Issue - meetings

To approve the Petitions Scheme and recommend its adoption by the Full Council.

The report was submitted by Cllr Dyfrig Siencyn   

DECISION 

To approve the Petitions Scheme and recommend its adoption by the Full Council. 

DISCUSSION 

The report was submitted noting that it was a report that sought to approve the Petitions Scheme and recommend its adoption at the next Full Council. It was explained that adopting a Petitions Scheme was a statutory requirement on the Council in the Local Government and Elections Act 2021. It was expressed that the Scheme noted how the Council would deal with petitions when it received them.  

It was noted that a petition was a way for individuals, community groups and organisations to raise matters that caused them concern and gave an opportunity for Councillors to consider the need for change. It was added that the scheme set out steps on how to present the petition and what could be expected as a response and the steps that would be taken by the Council. It was emphasised that some cases such as school restructuring followed legal and statutory requirements on consultation and statutory response periods and a petition would not be accepted outside those arrangements.  

It was highlighted that the Democracy Services Committee had discussed the Scheme last week, and observations had been received and minor adaptations had been made to the Scheme following these discussions. 

Observations arising from the discussion 

·                  It was asked that if a petition was received, could it be discussed by the Cabinet Member, the Cabinet or the Full Council, and an enquiry was made about who decided on the level of resolution. It was explained that it was subject to the nature of the petition and that it followed the sensible route.  

·                  It was asked whether the scheme was different to what currently happened. It was explained that this Scheme formalised the arrangements and raised the awareness of residents.  

·                  It was noted that it was nice to see the Cabinet being able to relax when discussing the requirements of the Act, and that this was as a result of very robust governance arrangements being seen in a number of teams who worked in the background across the Council.