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ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN To elect a Vice-Chairman for this Committee for 2016-17 Minutes: RESOLVED
to elect Councillor Lesley Day as vice-chairman of this Committee for the year
2016/17 |
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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: No declarations of personal 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. |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the last meeting of this committee held on March 22nd 2016, be signed as a true record. Minutes: The Chair signed
the minutes of the previous committee meeting held on 22 March, 2016, as a true
record. |
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STANDARDS COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT PDF 180 KB To present the Standards Committee’s annual report. Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - a
draft of the annual report to be submitted to the full Council on 6 October,
2016, updating members on the activities of the Committee in 2015-16. It was
emphasised that this relatively quiet period for the Committee at a time when
it appeared that standards of public conduct were deteriorating, reflected well
on Council Members. In addition, the need to show leadership and to remain true
to the Nolan principles, was emphasised. Observations
arising from the discussion:- ·
Concern regarding the level of comprehension of the
Code of Conduct among Community Council members and clerks. In response, the
Monitoring Officer noted that training had been arranged for community councils
and that a copy of the latest code of conduct had been distributed. He added
that training was also being offered by Once Voice Wales. He noted that no
fundamental problems had become apparent. ·
Would it be possible to contact the Community
Councils' Clerks in order to get a better idea of the situation? In response,
the Chair of the Standards Committee asked that Members bring any specific
problems to his attention. RESOLVED to note the content of the report. |
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To update the Committee members on the latest developments and the work of the Local Government elections focus group (May 2017) Minutes: Submitted - a progress report on the
preparations for the 2017 election following the formation of a focus group at
the previous meeting of this Committee. It was reported that there would be
three main avenues to this work: ·
Preparing applicants, focusing on raising awareness
and using data from Members' development interviews in order to improve the
experience of Members elected in 2017. Also, arrange sessions early in 2017 to
inform prospective candidates. ·
Arrange an induction programme for elected members
following the May 2017 election and a training programme for the year, with the
aim of setting up induction sessions and informal training using various
methodologies. ·
Electronic devices, reporting that the sub-group
was about to start trialling various electronic devices. It was also noted that
the Learning and Development service had been working on an online provision
for Members. Observations arising from the discussion:- ·
How can prospective candidates who will not be able
to attend information sessions be provided for? The Senior Manager – Democracy
and Delivery replied that the information available on the Council's website had
been updated to include comprehensive information. Any ideas on how to attract
more attention were welcome. ·
Packages for prospective candidates distributed
through the libraries before the 2012 elections had been a success. The
observation was noted. ·
Concern was raised as to the short time between the
election and the induction sessions which could prove tricky for newly elected
members in 2017 to arrange time off work to attend the induction sessions. In
response, the Senior Manager - Democracy and Delivery noted that the induction
dates for prospective candidates would be spread out in order to pre warn and
prepare them should they be elected. ·
The political groups should be encouraged to
consider undertaking a mentoring system by pairing up a new councillor with a
more experienced one. ·
It would be beneficial to arrange an opportunity
for the 75 members to meet informally in order to learn about different groups
and wards and encourage collaboration. ·
There was a risk of creating confusion and delay
should a range of devices be available for Members. ·
The need for thorough training for new Members was
emphasised, especially in the field of IT. The Senior Manager – Democracy and
Delivery replied that work was ongoing to identify the training required by new
Members and to decide on the best time to programme this. The Senior Manager -
Information Technology and Transformation added that they had learned a lot
about the level of support required by Members, and how to time this, as a
result of the IT experiences of providing Members with the existing equipment. ·
That internet connectivity in some parts of Gwynedd
was very slow, affecting Members' ability to receive on-line services. ·
It would be beneficial to have a type of reference
documents library for Members. RESOLVED to accept
the report, recommending that one electronic device be used for convenience. |
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DIVERSITY IN DEMOCRACY SUB-GROUP UPDATE PDF 336 KB To update the members on the work of the diversity sub-group. Minutes: Submitted - an update on the recent work of
the diversity sub-group, which coincides with the aforementioned work of
preparing for the May 2017 elections: ·
Attract the attention of prospective candidates in
order to encourage them to stand. ·
Understand and identify the obstacles that exist
among prospective applicants and try to respond to them pre-emptively (where
possible) ·
Make the information on the Council's website more
accessible. ·
Produce a second video to promote and encourage
prospective candidates. ·
Improve the advertising when there are vacant seats
on the Council. RESOLVED to accept the report. |
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SOCIAL MEDIA PROTOCOL PDF 53 KB To update members on the Social Media Protocol Additional documents: Minutes: The report was
submitted with an explanation of the change of emphasis in the latest version
of the Protocol, emphasising that the core message is to show respect for
others. A provision for connecting to Members' social media pages was also
added. It was highlighted that the Council did not take any responsibility for
their content and that the content should follow the protocol. Observations
arising from the discussion:- ·
Encourage Members to have a 'personal' page and an
'official' page, both of which would be registered with the Monitoring Officer
so that Members' personal and public lives were kept separate. In response, the
Senior Manager - Democracy and Delivery reminded Members that there was no real
difference between personal and public pages. That the same standards of
conduct would be relevant to both. ·
That a notice be posted renouncing responsibility
for the content of external websites on the page which contains the link to the
social pages. ·
That situations where a Member had 'blocked' another
user (and, as such, did not see his/her messages) and could not therefore
respond when the person who had been blocked sent a message to the Member,
needed to be addressed. RESOLVED to accept the report. |
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OUTSIDE BODIES AND THE ROLE OF CHAMPIONS PDF 261 KB To propose a standard procedure for reporting back on the work of outside bodies. Additional documents:
Minutes: The report was submitted. It was reported that
the situation regarding Outside Bodies had been unclear in the past, and that a
request had been put forward to look into the issue as there was a number of
Outside Bodies and variation in their reporting responsibilities. The need to
try to set up a reporting arrangement by Members of Outside
Bodies and Champions in various fields was noted. Comments arising from the discussion: ·
That some Members had been members of outside bodies for a long time before being
invited to the meeting, demonstrating the nature of the range of various outside bodies. ·
That it was important to inform the Outside Bodies when changes occurred
in order that they could
update their records. ·
The question as to who appointed
Members to Outside Bodies
was raised. The Senior Manager
- Democracy and Delivery replied that it was the Cabinet Member who appointed
Members to the majority of Outside Bodies and that he did this
as a portfolio holder leader than a politician. Resolved to accept the report. |
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MEMBERS' ANNUAL REPORTS PDF 866 KB To report on the production of Members’ Annual Reports for 2015-16 Minutes: The report was submitted, noting that 29
Members had submitted an annual report for 2015-16 despite technical problems
hampering the process of their preparation. It was noted that confusion existed
as to the best way of preparing annual reports for 2016-17 due to the Election.
Official guidance was yet to be received.
Resolved not to hold further discussions on the issue until official
guidance had been received pertaining to the reporting requirements of 2016-17. |
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DEMOCRATIC SERVICES WORK PLAN 2016-17 PDF 235 KB To submit a draft work programme for the Committee’s consideration in order to forward plan the year’s work. Minutes: Submitted – the
draft work programme. RESOLVED to approve the work programme. |