proposed redraft of the Browne Jacobson Model Constitution dealt with some of these points in more detail. • The Chair stated that they would like to defer the decision regarding the proposed changes to inviting outside bodies and proposed changes to Leader’s Questions but the Committee was content to look at the redraft of the Browne Jacobson Model Constitution. • The Committee stated presentations from outside bodies are received into Scrutiny Committees and many go on to be received by Cabinet and full Council and they welcome the proposal to defer these changes as further work needed to be done to ensure they did not have a knock-on effect for the work programmes for Scrutiny committees, with duplication of work. The Interim Head of Law and Standards asked the Committee for clarity on what they would like to do. The Committee advised that they would like to defer the proposed changes to outside bodies invites and Leader’s Questions but did not wish to give an alternative proposal at this stage and felt it needed to go back to the Leader to review. The Committee asked for further detail in how the changes would work in practice and feel that the Leader should attend to explain their rationale and answer questions posed by the Committee. • The Committee noted that the principle of the proposals was sound but further detail was needed to provide real clarity of purpose in aligning with other committees to avoid duplication of work with existing work programmes and outside body fatigue. The Interim Head of Law and Standards informed the Committee that they had made a careful note of what has been said and would take the proposal back to the Leader.
The Interim Head of Law and Standards presented this item to the Committee. The following was discussed: • The Committee did not endorse a change that allows the public to record within meetings and felt that this could lead to recordings appearing on social media that are taken out of context. The Committee stated that members of the public who attend Council meetings should be advised to turn their phone off and if they are caught using them then they should be asked to leave. • The Committee raised a concern about 4.14 of the Model Constitution that providing only three clear days’ notice could be detrimental to Members who have other jobs. The Interim Head of Law and Standards informed the Committee that the civic timetable is agreed at AGM and that this related to the date of the committee papers being issued to Members. • The Committee enquired whether the Council owned the copyright of meetings once they had been published to YouTube. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed the Committee that they did not believe the Council owned the copyright as it is a matter of public record but will confirm for the Committee. • The Interim Head of Law and Standards noted that the proposed changes to filming and mobile phone use in the Browne Jacobson Model Constitution are to be reviewed and amended and asked if Members could email with any further comments. The proposal was for the Committee to ask Monitoring Officer to note comments and amend the Model Constitution accordingly. • The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed the Committee that the date of the next meeting is the 21st November 2024.
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