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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.
1.1 Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Rose Seabourne and Colette Thomas.
2.1 There were no declarations of interest.
3.1 The minutes were confirmed as an accurate record.
4.1 The committee noted the content of the action sheet.
5.1 The Business & Democratic Support Services Manager (B&DSSM) outlined the report inviting Members of the Democratic Services Committee to consider the draft Family Absence Policy (attached as Appendix 1 to the report) for elected members in advance of seeking Council approval, noting that there were certain requirements set out in the Policy which must be followed by law. 5.2 The committee discussed support available to members for other forms of caring and also for bereavement. The B&DSSM explained that the Draft Family Absence Policy being presented to the Committee today was in response to a statutory requirement and related purely to the care of children. He would check what provisions were in place to support members with wider and long-term caring responsibilities. 5.3 Members considered and supported the draft Family Absence Policy presented in Appendix One to the report noting that the Policy would be submitted to Council for approval.
6.1 The B&DSSM outlined the report providing members of the Committee the opportunity to view and discuss the proposed amendments to the Petition Scheme which are attached at Appendix 1 to the report and suggest any changes or additions they considered appropriate prior to seeking Council approval. 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 In summary, members agreed with the suggested changes which they felt equally aligned discretion and made the policy clearer. In response to questions asked by members officers commented as follows: • Although the original petitioner and any signatories were expected to provide details of their address, this information was not publicly available. • If a signatory was signing a petition as somebody who worked in the borough, their work address should be used. • In order to provide consistency to the process, only those living or working in the borough could start a petition or sign a petition. Clarity would be provided within the petition scheme regarding petitioners and/or signatories living and/or working in Torfaen. The B&DSSM provided an overview of petitions submitted over the past year highlighting the importance of petitions demonstrating clear public support, hence the suggestion of introducing a threshold on the minimum number of signatures that a petition should receive before being accepted by the council. 6.6 The Committee supported the proposed amendments to the Petition Scheme attached at Appendix 1 to the report prior to seeking Council approval.
7.1 The B&DSSM outlined the report which updated members on the results of the recent members satisfaction survey. 7.2 7.3 Members commented that they found staff helpful, particularly when dealing with IT issues. The Team Leader Democratic and Member Services explained that work was ongoing to make the tablets more user friendly and members would be updated in due course. Members praised the work of the Scrutiny Team in producing the Annual Scrutiny Report whereby they valued the use of graphics, colour charts and data. 7.4 Democratic Services Committee agreed to: i) Note the feedback from the member satisfaction survey (attached at Appendix A to the report). ii) Note the content of the Draft Action Plan (attached as Appendix B to the report).
8.1 The date of the next meeting would be agreed in due course and members of the committee would be notified.
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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