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Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting - Zoom

Contact: Eirian Roberts  01286 679018

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES

          To receive any apologies for absence.

 

Minutes:

An apology had been received from Mr Richard Parry Hughes, Community Council Member.

 

2.

DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST

          To receive any declaration of personal interest.

 

Minutes:

Mr Hywel Eifion Jones declared a personal interest in item 6 on the agenda – Public Service Ombudsman for Wales Consultation – New Draft Guidance on the Code of Conduct for Members of County and Community / Town Councils, as he was a member of the Adjudication Panel for Wales, a panel that was referenced in the report.

 

He was not of the opinion that it was a prejudicial interest, and he did not withdraw from the meeting during the discussion on the item.

 

3.

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.

4.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 222 KB

          The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 9th November, 2020 be signed as a true record  (attached).

 

Minutes:

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 9 November 2020 as a true record.

 

5.

SELF ASSESSMENT AND WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 127 KB

To submit the report of the Monitoring Officer  (attached).

Decision:

(a) To adopt the following as the committee’s self-assessment of its performance in 2019/20, noting that circumstances beyond the control of the Standards Committee had meant that several actions could not be implemented this time:-

 

FUNCTION

ASSESSMENT

(1/2/3/4)

 

Evidence

Further action

Promote and maintain high standards of conduct by members

 

 

1

The Chair and Vice-chair have attended the North Wales Standards Forum to share experiences with other standards committees.

 

Submit an annual report to the Full Council

 

The Committee have received a report on the Ethical Framework arrangements in the context of collaboration

 

Continue to attend and support

 

 

 

Assist the members to adhere to the Code of Conduct

 

2

The Monitoring Officer and his team provide advice and guidance at meetings, and on a one-to-one basis for members.

 

Resume training stages when resources permit

Advise the Council with regard to adopting or amending the Code of Conduct

 

No action required

No occasion has arisen to amend the Code.

 

Monitor the implementation of the Code of Conduct

 

2

Receive regular reports of allegations against members

 

Receive the annual reports of the Ombudsman and the Adjudication Panel for Wales.

 

Continue to monitor, consider and promote alternative methods of receiving information

 

Receive regular reports from the Ombudsman's Code of Conduct Casebook.

 

Receive annual reports on the register of interests and hospitality.

 

Advise, train or arrange for members to receive training on matters relating to the Code of Conduct

 

 

3

 

Need to look at providing new training.

Granting dispensations to members

 

1

Applications have been considered under the new procedure.

 

 

Deal with reports of case tribunals and any reports from the Monitoring Officer on matters referred by the Ombudsman

 

No action required

No hearings were required during the year

 

Authorise the Monitoring Officer to pay allowances to persons assisting with an investigation

 

No action required

There were no occasions where such an allowance was due

 

 

Exercise the above functions in relation to community councils

 

3

The Monitoring Officer and his team provide advice and guidance to councillors, clerks and members.

 

Adopt a training pilot on the Code of Conduct.  A session has been included to pilot the content of the course.

 

 

A pilot course was held with Tywyn Town Council, with positive feedback.  Need to consider resuming the programme virtually when resources allow.

 

(b)    To approve the following work programme for 2021/22:-

 

June, 2021

 

Annual Report

Allegations against Members

The Ombudsman’s Casebook

Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021

Training in general

 

November, 2021

 

Register of Gifts and Hospitality

Declaration of Interests Register

The Ombudsman’s Annual Report

Allegations against Members

Conflicts of Interests and partners outside Local Government

Preparation for the May 2022 Election in respect of the Code of Conduct

 

February, 2022

 

Adjudication Panel’s Annual Report

Allegations against Members

Minutes:

Submitted – the report of the Monitoring Officer inviting the committee to:-

·         undertake a self-assessment of the work and outcomes of the Committee during 2019/20; and

·         consider a draft work programme for 2021/22.

 

It was emphasised that although the self-assessment table in Appendix 1 was based on normal circumstances, the Covid situation had significantly impacted the ability to deliver the functions over the past year. Technically, a number of the functions fell within Category 4, but this did not fully reflect the situation, and it was important to note that it was the crisis that had led the Standards Committee to this situation rather than a lack of action on its part.

 

The Monitoring Officer was asked about his views on the Ombudsman's effectiveness in relation to the decisions on whether or not to investigate complaints. In response, it was explained that it was difficult to measure the effectiveness of the Ombudsman, although the committee could monitor how the system was working when it discussed the Ombudsman's annual reports and quarterly letters. In response to a further question about challenging the Ombudsman's decision, it was explained that this did not generally happen, unless it was in relation to a very specific matter, or when something had been misunderstood or misinterpreted, or required further information. It was suggested that the committee could discuss this further under item 6 on the agenda.

 

It was noted that it would be beneficial to provide guidance on the Code of Conduct for groups that were choosing candidates for the 2022 Election, to ensure that people putting their names forward were aware of the commitments involved with becoming a councillor.  In response, it was suggested that it would be useful for the committee to receive a report in November on the preparation for the May 2022 Election in relation to raising awareness of the Code of Conduct's requirements amongst prospective candidates and existing members.

 

It was noted that it was timely to review the overall training arrangements, and it was suggested that a report should be submitted to the committee meeting in June. It was also noted that, when circumstances allowed, it was intended to re-establish the pilot course for community councils on the Code of Conduct virtually, and to report back.

 

RESOLVED

(a)     To adopt the following as the committee’s self-assessment of its performance in 2019/20, noting that circumstances beyond the control of the Standards Committee had meant that several actions could not be implemented this time:-

 

FUNCTION

ASSESSMENT

(1/2/3/4)

 

Evidence

Further action

Promote and maintain high standards of conduct by members

 

 

1

The Chair and Vice-chair have attended the North Wales Standards Forum to share experiences with other standards committees.

 

Submit an annual report to the Full Council

 

The Committee has received a report on the Ethical Framework arrangements in the context of collaboration

 

Continue to attend and support

 

 

 

Assist the members to adhere to the Code of Conduct

 

2

The Monitoring Officer and his team provide advice and guidance at meetings, and on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

PUBLIC SERVICE OMBUDSMAN WALES CONSULTATION - NEW DRAFT GUIDANCE ON THE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR MEMBERS OF COUNTY AND COMMUNITY / TOWN COUNCILS pdf icon PDF 308 KB

To submit the report of the Monitoring Officer  (attached).

Additional documents:

Decision:

To submit the following observations in response to the consultation, and delegate the right to the Monitoring Officer to collate and convey the response on behalf of the Council:-

 

·         That the committee welcomes the document overall, and is of the view that it is readable and very useful in terms of explaining the code.  We also believe that the use of case studies and speech bubbles are a good way of highlighting parts of the document and making it relevant to people.

·         It would be useful if the examples of Code of Conduct breaches listed in the document also noted what the outcome had been, in order to give a clearer picture.

·         It would be useful if the document included examples of how the public interest test has worked in practice i.e. what types of complaints have passed the threshold, and what types of complaints have failed.

·         The document should be gender-neutral.

 

Minutes:

Submitted – the Monitoring Officer's report inviting the committee to provide comment and feedback on the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Consultation on the new draft guidance on the Code of Conduct for Members of County and Town / Community Councils.

 

It was explained that the consultation had no prescribed questions, attention was drawn to the purpose of the document, and the following matters were suggested for the committee’s consideration:-

 

·         Is the guidance provided understandable and of use?

·         Are there any aspects which are not as good and could be improved and how?

·         Does anything else need to be included?  What?

 

It was further noted that the Democratic Services Committee had considered the consultation at its meeting held on 18 February, and although it was generally supportive of the guidance in its content and tone, some questions had arisen in relation to the challenge of political expression, and the line between what was appropriate and inappropriate, especially in the respect and use of social media etc.

 

Reference was made to specific sections of the guidance, namely:-

 

·         The two stage test used by the Ombudsman in deciding whether to investigate a complaint, or whether an investigation into a breach of the Code should continue.

 

·         The right to political expression, where the Code could intervene, and where it crossed the line. 

·         The relevance of the Code to individuals, and the expectation that people holding public office should maintain high standards of conduct.

·         The requirement for members who represented the Council on external bodies to comply with the Code of that body, as breaching that body's code could also mean that the member was breaching the Council's code.

·         The community leadership role of members, and how sending inappropriate e-mails, or the careless and irresponsible use of social media brought the member's office into disrepute.

·         The complex role and status of clerk within a community council.

·         The role of the Monitoring Officer in the context of community councils.

 

During the discussion, the following matters were raised:-

 

It was noted, although the guidance included examples of breaches of the Code, that there was no reference made to the sanction applied in those cases.

 

It was suggested that the use of case studies and speech bubbles were a good way of highlighting parts of the document and making them relevant to people.

 

It was noted that the point regarding a lack of complaints investigated by the Ombudsman was raised annually in the full Council, but it was evident than less than 5% of the Ombudsman's work related to Councils, with the majority of the complaints arising in the field of health. Attention was also drawn to the fact that the Ombudsman had stated clearly in the introduction to the guidance that the number of low-level complaints submitted remained too high, and although it appeared that a very small number of members submitted these complaints, in this challenging period it was even more important that his office was used effectively, and that any investigations undertaken  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

ALLEGATIONS AGAINST MEMBERS pdf icon PDF 255 KB

To submit the report of the Senior Solicitor (Corporate)  (attached).

 

 

Minutes:

Submitted - the report of the Senior Solicitor (Corporate) presenting information about the Ombudsman's decisions on formal complaints against members.