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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 Councillor Aaron Carey be granted dispensation to speak only in relation to the South Quay Project in Pembroke until the end of his Council term. The Chair clarified that historically, repeat dispensation applications were not looked into but the Committee were ‘uncomfortable’ with this so now all application requests needed to be made in full.
RESOLVED That the report be noted.
RESOLVED That the Forward Work Programme be approved.
There were no declarations of interest received.
Community Councillor Edwards Proposed that the Minutes held on the Meeting held on the 26th June 2024 be approved as a correct record. This was Seconded by Mr Paul Rowley. The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 26 June 2024 be approved as a correct record. Regarding the Standards Committee Annual Report, the Chair noted that it was presented at Full Council were there were no substantive questions. He continued that the papers from the National Forum of Standards Committee Chairs were shared with the Committee and that Pembrokeshire was already doing what the Adjudication Panel for Wales was recommending regarding Standards Committee Hearings. Regarding training, the Legal Services Manager said that training for Standards Committee Hearings was planned for the near future. This will be done with a few other authorities in Wales, and it will be done remotely.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That Councillor Aaron Carey be granted dispensation to speak only in relation to the South Quay Project in Pembroke until the end of his Council term. The Chair clarified that historically, repeat dispensation applications were not looked into but the Committee were ‘uncomfortable’ with this so now all application requests needed to be made in full.
The Committee considered an application by Councillor Aaron Carey for dispensation to speak on matters relating to the South Quay Project in Pembroke. On invitation of the Chair, Councillor Carey addressed the Committee in support of his application; and to explain the purpose of his application. Councillor Carey stated that the South Quay Project in Pembroke had been ongoing for at least five years as was part of a Levelling Up project funded by Welsh Government. His grandmother owned the property adjacent to the site and his mother ran this property as an Air B&B. Councillor Carey continued that he would occasionally help run the Air B&B on the technical side but not financial. He concluded that he would like a dispensation to speak only, so he may ask questions to officers in meetings on behalf of his constituents. With regards to the dispensation, Mr Paul Rowley questioned what expertise Councillor Carey would bring to meetings. In response, Councillor Carey clarified that he as he was the Member for the area, he was the main point of contact for residents and businesses who would ask questions about the project. In response to a question from Mr David Parsons regarding the previous dispensation, Councillor Carey confirmed that this application was his fourth one to speak only on the South Quay Project. He confirmed that the application was the same and the circumstances had not changed. Community Councillor David Edwards noted that as the project was in its second phase, it would be more known that Councillor Carey’s family was affected by the project. Therefore, he was in favour of granting Councillor Carey a dispensation to speak only. In response to a question from Councillor Mark Carter regarding the B&B, Councillor Carey confirmed that he had no financial interest in the B&B and will not have any in the next few years. Councillor Carey left the meeting at this juncture so the Committee could discuss his application. Councillor Carter stated that as the South Quay project was not a ‘self-made problem’ and Councillor Carey did not and will not financially benefit from the project or property, he was in favour of granting him a dispensation to speak. He added that his constituents would expect him to know what was happening so he should be allowed to ask questions to officers. It was Moved by Councillor Carter that Councillor Carey be granted dispensation to speak only in relation to the South Quay Project in Pembroke until the end of his Council term. This was Seconded by Community Councillor Edwards. The vote, undertaken by way of a roll-call, was carried, the votes were recorded as follows: For the Motion – Community Councillor David Edwards, Mrs Moira Saunders, Mr Paul Rowley, Mr David Parsons, Mrs Maggie Hughes, Councillor Mark Carter, Councillor Vanessa Thomas, Community Councillor Sarah Snow, and Mr Nick Watt [9] There were no votes against or abstentions. RESOLVED That Councillor Aaron Carey be granted dispensation to speak only in relation to the South Quay Project in Pembroke until the end of his Council term. The Chair clarified that historically, repeat dispensation applications were not looked into but the Committee were ‘uncomfortable’ with this so now all application requests needed to be made in full.
There were no Urgent Applications for Dispensation.
The Committee considered the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Annual Letter 2023/24 which covered March 2024 to March 2024. The Legal Services Manager noted that this report was received annually by the Committee and in this period, there were six code of conduct complaints regarding to County Councillors and 18 regarding town and community councils. She concluded that Cabinet would receive the report on the 4th November and Governance and Audit Committee will receive it on the 25th November. The Chair noted that there had been a 16% increase in code of conduct complaints and that there was an issue with behaviour at Town and Community Councils. To add to this, Community Councillor Edwards said that most complaints were from Town Councils with a political balance. He suggested that an initiative be looked at to specific target these Councils with code of conduct training. Regarding the Councillors, Councillor Carter stated that County Councillors were more aware of what was expected of them. He suggested that County Councillors who sat on Community and Town Councils could help with this and advise when an interest is needed. With regards to Ombudsman investigations, Councillor Carter questioned how long investigations took. In response, the Legal Services Manager said that was common for investigations to take a year, but their workloads would impact this. Councillor Carter requested that the length of investigations be looked into by the Ombudsman. In response, the Chair agreed to feed this back to the Ombudsman, but he noted that they had reduced their backlog of investigations taking over 12 months by 50%. Regarding Town Councils, the Chair said that they were responsible for organising their own training; the Monitoring Officer would offer them training but they could not be forced to attend. Community Councillor Edwards suggested that Town and Community Councils are addressed individually to offer training specific for them. The Chair agreed to raise this with the Monitoring Officer and asked for the Councillors on the Committee to engage with their colleagues on this too. Regarding Ombudsman investigations, Mrs Maggie Hughes queried how the decision to ‘not investigate’ was made. In response, the Legal Service Manager said that the Ombudsman had a ‘two stage test’, there is evidence that a code of conduct breech happened and whether it would be in the public interest for the complaint to be investigated. Complaints are not investigated if they fail one of these tests. She confirmed that they do look at all complaints. The Chair noted the workload for the small amount of Ombudsman staff could affect whether a full investigation is carried out. The Recommendation was Moved by Mrs Moira Saunders; Seconded by Community Councillor Sarah Snow. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOVLED The report be noted
The Legal Services Manager presented the report on the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Independent Review. She noted that following a complaint regarding social media posts made by an Ombudsman Code Team Manager, an independent investigation was launched. The Code Team Manager resigned before the investigation was commissioned. The Legal Services Manager concluded that there were recommendations following the review, but it deemed that there was no cause for concern in respect of impartiality of cases that had been dealt with the public service Ombudsman. The Chair suggested that the report be shared with Full Council and the Chief Executive as there were implications for officers. Regarding the Code Team Manager, Mr Rowley noted that it was a ‘shame’ that they ended their successful career because of ‘unwise’ social media posts. The Recommendation was Moved by Mr Nick Watt; Seconded by Mr Paul Rowley. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOVLED The report be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the report be noted.
The Democratic Services and Scrutiny Officer summarised the report. The report covered a seven-month period as there had been two cancelled Standards Committee meetings and, in this period, there had been an increase in referrals to Standards Committees and to the Adjudication Panel for Wales. To add to this, the Chair noted that there had been an increase in investigations following complaints about a lack of respect shown by Councillors. The Recommendation was Moved by Community Councillor David Edwards; Seconded by Councillor Mark Carter. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the report be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED That the Forward Work Programme be approved.
The Committee considered the Forward Work Programme. The Recommendation was Moved by Community Councillor Vanessa Thomas; Seconded by Community Councillor David Edwards. The vote, undertaken by way of a show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Forward Work Programme be approved.
The date of the next meeting was as the 9th December 2024. It was agreed by the Committee that all future meetings will be held at 10am.
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.
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