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Contact: Eirian Roberts 01286 679018
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors Anwen J.
Davies, Gwynfor Owen and John Pughe. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: It was explained there was no need to declare an
interest in item 9 - The Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales'
Report, as there was no automatic right to continue as Chair and as the
Committee elected a Chair for each year. No
declarations of personal interest were received. |
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URGENT ITEMS To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration. Minutes: No urgent
matters were raised. |
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The
Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the last meeting of this committee
held on 15 November 2022, be signed as a true record. Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of the previous committee
meeting held on 15 November 2022, as a true record. |
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HEAD OF DEMOCRACY SERVICES PDF 482 KB To submit
the report of the Head of Democracy Services. Decision: To accept the report and to note the information. Minutes: Submitted - the draft of the annual report by the Head
of Democracy Services on behalf of the Democracy Services Committee with
regards to support for members. The Democracy Services Committee was asked for
comments on the draft report outlining the support available for Members and
what would be developed in future. In presenting his report, the Head of Corporate
Services thanked his predecessor, Geraint Owen, for the work he had completed
during his time in the role. He also thanked the Democracy Service staff and
the Monitoring Officer for their support. During the discussion, the following matters were raised:- ·
In response to an
observation, it was noted that it could be arranged to upload a map and
directions for the Council's meeting rooms on the Members' Intranet. ·
In response to a
question regarding the Members' questionnaire, it was noted there would be
regular updates on matters raised by members. It was suggested that it would be
useful to send the questionnaire to the members again this year. ·
It was asked if there
was a way for members to know whether an officer was working in the office or
at home on a specific day, without sending an e-mail to the individual first.
In response, it was noted that the Council had a duty to ensure service
continuation and although the service and the managers knew who was in the
office at any given time, it was not believed that this information was
available for the whole Council. Enquiries could be made about this, but the
members needed to make their own arrangements for the time being. RESOLVED to accept the report and to note the
information. |
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SUPPORT FOR COUNCILLORS AND COUNCILLOR SAFETY PDF 157 KB To submit the
joint report of the Democratic and Language Service Manager, the Assistant Head
of Corporate Support and the Members’ Training Officer. Decision: To accept the report for information. Minutes: Submitted - a joint report by the Democracy Services
and Language Manager, the Assistant Head of Corporate Support Services and the
Members' Training Officer detailing the support that was available to
councillors, along with councillor safety. During the discussion, the following matters were raised:- ·
It was noted that the
disruption from the public gallery during the Extraordinary Council meeting in
August last year, and the subsequent observations made on social media, had left
members feeling threatened, and it was a comfort that the Council was taking
these safety issues seriously. ·
It was noted that it
was very good to see more publicity given to the mental health of members and
staff, and the support that was available to them. ·
It was asked who
carried out the risk assessments for multi-location meetings and what the
guidelines were for them. In response, it was explained that the Democracy and
Language Services Manager had begun the assessment and then shared the
information with a team of people, giving consideration to
the known potential circumstances, and what could potentially develop. It was also noted that the Health and Safety
Service had been looking at the basic arrangements that should be in place.
Some matters were more structural involving the meeting room, and others were
matters of a
more managerial nature. Members of the public were asked to leave their bags in
the lockers outside Siambr Dafydd Orwig, and it was noted that more work was
needed on the layout of the public gallery in the chamber. ·
It was noted that
members had a responsibility to discuss sensitive matters in a sensible and
moderate way, using appropriate language and to keep within the requirements of
the Behaviour Code. ·
The lockers outside
Siambr Dafydd Orwig were welcomed, but it was noted that those members who sat
in the rear row of the Chamber felt unprotected, and that a barrier more
substantial than a rope was needed between the members and the public in the
public gallery. ·
The importance of
members' personal safety out in their wards was emphasised, and it was
confirmed that this was now part of the Safe Leadership training, which also
addressed safety issues during the election period and in surgeries, along with
practical advice regarding visiting electors' homes. It was also noted that the
Wales Local Government Association had very good guidelines on personal safety,
and that they were available on the 'Looking after yourself' tile on the
Members' Intranet. ·
Referring to the
comment in paragraph 15 of the report that members should ask the Political
Group Assistants, amongst others, for information on the contents of the
Members' Intranet, it was noted that there were smaller groups on the Council,
without political support and that they also needed the message. · Referring to the Extraordinary Council ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PROVISION FOR MEMBERS PDF 808 KB To submit
the report of the Organisational Learning and Development Manager. Decision: To approve the proposed training arrangements and steps. Minutes: Submitted – the report of the Learning and
Organisational Development Manager providing an update of the Learning and
Development provision for members highlighting successes, challenges
and developments. The Committee was invited to consider the training
arrangements and the proposed steps and approve them. During the discussion, the following matters were raised:- ·
It was noted that it
was difficult to get people to attend training sessions during the day,
especially brief sessions that lasted for only an hour, as people were not able
to take an hour off from their work, and it was asked if it would be better to
combine more than one session to fill an entire morning or afternoon. In response, it was noted that the Service
had experimented with holding some training sessions in the evening, but it had
not been a success in terms of the attendance numbers. It was noted further
that the Service was open to the idea of combining training, or any other
suggestions members had to offer. ·
Concern was expressed
there were only five members present in a recent Equality training session, and
the importance of matters such as equality and prejudice was
emphasised. It was noted, however, that many of the members who had been on the
Council before May 2022 had attended the training in the past. ·
It was noted that some
training sessions were popular, and others were not, and it was suggested there
was a need to place more emphasis on the method of promoting some
opportunities. ·
It was enquired whether
it would be possible to upload a recording of every training session on-line so
that members could watch it at a time that was convenient for them. In
response, it was explained that sessions were recorded wherever possible and
were then available on the Organisation's Learning and Development page
following the event. However, if no non-Welsh speaking members attended the
sessions, it would not be possible to obtain an English recording. However, if a request was made for an English
recording, the capacity of the Translation Team to translate the session and
upload it onto the Intranet would need to be assessed. It was also noted that viewing the recording
was not valid proof that the member had completed the training, especially core
titles, and members are therefore urged to make every effort to attend the core
titles. ·
It was suggested, that
although the need to record attendance in mandatory courses was accepted, that
this might not be that important in terms of optional titles. The Democracy and Language Manager noted that
following the success of the Mental Health First Aid course that had been held
in January, that requests had been received to hold a further two-day course,
and the members' support was sought to consider whether it would be practical
to hold the course during the last two days of the summer half-term (1-2) June
as no committee meetings were to be held that week. It was agreed to look into
this option. RESOLVED ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
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SUPPORT FOR COUNCILLORS - PERFORMANCE OF THE DEMOCRACY SERVICES TEAM PDF 249 KB To submit
the report of the Democracy and Language Service Manager and the Democracy
Services Team Leader. Decision: To note the observations and accept the report. Minutes: Submitted - the joint report of the Democracy and
Language Services Manager and the Temporary Democracy Team Leader outlining
some of the themes and issue that had been highlighted during a series of
conversations with individual councillors to seek their opinion on the support provided to members
and what could be done to assist councillors in their role. During the discussion, the following matters were raised:- ·
It was enquired whether
it would be possible to provide an office as a quiet workspace for members, as
was the case some years ago before Council meetings. In response, it was noted
that by now very few meetings were being held in the offices, and the practice
of offering rooms for the political groups to meet on the morning of the Full
Council meeting continued. It was agreed to look into
this, but it was emphasised that no promises could be made on this. ·
It was noted that the
Democracy Services Team provided and excellent service, and everyone was very
willing to provide assistance and support. ·
Reference was made to
difficulties in contacting some Council officers on the phone. In response,
every officer had a responsibility to ensure that their phone number was
correct on the internal directory, and that work was ongoing in the Information
Technology Service to ensure that the numbers were still current. It was also
noted that it was important that teams used a system where a call was
transferred to someone else if the officer was not available. The member was
asked to contact the Service if he had any specific examples of the problem. RESOLVED to note the observations and accept the
report. |
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REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT REMUNERATION PANEL FOR WALES PDF 64 KB To submit
the report of the Democratic and Language Services Manager. Additional documents: Decision: 1.
To recommend that the Full Council adopts the
higher salaries list for 2023/24 and for the future (as seen in paragraph 14 of
the report to the committee). 2.
To note that the Committee had requested
additional information in relation to the responsibilities and workload of the
Chair of the Democracy Services Committee, including a comparison with the
situation in other counties, and a wish to recommend to the Full Council that a
higher salary should be paid to the Chair of the Democracy Services Committee,
if the additional information merits this. Minutes: Submitted - the report of
the Democracy and Language Service Manager inviting the committee to form a
recommendation for 2023/23 senior salaries to be submitted to the Full Council
on 4 May 2023. Further to the content of the report, the Democracy
and Language Service Manager noted that an information sheet noting the changes
would be posted on the Members' Intranet and would be shared as part of the
weekly Bulletin for Members. During the discussion, the following matters were raised:- ·
It was noted, in light
of changes with appointing a lay member to the Chairperson-ship
of the Governance and Audit Committee, that 1 of the 18 senior salaries had not
been allocated, and it was proposed that that senior salary should be paid to
the Chair of this Committee based on the workload associated with the role, and
would be likely to increase in future. In response, it was noted that the
recommendation had been formed on the basis of the
responsibilities listed in the appendix to the report, and it would be a
requirement to secure the necessary evidence to identify the 18th salary. It
was also explained, that although no senior salaries had been allocated to the
Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee, that the Council paid a lay member
fee to the individual for their work. ·
It was suggested that
we should correspond with other councils to gain an understanding of the
situation in each authority. ·
It was noted that
although it was important to know what other authorities were doing, that it
was more important to have an understanding of what
other Gwynedd chairs were doing, and the allowance should be paid to the chairs
with the greatest workload. ·
As a way forward, it
was suggested that the Committee should ask for additional information in terms
of the responsibilities and workload of the Chair of this Committee, including
a comparison with the situation in other counties, and recommending to the Full
Council that a senior salary should be paid to the chair of this Committee, if
the additional information merited this. RESOLVED 1.
To recommend that
the Full Council adopts the senior salaries list for 2023/24 and for the future
(as seen in paragraph 14 of the report to the committee). 2.
To note that the
Committee has requested additional information in relation to the
responsibilities and workload of the Chair of the Democracy Services Committee,
including a comparison with the situation in other counties, and a wish to
recommend to the Full Council that a senior salary should be paid to the Chair
of the Democracy Services Committee, if the additional information merits this. |