Venue: Siambr Hywel Dda, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH
Contact: Sion Owen 01286 679665
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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were received by Cllr. Dylan
Bullard and Cllr. Linda Ann Jones |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: Councillor Annwen Daniels declared a
personal interest in item 10: 'Members' Remuneration' as she was the Chair of
the Council. The Chair declared an interest that was not
prejudicial on behalf of the members of the committee on item 10: 'Members' Remuneration'. |
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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: There were
no urgent items. |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the last meeting of this committee held on 26/10/17, be signed as a true record. Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of the previous
meeting of this committee held on 26 October 2017 as a true record. |
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TECHNICAL PROVISION PDF 246 KB To consider the way forward with regards to technical provision for Members Minutes: Members'
Portal Councillor Annwen
Hughes presented the sub-group's work on the Members' Portal. She noted that
restructuring work had been carried out to improve the accessibility of the
information that was there. She added that efforts to increase the use would
continue, in addition to efforts to gather information that would be useful to
members. Office
365 A short presentation was given by Councillor
Annwen Hughes, who was a member of the Sub-group of this Committee which was
formed to discuss elected members' IT issues. She noted that some members had
trialled a provision via the Office 365 system with a cloud provision. The
provision had solved a number of technical problems that hindered the work of
members, and this was reiterated by other members who were part of the
sub-group. The Senior IT Manager noted that there was
an additional cost of approximately £9 per head for the system if it was to be
distributed to all members. In response to a question about data protection, he
noted that the Council held accreditations from the PSN and the CSG for
government data protection, and that the Council would never compromise on data
protection. Whilst discussing distributing the new
provision to Council members, it was noted that it needed to be ensured that
effective support would be available to members who were not confident in using
the new provision. In response, the Senior IT Manager noted that the service
would provide the necessary technical support for all users, in addition to assisting
with the set-up of the new system and sharing useful information. In response to a suggestion that the system
should be provided to all members immediately, the Democratic Services Manager
noted that discretion should be exercised, although the IT service was willing
to do so. She added that lessons had been learnt from attempting to act too
quickly in the past. It was proposed and seconded to extend the
Office 365 provision to the rest of the members of this Committee initially. RESOLVED - 1.
To offer Office 365 provision to Members of the Democratic
Services Committee 2.
That the Information Technology Service manage the roll-out
of the provision further, depending on solving any problems arising 3.
That any useful lessons
and information gathered when setting up the provision is shared with the
Members in moving forward. |
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Update the Committee of the developments to date with regards to responding to members’ enquiries Minutes: Submitted – the report of the Head of
Democratic Services. He noted that he had made enquiries following observations
made at the meeting of the Council on 14/12/17 about the lack of response from
officers to messages from elected members. He received 13 responses that were
varied in nature. Observations arising from the discussion: -
The
contact details on the Members' Portal were often on a level that was too high
for the nature of the enquiry. -
Other
organisations such as CCG used one contact point for members. -
Using
Galw Gwynedd could be tiresome, especially when attempting to communicate with
some specific Services. -
The
protocol noted that a response should be provided within five days. Whilst that
was useful, it did not differentiate between urgent matters and other matters. -
Acknowledgement
of receiving the e-mail would be useful, as it would give assurance that the
enquiry had been received. The Head of Democratic Services thanked everyone for their |
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MEMBER-OFFICER PROTOCOL PDF 632 KB The Standards Committee is reviewing the Protocol and the purpose is to
canvass feedback on the content in order to report back Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Monitoring
Officer, noting that the Protocol had been established for some time, defining
the role and expectations as members contacted officers. He noted that it was timely
to review the Protocol to ensure that it continued to fulfil its purpose and to
promote it. The protocol would also be submitted to the Standards Committee
before it would go to the full Council to be adopted as a change to the
constitution. The main changes were to better convey the principle that was
behind clause 29.9.4 (familiarity) and to reflect the staff guidelines in
clause 21.10. In response to a question about familiarity
and its relevance to 'friends' on websites such as Facebook, the Monitoring
Officer noted that the nature of 'friends' on such websites was different to
relationships and familiarity in the real world. He also reminded the Members
of the social media guidelines that had been distributed. He also noted, in
response to a question, that in cases of familiarity before the election of a
Member, the matter should be dealt with like any other declaration of personal
interest. It was asked how strong the protocol was,
and what was its status. In response, the Monitoring Officer noted that the
Protocol defined the internal process, and whilst it was possible for cases to
go before the Standards Committee, it did not have a statutory basis. Other observations arising from the
discussion: -
That
local members were often unaware of what the Council was doing in their wards,
and that it caused concerns that Members were receiving information from their
electors. -
What
steps should a Member follow if they received a complaint of bullying. In response, the Monitoring Officer noted
that the Protocol referred to cases of officers being bullied by Members. The
Head of Democratic Services added that the internal bullying policy existed in
order to address such matters. RESOLVED
to accept the report and to send the Committee's observations to the Standards
Committee |
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A report detailing the arrangements and progress on Members’ training Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Learning and
Development Manager, noting that 35 learning and development opportunities had
been offered across 87 events. The service had also worked to develop a
learning and development provision, looking into and using different methods of
provision. He emphasised that the learning and development programme was a live
programme, and that feedback and suggestions were welcomed. Observations arising from the discussion: -
The
programme was useful to members. Would it be possible to make some types of
training compulsory? -
It
would be useful to offer training on Unconscious Bias for Members and staff. -
Whilst
the numbers who attended some events were disappointing, it was not possible
for all members to be present for different reasons. -
Continuing
to develop alternative methods of providing training was important. -
Was
it raising awareness or training that was most important in some cases? The Learning and Development Manager thanked
the Committee for the observations and suggestions, emphasising that the
service needed to be flexible, and offer a number of opportunities and
different methods for members to receive learning and development
opportunities. RESOLVED
to accept the report. |
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THE HEAD OF DEMOCRATIC SERVICES' ANNUAL REPORT PDF 525 KB Submit a draft of the report to be presented to the Full Council in May 2018 outlining the support that has been developed and is being developed on behalf of members. Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Head of
Democratic Services, outlining the support for Members that had been delivered
over the term of this Council and the elements that were being developed for
them. Comments arising from the discussion: -
That
it was beneficial to see the terms of reference of different committees. It may
be beneficial to add a contact name to the report. -
Encourage
the development of using technology, such as Skype. RESOLVED:
To approve issuing the report to the Full Council. |
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MEMBERS' REMUNERATION PDF 343 KB To seek the Committee's opinion on options for financial remuneration for elected members Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Democratic
Services Manager. He noted that the Council had been successful in influencing
the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales, and the Council's observations
had been reflected in the report of the Panel. He emphasised that the Council
had no choice but to accept the recommendations of the panel, apart from the
salary of the Chair of the Council. Members were free to accept or refuse any
proportion of the remuneration that was offered to them. Observations arising from the discussion: -
Concerns
that Elected Members were receiving an increase in difficult financial
circumstances. -
The
fact that there was one higher salary level now was welcomed. -
The
Chair of the Council should receive the highest civic salary rate to reflect
the status and the commitments of the role of the Chair. It was proposed and seconded to recommend
that the Council should set the civic salary for the Chair of the Council at
Level 1 (£24,200), and the Vice-chair of the Council at level 2 (£16,300). RESOLVED: -
To accept the report. -
To recommend setting
the civic salary for the Chair of the Council at Level 1 (£24,200), and the
Vice-chair of the Council at level 2 (£16,300) to the Council. -
To share the
Committee's observations with the Council. |
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MEMBERS' ANNUAL REPORTS PDF 204 KB Information in relation to publishing Elected Members’ Annual Reports for
2017/18. Additional documents:
Minutes: Submitted - the report of the Democratic
Services Manager, outlining that the purpose of the reports was to give Members
an opportunity to communicate their activities to their electors. Guidelines on
what should be included would be circulated, with a template that had been
submitted to Committee members. He noted that annual reports were not published
for 2016/17 due to the election, but that the opportunity was being offered to
Council Members again for 2017/18. Comments arising from the discussion: -
More
emphasis on the electoral work of members was needed on the template -
It
was useful for Members to keep a diary in order to make the process of
producing an end of year report easier. -
The
opportunity to note why a Member was unable to be present at meetings or events
was appreciated -
Would
there be any further promoting apart from publishing the reports on the
Council's website? In response, the Democratic Services Manager
noted that there was a statutory duty in place to enable Members to publish the
reports. There was no obligation for Members to produce annual reports. He
added that the exemplary template could be adapted to coincide with individual
Members’ content, and that there would be no further promoting. |