Agenda and minutes
Venue: Ystafell Gwyrfai, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd. LL55 1SH
Contact: Eirian Roberts 01286 679018
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were received from Dr Einir Young
(Chair) and Ms Jacqueline Hughes. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: No declarations of interest were received from
any members present. |
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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 previous meeting of this committee held on 2nd October,
2017 be signed as a true
record (attached). Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee
held on 2 October 2017 as a true record. |
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COMMUNITY COUNCILS TRAINING PDF 199 KB To submit
the report of the Monitoring Officer
(attached). Minutes: Submitted
– the report of the Monitoring Officer, recommending to submit an alternative
system to provide training to town and community councils, which would mean
offering to provide a trainer to hold a session on the Code of Conduct in the
areas of the councils, rather than centralise sessions at the main centres
only. During the
discussion, it was noted: ·
That strong encouragement was
needed for councils to collaborate with nearby councils on this as it would be
impractical for the trainer to visit 64 town and community councils in Gwynedd
individually. ·
That a regular programme of
training sessions could be run, as long as the demand was there, and to tailor
sessions as required. ·
That a handout could be
included in the induction pack provided for new town / community council
members to summarise the main points of the Code of Conduct in bullet point
form, and provide the Monitoring Officer's contact details. RESOLVED (a) To hold a pilot for a year on the training
system of providing a trainer on the Code of Conduct to Town and Community
Councils, in accordance with the report, and to report back within 12 months on
the findings. (b) To include a concise handout on the Code of Conduct
in the induction pack provided for new town / community council members. |
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FUNCTIONS OF THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE PDF 299 KB To submit
the report of the Monitoring Officer
(attached). Minutes: Submitted
– the report of the Monitoring Officer giving an overview of the Standards
Committee's roles, mainly for the benefit of the new members, but also as a
method of reminding everyone of what the committee should do and what could
change. During the
discussion, it was noted: ·
That declaring an interest was
a particular problem in the Care Scrutiny Committee. Most of the committee members had chosen to go
on this committee as they were interested in the field of care / health, but as
this interest frequently derived from their professional backgrounds, or a
member of their family, e.g. directly employed, or working in partnership with
the health service, it was often required for them to withdraw from the
meetings due to their interest in the matters under consideration. ·
That work was underway to
prepare a note advising on the number of these situations in order to attempt
to identify where the boundaries were, as it became increasingly difficult to
operate the Code appropriately whilst safeguarding the democratic process. ·
If a member had to declare an
interest so often, the question should be asked whether this was the best
committee for the member to serve on. On
the contrary, there was then a danger of losing real expertise on the
committee. ·
That dispensation was one way
forward, but this was dependent on the grounds.
It was suggested that there might be a need to raise the scrutiny
members' awareness of the fact that they could submit an application for
dispensation. ·
That it was important that
members read the reports that were put forward to different committees and
contacted the Monitoring Officer or Senior Corporate Solicitor beforehand if
they suspected that they had an interest in an item on the agenda. ·
Although most of the
complaints to the Ombudsman were ultimately dropped, awaiting an adjudication
could mean a very difficult time for the member the complaint was made
against. It was confirmed that the
procedure was confidential until a full hearing would be put forward to the
Standards Committee or the Adjudication Panel. In
addition to the content of the report, and as the membership of the Standards
Committee was now complete, the Monitoring Officer noted his intention to
arrange a short training for members of the committee on the hearings
procedure. RESOLVED to note the report. |
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ALLEGATIONS AGAINST MEMBERS PDF 229 KB To submit
the report of the Monitoring Officer
(attached). Minutes: Submitted
– the report of the Monitoring Officer noting the Ombudsman's decisions on
formal complaints against members. During the
discussion, it was noted: ·
That the Ombudsman took a long
time to come to a decision on individual cases when carrying out an
investigation, and that this caused stress for the person subject to the
allegation. ·
That people were being
disappointed by the Ombudsman's decision not to investigate their complaint. ·
That there was also a system
of deciding locally on complaints, but this was recognised that this was only
for minor complaints. RESOLVED to note the report. |
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NORTH WALES STANDARDS COMMITTEES FORUM PDF 2 MB To submit,
for information, the minutes of a meeting of the North Wales Standards
Committees Forum held on 10th April, 2017 (attached). Minutes: Submitted,
for information – the minutes of the North Wales Standards Committees Forum
meeting held on 10 April 2017. The
Monitoring Officer noted that: ·
The membership of the forum
had now been extended to include the Ceredigion and Powys councils. ·
He had volunteered to hold the
next meeting of the forum in Gwynedd during May / June. RESOLVED to note the report. |