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The minutes are published. No summary has been written yet.
1.1 The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. 1.2 There were no apologies.
2.1 The DMO confirmed that the meeting was quorate.
Part of an issue followed across 4 meetings
3.1 There were no declarations of interest.
4.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2023 were confirmed as an accurate record of the meeting.
5.1 The content of the action sheet was noted.
6.1 The DMO outlined the report which asked the committee to consider and comment on the steps taken by the Leaders to promote the standards of conduct by members of their groups as set out in the templates attached as an Appendix to the report. 6.2 The Chair thanked the group leaders for attending. 6.3 In response to questions asked by members of the committee, the group leaders commented as follows: · All group leaders were regularly in touch with members of their groups and offered advice and support where appropriate to ensure compliance with the Code of Conduct. · There had been no Ombudsman Complaints within any group which was a good indication that everyone was working to the standards expected. · Ways to affect the conduct of members was to set an example and clear expectations and act early with intervention and prevention measures as a group leader. Having a calming influence during any disagreement was also important. · All group leaders felt they had a positive relationship with one another and talked to each other regularly. · In larger groups, it could sometimes be challenging to ensure that all members were happy, however, relationships had improved and the atmosphere in the council chamber had transformed over the years. · All group leaders were satisfied with the Code of Conduct training they had received. The volume of training required for new members during induction was challenging, particularly due to the introduction of hybrid meetings. All group leaders agreed that mid-term would be a particularly good time to receive refresher training. The Deputy Monitoring Officer would raise this as an action for the Monitoring Officer to implement going forward. · It was recognised that attendance at meetings was important for the business of the council, particularly for regulatory committees who discharged an important function, and for scrutiny committees which played an important role in checks and balances on the executive arm of the council, and for smaller meetings where a quorum was needed. · Having working councillors was important for the balance of the chamber and group leaders understood that this would involve time constraints and conflicting work commitments. Group leaders felt that individual committees should do all they could to adjust and help members with attendance at meetings such as reviewing the timings of meetings. · Whilst it was important for there to be a sensible balance in terms of the number of committees each member sat on, committees worked more successfully by having willing volunteers with more time to sit on those committees. Attendance at meetings was important, however, enabling members to engage and participate was also important. · All group leaders supported members during times of need, and also offered appropriate guidance and support in terms of ensuring compliance with standards, however, the wider wellbeing of members was an important matter. Being a Councillor was a stressful job and members could be approached at any time via many different avenues such as in the street, by phone, by email or via social media. There were examples where members had been targeted on social media which sometimes had a huge impact on wellbeing. It was a concern that valued Councillors stand down due to these pressures, particularly those in minority groups who get disproportionately targeted. More training to support the mentoring and wellbeing role would be useful. · Social media training could be useful with the emphasis being on how to deal with social media rather than how to use social media. The DMO explained that this training could be useful if all members were brought together to share examples and to discuss the resources available. The DMO also referred to a Social Media Guide for Councillors issued by Welsh Local Government Association that was available for members. Group leaders felt it would be useful to re-circulate the Guide to all members and to sign-post members to any training provided by WLGA and LGA. The DMO commented around the difficulty of officers not becoming involved politically, however, she recognised that this was a matter that could affect the well-being of members and she would raise this with the Monitoring Officer to discuss how members could be further supported. 6.4 The Chair thanked group leaders for attending and felt that the discussion showed signs of striving to ensure good standards of conduct and behaviour. He recognised that there had been no complaints over the past year which was positive and reflected on behaviours and how group leaders supported party members. He requested that group leaders continued to lead the way in terms tackling behaviours and also that they remained vigilant if ever there were signs of standards slipping. 6.5 Members considered and commented as above on the steps taken by the Leaders to promote the standards of conduct by members of their groups as set out in the templates attached as an Appendix to the report.
7.1 The HRM outlined the report inviting members of the committee to approve revisions to the Council’s Whistleblowing policies as set out in Appendix 2. 7.2 The Chair welcomed the move to incorporate the policies into one document for consistency and clarity and he commented that the committee found the summary of changes attached as Appendix 2 particularly helpful. 7.3 The HRM stated that, in terms of raising awareness of the guidance, the guidance would be republished, and staff would be reminded of how to access the guidance. 7.4 The HRM clarified that the Head of HR and Head of Strategic HR was one role and this would be corrected in the document prior to publication. 7.5 Members approved the revisions to the Council’s Whistleblowing policies as set out in Appendix 2 to the report following the key findings and proposals for improvement arising out of the Wales Audit Office’s (WAO’s) review of the Council’s arrangements for whistleblowing in 2014.
8.1 The TLD&MS outlined the report which updated the committee on the level of attendance of elected members at committees and policy seminar sessions. She referred to Appendix 1 of the report and stated that during the year there had been a number of changes to the political balance of the council resulting in changes to committee memberships, therefore, members should bear this in mind when reviewing attendance figures. 8.2 In order for figures to be clear, the committee requested that future reports include a breakdown of the number of meetings members were expected to attend against the number of meetings actually attended. The committee also requested that information be shared with them around committee’s that were not able to discharge their functions due to being inquorate. 8.3 The committee discussed the use of cameras when members joined meetings remotely and felt it was courtesy for all members present to be seen and heard. Members referred to Statutory Guidance and the Council’s formally adopted Hybrid Meetings Protocol and felt that it would be beneficial to re-circulate the guidance to all Members. It was recognised that during the early stages of the introduction of hybrid meetings members may have been advised to turn their cameras off due to bandwidth issues, however, the TLD&MS clarified that this should no longer be an issue. The committee agreed that the Chair and the Monitoring would write to all Members to reinforce the guidance and to highlight the importance of attendance at meetings. 8.3 The Committee reviewed the reported attendance of members at meetings for the Civic Year May 2022 – May 2023.
9.1 The DMO outlined the report which asked the committee to consider and implement the draft Work Programme for the Committee for the Civic Year 2023/24. 9.2 The committee referred to earlier discussions where it was agreed that mid-term refresher Code of Conduct training should be provided and agreed that this should be added to the Work Programme. 9.3 The committee approved the draft Work Programme for 2023/24 as set out in Appendix 1 (Version 43) with the addition of mid-term refresher Code of Conduct training for all members.
10.1 The DMO outlined the report informing Members of applications for dispensation by Councillors to award monies out of Members’ Small Schemes to their chosen charities, clubs or organisations as allowed under that Scheme. 10.2 The Chair outlined the applications for dispensations and the committee considered and agreed the 9 schemes applications below: Small Scheme Application Ref No: Councillor applying for Dispensation: Name of Organisation: Amount: 1. Elizabeth Haynes Giving Hope Torfaen £100 2. Catherine Bonera Giving Hope Torfaen £100 3. Elizabeth Haynes St Josephs Social Club £100 4. Catherine Bonera St Josephs Social Club £100 5. Catherine Bonera Victory Church £400 6. Ron Burnett Henllys Village Hall £1000 7. Catherine Bonera Cwmbran 50 Plus Forum £50 8. Elizabeth Haynes Cwmbran 50 Plus Forum £50 9. Elizabeth Haynes SDW Community Group (St Dials Ward) £400
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