Loading
The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED That the Training and Development of Members Update be noted.
RESOLVED That the Protocol on Member/Officer relations be noted and that it be agreed in principle by the Democratic Services Committee.
RESOLVED That it be recommended to Council that the threshold of in-person attendees required for a multi-location meeting be at the discretion of the Chair and that it be reviewed in six months. Moved by Councillor Joshua Beynon; Seconded by Councillor Michael John The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That it be recommended to Council that the Multi-Location Policy be adopted; subject to the amendment to section 6.7 outlined above.
RESOLVED 1. That the contents of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales’ Draft Annual Report be noted. 2. That it be recommended to Council that the cap on Co-opted Member payments for Chairs of the Governance and Audit Committee and Standards Committee be increased to 15 days and that all other Co-opted Members to remain at 10 days and be reviewed annually
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 2 October 2022 be approved as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Training and Development of Members Update be noted.
The Learning and Development Corporate Manager presented the Training and Development of Members report for the consideration of the Committee. The report provided an update on the uptake of unconscious bias training; eLearning completion; Learning Needs Analysis (LNA); 3 Year Development Plan; and feedback from the Training Evaluation Survey. In considering the report, the key points were highlighted as follows: · Councillor Michael John suggested that it would be helpful if Members were provided with a checklist of what mandatory training they had already completed. The Learning and Development Corporate Manager agreed she could email Members to advise them of their current status of eLearning and provide further detail on how Members can access their own record of learning. · Councillor Michelle Bateman highlighted that she had completed the LNA in the last term and had found the process very beneficial in her learning and development and encouraged other Members to complete it. She also highlighted that following the budget setting process there might be an increased uptake in the completion of LNAs due to the complex financial information. · Councillor Michelle Bateman also referred to the email reminders for eLearning, which she highlighted were useful. · In terms of the Unconscious Bias Training, Councillor Michelle Bateman highlighted the importance of the Senior Staff Committee Members completing that training. In response, the Chair advised that she was aware of three Members on the Senior Staff Committee, who had not yet completed the training and was in the process of contacting them to encourage them to complete it. · Councillor Alan Dennison suggested that details on what mandatory eLearning training had been completed by Members was published every year so that the electorate can question Councillors who had not completed the necessary training. The Head of Democratic Services confirmed that Members attendance at Meetings and Training/Seminars were already published on the Council website at the end of every financial year. · Councillor Alan Dennison commented that the attendance at meetings was currently presented as a percentage and that this did not give a true reflection of attendance as some Members were on a lot more Committees than others. He requested that the number of meetings and training sessions be provided as well as the percentage. The Head of Democratic Services agreed to look at this. · The Chair highlighted the challenge of presenting attendance at Training when a Member may watch the recording of the training session after the event had taken place. The Head of Democratic Services responded that it was more difficult to capture and advised that she would look at the data and how it could be presented. In terms of the suggestions on the publishing of mandatory eLearning training, it was agreed that the uptake by Members would be monitored and reviewed at the next Meeting. 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 Training and Development of Members Update be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Protocol on Member/Officer relations be noted and that it be agreed in principle by the Democratic Services Committee.
The Head of Law and Governance presented the draft protocol on Member/Officer relations for the consideration of the Committee, which was set out to provide guidance to Members and Officers of Pembrokeshire County Council in their relations with one another. The Committee considered the draft protocol on Member/Officer relations and the key points were highlighted as follows: · Councillor Joshua Beynon commented that he agreed with the main principle of the protocol; however, he raised a concern in relation to section 1.7.9, where Members were being advised to go straight to the Head of Service/Director, when previously Members had been encouraged to go to the relevant Officer. The Head of law and Governance highlighted that there had been concerns from some departments that there should be some oversight in terms of Members approaching junior Officers regularly. · Councillor Joshua Beynon raised concern in relation to section 1.7.5 on information to Members on a ‘need to know’ basis. He highlighted that some Officers might be more cautious and did not think that helped relationship building. He also commented that the protocol seemed to be written towards how Members should behave and that it was give and take on both sides. The Head of Law and Governance drew attention to the Local Member Consultative Charter in the agenda, which helped Officers understanding of what was required of them in helping Members. Reference was also made to a recent protocol developed on Member Enquiry Response Standards on response times for Officers’ responses to Members queries. · Councillor Joshua Beynon reiterated that he supported the protocol in principle and suggested that all the documents highlighted could be incorporated into one document. · Councillor Joshua Beynon referred to the Officer/Member resolution process and highlighted the need to ensure that there was support in place for Officers putting in a complaint about a Member to the Ombudsman. · The Chair and Councillor Michael John agreed with Councillor Joshua Beynon in relation to Members being advised to go straight to the Head of Service/Director and commented that it seemed like a waste of a Head of Service/Director resource and time on a minor issue. · Councillor Alan Dennison highlighted that as the draft protocol was due to be considered by the Constitutional Review Working Group he would have preferred to have considered the document following input from that Committee. · Councillor Michael John pointed out some areas he felt were vague which included the section on familiarity that he advised did not define a close personal relationship; section 1.8.6 where it refers to confidentiality and having regard for Monitoring Officer advice; and section 2 of the Officer/Member resolution process, where it does not state what would happen if the Member did not agree. The Head of Law and Governance advised that she would look at how she could strengthen section 1.8.6 in relation to confidentiality. In terms of the Officer/Member resolution process it was noted that a Member would have to agree to be part of an informal process. 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 Protocol on Member/Officer relations be noted and that it be agreed in principle by the Democratic Services Committee.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That it be recommended to Council that the threshold of in-person attendees required for a multi-location meeting be at the discretion of the Chair and that it be reviewed in six months. Moved by Councillor Joshua Beynon; Seconded by Councillor Michael John The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That it be recommended to Council that the Multi-Location Policy be adopted; subject to the amendment to section 6.7 outlined above.
The Head of Democratic Services presented the draft Multi-Location Meetings Policy for consideration of the Committee. In considering the Multi-Location Meetings Policy the key points were highlighted as follows: · Councillor Michelle Bateman commented that it was important to make the distinction between Members who wanted to attend a meeting in person and Members who were present in County Hall and happy to attend remotely; and the need to ensure there was the facility for Members to attend remotely at County Hall if required. The Head of Democratic Services highlighted the importance of Members letting Democratic Services know in advance so necessary arrangements could be made. · The challenges of Members not letting the Democratic Service know in advance were highlighted, with the Chair suggesting that 48 hours’ notice should be given prior to a meeting. · In response to a query from Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall, the Head of Democratic Services clarified that Council had previously resolved that all webcast recordings be available indefinitely. · Councillor Alan Dennison suggested that the default position for Meetings could be remote and only hybrid by exception, in the interests of the green economy. · Reference was made to section 6.7 by Councillor Alan Dennison, he queried how you could ensure that someone attending a remote meeting would leave the room when declaring a personal and prejudicial interest. The Head of Democratic Services agreed to amend the section to ensure Democratic Services would remove Members from a remote Meeting, when declaring a personal and prejudicial interest. · Councillor Michael John commented that a protocol that had a percentage threshold for Members to attend in person would be good for a consistent approach across all Committees. He also suggested more than 48 hours’ notice from Members would be preferable and before the agenda was published so members of the public would not travel into County Hall unnecessarily. · Councillor Joshua Beynon stated he was minded to leave it to the discretion of the Chair at present and highlighted the difficulties of getting Members to respond. Moved by Councillor Joshua Beynon; Seconded by Councillor Michael John The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That it be recommended to Council that the threshold of in-person attendees required for a multi-location meeting be at the discretion of the Chair and that it be reviewed in six months. Moved by Councillor Joshua Beynon; Seconded by Councillor Michael John The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That it be recommended to Council that the Multi-Location Policy be adopted; subject to the amendment to section 6.7 outlined above.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED 1. That the contents of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales’ Draft Annual Report be noted. 2. That it be recommended to Council that the cap on Co-opted Member payments for Chairs of the Governance and Audit Committee and Standards Committee be increased to 15 days and that all other Co-opted Members to remain at 10 days and be reviewed annually
The Head of Democratic Services presented the report on the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales’ (IRPW) Annual Report and Co-opted Member Payments. She highlighted the determinations in respect of Members’ allowances as set out in the draft Annual Report for 2023 - 24 and the cap for payment of Co-opted Members for the Committee to consider. The Committee then considered the report and the key points were highlighted as follows: · Councillor Joshua Beynon proposed that the contents of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales’ Draft Annual Report be noted and the cap on Co-opted Member payments for Chairs of the Governance and Audit Committee and Standards Committee be increased to 15 days to allow for the increased duties of the Chairs of those Committees. · In terms of the IRPW draft Annual Report Councillor Joshua Beynon commented that if you wanted different people with diverse backgrounds to become a Councillor then you need to pay them properly and that it was important to remunerate people for doing a public service role. · Councillor Alan Dennison queried whether the Vice Chair or another Member of the Governance and Audit Committee could attend the additional Meetings, so the cap on Co-opted payments would not have to increase. In response, the Head of Democratic Services confirmed that most of those meetings indicated were for the Chair to attend and that legislation now stipulated that the Chair of the Governance and Audit had to be a lay Member. · Councillor Jamie Adams concurred with Councillor Joshua Beynon in relation to the pay determinations of the IRPW and commented that in order to attract a mix of people from socio – economic backgrounds, it was necessary to ensure Members were remunerated to a level that would allow them to consider standing for Council. · Councillor Jamie Adams referred to the legislation, where he stated that there was a drive for additional regional working and that there was a responsibility for Members and Lay Members to be more involved at a regional level. He further commented, that there was an additional cost to regional working, and that at some point there needed to be questioning on whether that was value to the taxpayers. Moved by Councillor Joshua Beynon; Seconded by Councillor Michael John The Motion, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED 1. That the contents of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales’ Draft Annual Report be noted. 2. That it be recommended to Council that the cap on Co-opted Member payments for Chairs of the Governance and Audit Committee and Standards Committee be increased to 15 days and that all other Co-opted Members to remain at 10 days and be reviewed annually
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
Lists the council's current councillors only. Co-opted members, officers and former councillors aren't shown.