Agenda item

To present the Head of Democracy Services’ annual report to the committee.

To accept the report and it was agreed to submit the report to the Full Council in May 2021.

To accept the report and it was agreed to submit the report to the Full Council in May 2021.

A draft annual report was submitted by the Head of Democratic Services to receive any observations from the committee before its submission to the Full Council in May 2021.

A foreword was provided noting that the Head of Democratic Services, the Democracy and Language Manager and officers had a role to review the support available for members continuously.

It was reported back on a challenging year, emphasising and congratulating that all elected members had now become familiar with virtual committees.

A brief overview of the contents of the report was provided, drawing attention to the successes of the department, which included:

-       Adapting to allow remote access to officers and members in order to realise the requirements of the local government act.

-       A direct reference to the Translation Team Leader and translators for adapting to new methods.

-       A direct reference to the I.T. team, with a particular reference to the Programme Office Manager for his commitment and assistance.

-       Discussing the projects such as Members' Portal and the Intranet, which ensured that the important information is easily available for members.

-       Members were asked whether the contents of the report met their needs.

During the discussion, the following observations were made by members:

-       Gratitude was expressed for the report and the comprehensive information, noting that receiving these allowed members to be informed about the department's procedures.

-       It was noted that the members' portal was not completely ready to be used but enthusiasm was expressed to be able to use it in the near future.

-       The new way forward of continuing with virtual committee meetings for the vast majority of them was welcomed, reasons in favour of this was noted such as saving on travel time and promoting more people to stand in future elections.

-       Attention was drawn to the need to consider securing Councillors' information.

-       It was noted that it had to be ensured that members had full access to resources, including devices and proper internet connection if procedures would become virtual on a more permanent basis.

-       Assistance to upgrade resources

-       It was enquired whether all elected Council members had registered with the information commissioner.

In response to these observations, the Head of Democracy Services noted that the I.T. service was in the process of examining the Members' Portal to ensure access for all, as minor amendments were required prior to its launch.

She agreed that securing information was an important element for them to consider, especially as officers and members worked from home and continued to deal with information. She reiterated that securing information would be a subject that would require more attention in future and that more information would be reported back in future.