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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 it be recommended to Council that the status quo be supported.
No declarations of interest were received.
Moved by Councillor Di Clements; Seconded by Councillor Alan Dennison The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 27 June 2022 be approved as a correct record.
The Learning and Organisational Development Advisor presented the Training and Development of Members report for the consideration of the Committee. In considering the report the key points were highlighted as follows: · Councillor Alan Dennison referred to the eLearning Modules and queried the timescales for completion; penalties that could be imposed for noncompliance; and potential for cross over of training across the school governor and elected member roles. The Learning and Organisational Development Advisor outlined that compliance was monitored and members sign posted to eLearning training where possible to encourage completion. The Head of Democratic Services clarified that School Governor training was separate to Elected Member training. She also highlighted the role of the Committee in promoting training and that there was an opportunity for the Committee to have a more proactive role in encouraging members to complete their eLearning training. · The Chair suggested that names of members, who had not completed training, could be provided to Group Leaders to encourage their members and see if that would have an impact on completion figures. · Councillor Michelle Bateman referred to the Member Development Champion role, which would be a useful way to engage with unaffiliated members and promote training and development. She also commented on the Learning Needs Analysis (LNA) stating that it was an important and useful way for members to identify areas of development and support. She concluded by referring to the unconscious bias eLearning training, and stated that she supported that the Senior Staff Committee be encouraged to complete that training. · Councillor Michael John concurred that the LNA was a useful tool for Members and suggested that a reminder be sent in relation to the essential eLearning training as it was coming up to the 6 months deadline and would be beneficial for Members. It was also queried if there was a way to deal with Members, who did not complete the essential training, similar to the 6 month non-attendance rule in relation to meetings. In response, the Head of Democratic Services highlighted that only guidance and advice could be offered to Members, as ultimately cannot get Members to step down as appointed by the electorate. If committee based training was not completed a Member would be precluded from sitting on a committee, with Planning and Licensing provided as an example. · Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall suggested that link officers could promote the importance of training with their allocated Members. The Head of Democratic Services advised that she would follow this up at the next link officers meeting at the end of the month. · Following on from Councillor Michael John’s suggestion, the Chair requested that a reminder email be sent to all members relating to the 6 months deadline for essential training and offer help where required; and that Group Leaders be provided with details of who have not completed their essential eLearning, for them to follow up with their Group Members. · The Chair asked for the Committee’s thoughts in making a determination in relation to the unconscious bias training for Members of the Senior Staff Committee. The consensus of the Committee was that the Senior Staff should undertake that training, with Councillor Michelle Bateman suggesting that the Chair of that Committee be asked to send an email to the Senior Staff Committee Members, highlighting the request of this Committee for the training to be completed. · The Chair highlighted the importance of completing eLearning modules before completing the LNA as it provided a better understanding of what areas of development were required by Members. · Councillor Alan Dennison commented that it could be clearer on POD what modules should be completed and timescales, with the Learning and Organisational Development Advisor responding that she would look at the wording to see if could make it clearer. It was agreed by way of a show of hands, that the Chair of the Senior Staff Committee be asked to send an email to the Senior Staff Committee Members, highlighting the request of this Committee for the unconscious bias training to be completed and progress on the matter to be reported back.
The Corporate Research and Policy Officer presented the Local Government and Elections Act Participation Strategy Update report. The report set out the progress on the development of the Participation Strategy, which included an overview of feedback from a Members’ seminar held on 15 July 2022. It was noted that the draft strategy would be formally consulted on prior to final adoption and implementation. The Committee considered the update report and Members’ seminar feedback. The Chair commented that she attended the seminar and believed that the report captured what had been discussed at the seminar. Councillor Alan Dennison noted that there was no reference to any religious groups and suggested it could be beneficial to include them, with the Corporate Research and Policy Officer confirming she would add them in. In response to a query from Councillor Alan Dennison, on ensuring capturing all community groups, the Corporate Research and Policy Officer referred to the work of the PAVs Connect Project. The Committee noted the report.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That it be recommended to Council that the status quo be supported.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the report, which provided the Committee with the outcome of the survey on Members’ views on the timing, length and frequency of meetings of full Council and any Committee or Sub-Committee of the Council. The Committee were asked to consider the results of the survey and make a recommendation to Council. In considering the report and survey results, the following key points were made: • The Chair queried the cost and staffing implications of out of hours’ meetings. In response Head of Democratic Services provided a ball park figure of £123 per three-hour meeting for keeping the building open for evening meetings. It was noted that staffing implications would be greater as staff would need to be compensated for working out of normal hours with compensatory time off likely to be taken during normal working hours. • Councillor Alan Dennison highlighted that co-ordinating of meeting times was an important factor to reduce impact on staff by avoiding early and late meetings on the same day. • Councillor Michelle Bateman referred to the timing of the survey and stated that it was not the right time and suggested surveying Members again later in the term of the Council not just in the first six months so that new Members would have a fuller understanding of the impact of meeting timings. The Head of Democratic Services, in response highlighted that. the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 did require that Members be consulted within the first six months; however, it could be revisited before the next election. • The Chair commented that consideration could be given on whether any extraordinary meetings could be trialled at different times. • Remote meetings were considered greener and more convenient for staff if required to work outside normal working hours. Members considered that remote meetings were also more convenient for them. • Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall referred to other commitments Members had in the evening such as Governing Body, Town and Community Councils and Community Fora meetings, which would be impacted by changing the times of meetings. • Councillor Michelle Bateman highlighted that evening meetings were not necessarily convenient for people with young families and for those who worked outside of ‘office’ hours. Moved by Councillor Di Clements; Seconded by Councillor Alan Dennison The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That it be recommended to Council that the status quo be supported.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the report and Scrutiny Improvement Action Plan, which asked the Committee to review the Scrutiny Improvement Action Plan to ensure future activity, reflected the current position and priority areas for improvement. The Committee considered the outstanding action P9 - Annual Scrutiny Conference, with it noted that the matter had been discussed at the Scrutiny Strategy Group. They had discussed that it was a better forum for such discussions and exchanges on sharing best practice and were not supportive of a conference. The Chair stated that she was not keen on the idea of a conference; however, she was mindful that this Authority could learn from other local authorities and suggested short video clips of scrutiny chairs from other local authorities on how they approach scrutiny. Councillor Alan Dennison concurred and referred to establishing contact with the right individuals at other local authorities. The Committee agreed to delete the conference from action P9 and instead requested that the Head of Democratic Services liaised with other local authorities on how they approach scrutiny and good practice. In terms of the outstanding action P1 and P8 on self – assessment it was agreed that the Head of Democratic Services would progress this by liaising with other local authorities to see how they approach self – assessment.
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