Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Hefin Underwood.

To receive any declaration of personal interest.

No declarations of personal interest were received.

To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration.

There were no urgent matters.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the last meeting of this committee held on 17^th November, 2020, be signed as a true record.

It was agreed that the minutes of the previous committee meeting on 17/11/2020 were accurate.

To present the Head of Democracy Services’ annual report to the committee.

To accept the report and it was agreed to submit the report to the Full Council in May 2021.

To accept the report and it was agreed to submit the report to the Full Council in May 2021.

A draft annual report was submitted by the Head of Democratic Services to receive any observations from the committee before its submission to the Full Council in May 2021.

A foreword was provided noting that the Head of Democratic Services, the Democracy and Language Manager and officers had a role to review the support available for members continuously.

It was reported back on a challenging year, emphasising and congratulating that all elected members had now become familiar with virtual committees.

A brief overview of the contents of the report was provided, drawing attention to the successes of the department, which included:

-       Adapting to allow remote access to officers and members in order to realise the requirements of the local government act.

-       A direct reference to the Translation Team Leader and translators for adapting to new methods.

-       A direct reference to the I.T. team, with a particular reference to the Programme Office Manager for his commitment and assistance.

-       Discussing the projects such as Members' Portal and the Intranet, which ensured that the important information is easily available for members.

-       Members were asked whether the contents of the report met their needs.

During the discussion, the following observations were made by members:

-       Gratitude was expressed for the report and the comprehensive information, noting that receiving these allowed members to be informed about the department's procedures.

-       It was noted that the members' portal was not completely ready to be used but enthusiasm was expressed to be able to use it in the near future.

-       The new way forward of continuing with virtual committee meetings for the vast majority of them was welcomed, reasons in favour of this was noted such as saving on travel time and promoting more people to stand in future elections.

-       Attention was drawn to the need to consider securing Councillors' information.

-       It was noted that it had to be ensured that members had full access to resources, including devices and proper internet connection if procedures would become virtual on a more permanent basis.

-       Assistance to upgrade resources

-       It was enquired whether all elected Council members had registered with the information commissioner.

In response to these observations, the Head of Democracy Services noted that the I.T. service was in the process of examining the Members' Portal to ensure access for all, as minor amendments were required prior to its launch.

She agreed that securing information was an important element for them to consider, especially as officers and members worked from home and continued to deal with information. She reiterated that securing information would be a subject that would require more attention in future and that more information would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consult with the members of the Democracy Services Committee on a draft framework for holding meetings and committees with Members in the future.

To accept the report.

To accept the report.

An overview of the logic behind the report was provided by the Head of Democracy Services. It was noted that the purpose of the report was to introduce a framework to hold committee meetings in the future. It was explained that the vast proportion would be held virtually; however, it was recognised that some would occasionally be required to be held on a face-to-face basis.

The report was submitted by the Democracy and Language Manager, who discussed the draft principles to hold committees and meetings in the current and future position. The different types of potential situations were discussed and which committees would be likely to return to a face-to-face basis when it would be possible to do so. It was noted that the exceptions to virtual committees and meetings would be the meetings of the Full Council, Employment Appeal Committees (depending on the appellant's wishes), Licensing Sub-committee (depending on the appellant's wishes) and the Chief Officers' Appointment Committee (when conducting interviews).

The need to reinforce the right and duty of members to speak Welsh at each meeting was added. It was added that this was vitally important, especially within regional committees and meetings as others needed to be promoted to use the Welsh language in order to normalise it.

During the discussion, the following observations were made by members:

-       The members expressed their thanks for the report and it was noted that this was a huge change as Council committees and meetings had been held on a face-to-face basis since the start.

-       Some concerns were raised, especially the situation for new members. It was added that the office and chamber environment was an opportunity to network and chat with fellow members; this may be a loss to some such as new members who needed to get to know members and officers at the beginning of their term.

-       It was asked whether officers would experience the same changes in their methods of working as members, i.e. would they continue to meet virtually after restrictions lifted?

-       It was proposed that it would be essential to meet on a face–to-face basis occasionally in order to challenge and scrutinise.

-       It was noted that the availability of Teams facilitated contact with officers during the current period as it was more personal than a telephone call.

-       It was enquired whether it would be possible to arrange a training session for members on using Zoom?

-       The importance of reminding organisers of the right to use the Welsh language within virtual meetings was reiterated. This was reinforced by proposing that it should be added to the virtual meetings protocol.

-       It was noted that the availability of officers needed to be ensured before formally changing to virtual arrangements, as they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To report on the consultation for a code of conduct for elected members.

To accept the report.

To accept the report.

An overview of the logic behind the report was provided by the Head of Democracy Services. It was noted that the purpose of the report was to introduce a framework to hold committee meetings in the future. It was explained that the vast proportion would be held virtually; however, it was recognised that some would occasionally be required to be held on a face-to-face basis.

The report was submitted by the Democracy and Language Manager, who discussed the draft principles to hold committees and meetings in the current and future position. The different types of potential situations were discussed and which committees would be likely to return to a face-to-face basis when it would be possible to do so. It was noted that the exceptions to virtual committees and meetings would be the meetings of the Full Council, Employment Appeal Committees (depending on the appellant's wishes), Licensing Sub-committee (depending on the appellant's wishes) and the Chief Officers' Appointment Committee (when conducting interviews).

The need to reinforce the right and duty of members to speak Welsh at each meeting was added. It was added that this was vitally important, especially within regional committees and meetings as others needed to be promoted to use the Welsh language in order to normalise it.

During the discussion, the following observations were made by members:

-       The members expressed their thanks for the report and it was noted that this was a huge change as Council committees and meetings had been held on a face-to-face basis since the start.

-       Some concerns were raised, especially the situation for new members. It was added that the office and chamber environment was an opportunity to network and chat with fellow members; this may be a loss to some such as new members who needed to get to know members and officers at the beginning of their term.

-       It was asked whether officers would experience the same changes in their methods of working as members, i.e. would they continue to meet virtually after restrictions lifted?

-       It was proposed that it would be essential to meet on a face–to-face basis occasionally in order to challenge and scrutinise.

-       It was noted that the availability of Teams facilitated contact with officers during the current period as it was more personal than a telephone call.

-       It was enquired whether it would be possible to arrange a training session for members on using Zoom?

-       The importance of reminding organisers of the right to use the Welsh language within virtual meetings was reiterated. This was reinforced by proposing that it should be added to the virtual meetings protocol.

-       It was noted that the availability of officers needed to be ensured before formally changing to virtual arrangements, as they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To update members on the meetings calendar.

To accept the report and submit the recommendation to the Full Council in March, 2021.

To accept the report and submit the recommendation to the Full Council in March, 2021.

The proposed calendar was submitted by the Democracy Team Leader. It had been submitted to the committee in order to receive observations prior to its submission to the Full Council in March. It was added that the calendar before the committee today had already been circulated among officers to ensure that it was in line with statutory and budgetary requirements.

During the discussion, one observation was made by a member stating that no dates could be seen for area forums.

In response, the Democracy Team Leader noted that area forums were not part of the calendar in question; however, meetings of the area forums would recommence in the near future.

To update Members on the training that has taken place since the last meeting. Including a copy of the training programme for 2021/22.

To accept the report.

To accept the report.

A report was submitted by the Learning and Development Manager to update the committee on training that had been available for members since the previous committee meeting. The committee was reminded how training provision methods had been adapted during the COVID-19 period. It was added that this had been an opportunity to trial a new method of receiving feedback via an on-line method.

A summary of recent events was provided, reiterating that a quiet period was in the pipeline before the election. Reference was made to the latest programme for information for committee members and a request was made for any input from members on potential training areas for the future.

During the discussion, the following observations were made by members:

-       Members gave thanks for the good provision of virtual training that had been available and it was reiterated that the report was an accurate picture of the provision.

-       It was noted that many more seemed to be attending the virtual sessions as opposed to sessions in the past

-       A member noted that a feedback form on paper would be useful as members received a number of e-mails and there was a possibility for the feedback e-mail to get lost in their midst.

-       It was stated that the training programme included a balanced number of training as well as personal development opportunities.

-       It was asked whether it would be possible to upload recordings of the training sessions for members who could not attend.

-       A request was made for I.T. sessions in order to develop information in the field and it was reiterated that these would be more useful in smaller groups or on a 1:1 basis.

In response to the above observations, the Members Development Officer noted:

-       It would be possible to ensure that forms were circulated in order to receive members' feedback following training sessions.

-       It was explained that a number of recent sessions had been to raise awareness, therefore, no feedback collecting method had been shared.

-       It was confirmed that a series of I.T sessions in small groups had been arranged for March.