Agenda item

To submit the report of the Head of Democracy Services.

To accept the report.

The Head of Democratic Services presented his annual report on behalf of the Democratic Services Committee in respect of support for members.

The Head thanked all the committee members and the officers of the Democratic and Language Services for their support during the last year. He referred in particular to the heroic efforts of the Leader and staff of the Translation Team in ensuring simultaneous translation provision at virtual meetings, not only within this Council but also across the region with other public organisations. The work of the Information Technology officers had also been essential, and had enabled everyone to now take the technology for granted. He also thanked the officers of the Council's Learning and Organisational Development Service for coordinating the training, and he also thanked the members of the Democratic Services Committee and Councillors Dewi Owen and Anne Lloyd Jones as the chairs of the committee for the period of the report in question.

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and offer observations.  During the discussion, the following matters were raised:-

·         A member expressed concern that the additional cost of working virtually from home could prevent some from standing in an election to become a councillor – we should ensure that we continue to be an inclusive council.  In response, it was noted that the Service was live to this threat, and that the matter would be discussed further at the next meeting of the Democratic Services Committee in June.

·         A member asked whether consideration had been given to offering a translation service to other authorities, as a way of generating additional income to the Council's coffers. In response, it was explained that the Translation Service already provided a translation service to a number of other organisations.  Over the past year the service had also assisted many other local authorities etc., in order to introduce systems that allowed simultaneous translation in virtual meetings. There was already income coming in from organisations for the translation service provided by Gwynedd, but there was scope to consider extending this further.

·         It was noted that Gwynedd Council had been proactive in moving to conduct virtual meetings bilingually from the very beginning, and was an example to other bodies across Wales.

·         It was noted that conducting meetings virtually saved a lot of travelling costs for the Council and travel time for the members, and that virtual meetings should be considered as the way forward in future.

·         Members expressed that the Planning Committee should meet in person in order to maintain its status as a fair and firm committee.  It was also noted that it had not been possible for the members to go on site visits, which were so important in respect of making the correct decisions on planning applications.

·         Members expressed the view that the full Council and Scrutiny Committees should meet in person, but that members should be given the choice of attending other meetings either virtually or in person.  In response it was explained that the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 incorporated the virtual way of working, as well as the hybrid and common method, and that the Council would be requested to adopt a policy on the procedure.  As such, there would be an opportunity for the members to contribute to the discussion regarding the form and shape of future committees soon.

·         It was noted that the hybrid approach had been successful in other places.  This Council had been proactive in establishing a virtual system, and it could push again to be at the forefront in terms of a hybrid system. In response, it was explained that the Council was already investing in a provision that would allow this flexibility in the near future, and it would certainly be in a position to proceed and agree on this very soon.

RESOLVED to accept the report.

The Head of Service was thanked for his presentation.