Agenda and minutes

          To receive any apologies for absence.

None.

          To receive any declaration of personal interest.

No declarations of interest were received from any members present.

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

None.

          The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 3rd October, 2016 be signed as a true record  (attached).

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 3 October 2016, as a true record.

Referring to item 3 in the minutes, Preparations for the Local Government Elections 2017, the Monitoring Officer noted that he and the Senior Solicitor had recently attended a series of awareness raising meetings for prospective candidates and had given a short presentation on the Members Code of Conduct.

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

Submitted –

(1) The Monitoring Officer requested that the committee consider and determine applications by Councillor Dilwyn Morgan, Gwynedd Council Member for Y Bala, for a dispensation relating to the educational re-organisation of the catchment area of Ysgol y Berwyn, Y Bala.

(2) A further request was received by Councillor Elwyn Edwards, Gwynedd Council Member for Llandderfel, after the report had been prepared, for a dispensation relating to the same matter.

Before considering the requests, the Monitoring Officer gave an outline of the school organisation process in the catchment.

(1)     Application by Councillor Dilwyn Morgan

The Monitoring Officer noted that:-

·         The Councillor had an interest in the matter because his grandson was a pupil at Ysgol Bro Tegid.

·         The Councillor had also noted on his form that he was a Governor at Ysgol y Berwyn, but that this would not prevent him taking part in discussions as the Code of Conduct gave specific permission for governors appointed by the Council to take part, except when applications for permissions (such as planning) are being discussed.

·         The Councillor had requested a general dispensation, because of his role as a local member, to participate in any meeting where he was invited to express the views and opinions of his electorate.

·         The Councillor did not believe that his participation would damage public confidence.

Reference was made to previous decisions in similar cases where members with an interest had been granted dispensations to take part in only the local discussions, and it was suggested that the precedent that had already been set should be adhered to so that the committee was consistent in its decisions.

RESOLVED to approve the application for dispensation for Councillor Dilwyn Morgan to speak, but not to vote at Council-sponsored meetings about the reorganisation of schools in the Ysgol y Berwyn catchment, Bala, which are held in the area. However, he would not be allowed to speak, or be present or vote in any meeting of the Council, Cabinet or any of his committees; and he is required, at every meeting in which he participates, to clearly state that he has received a dispensation, and explain the exact nature of the restraints on him, and that this is noted in the minutes of such meetings.

(2)     Application by Councillor Elwyn Edwards

The Monitoring Officer noted that:-

·         The Councillor had an interest in the matter because his grandsons and granddaughter were pupils at Ysgol y Berwyn.

·         The Councillor was given a dispensation in November 2009 to contribute to the Catchment Review Panel discussions; but, because the nature of the local discussions had changed since then, the recommendation was to update that dispensation to reflect the current situation.

·         The Councillor's existing application specifically requested a dispensation to sign a petition calling for the new Berwyn Lifelong Learning School to be given community status and to gather names for it.

In considering the matter, it was noted that this was an application to act as a member of the Council, where the Gwynedd Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

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

Submitted – the report of the Monitoring Officer requesting the committee's opinion on the proposed arrangement for appointing elected members and community committee members to the Standards Committee following the 2017 Local Government elections.

The Senior Solicitor noted that he intended to write directly to all community and town councils before the elections in May, so that they could consider the matter at their first meetings following the elections.  Additionally, he intended to make all Members of Gwynedd Council aware of the need to appoint a new community committee member to the Standards Committee and asked that they relay the message to their community and town councils.

RESOLVED to approve the proposed process.

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

Submitted – the report of the Monitoring Officer detailing the role, remit and arrangements of the North Wales Standards Committee Forum and a request for members' opinions on the development of the forum.

The Monitoring Officer noted that a request submitted to extend the forum to include the Powys and Ceredigion Councils' Standards Committees had been positively received by the other counties in North Wales.

The Chair noted the importance of ensuring that each meeting of the forum should be for a particular purpose and that outcomes were delivered.

Members were reminded of their right to refer any matter to the forum for discussion.

RESOLVED to state that this committee supports the application to extend the North Wales Standards Committee Forum to include the Powys and Ceredigion Councils' Standards Committees.

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

Submitted, for information – the report of the Monitoring Officer on the preparatory work for compliance with the requirement to publish the Interests Register in an electronic format, so that each member's declarations could be viewed through their personal pages on the Council's website.

The importance of ensuring that any new Council member elected in May was fully aware of the stated arrangement was emphasised, and that this would be included in the first induction sessions on the Behavioural Code.

The Senior Solicitor stated that the preparatory work for publishing the register in an electronic format had highlighted the need to improve the form and content of the declaration of personal interest forms.

It was noted, if town and community councils were also required to publish their registers of interest electronically, that the Monitoring Officer should inform them of this when writing to them to invite nominations to this committee.

RESOLVED to note the report.

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

Submitted, for information – the report of the Monitoring Officer on formal complaints made against members.

RESOLVED to note the report.