Issue - meetings

To receive a report on the Covid-19 Recovery Plan for Democratic Services (copy enclosed).

Agreement on the recommendation was by consensus. No formal vote was taken. Committee members indicated they were in favour of the recommendation. The Committee:

RESOLVED:- Subject to the above observations, to support the recovery plan for democratic arrangements, as outlined in Appendix 1 to the report.

The Lead Member for Corporate Services and Strategic Direction introduced the report (previously circulated) and gave a brief background to the work that had taken place during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was highlighted that all involved had worked extremely hard to maintain services where possible. Clarification was provided on the decisions that had been made using the emergency powers. The Leader had the power to make a decision that would otherwise have been made at a Cabinet meeting. This delegated decision process had only been adopted twice to do this and Cabinet members had seen the reports prior to a decision being made.

The Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services explained to date the only method for holding meetings with a simultaneous translation service was through the platform Zoom. It was confirmed work into implementing Zoom for public meetings was on going. Members were informed on the technical issues that had occurred to update the Council Chamber to enable hybrid meetings, and for those meetings to be webcast. It was confirmed that a number of meetings had resumed with the full schedule of meetings being held from September 2020.

Members thanked the Lead Member and officers for the information provided, during the discussion the following points were raised:

• Prior to the Covid -19 pandemic the law stated that hybrid meetings allowed 70% of members to attend remotely as long as 30% of members attended the meeting room and that all could be seen and heard. It was reported that the Welsh Government had always been keen for local Councils to hold remote meetings. Those regulations had been relaxed during the pandemic stating Local Authorities could hold completely remote meetings. Further regulations and guidance was expected.
• Members felt that the communication with the group leaders during the pandemic had worked well. With group leaders passing on information and comments to members at weekly group meetings, for any feedback to Cabinet.
• The questionnaire asking for feedback on remote meetings had closed, the Democratic Service’s Manager (DSM) stated he would see if it was possible to re-open the questionnaire for those who had not completed it. The working group would examine the feedback from the member questionnaire.
• The Council had agreed to hold Zoom meetings for public meetings that required simultaneous translation only, once able to do so. It was witnessed that other Authorities had held Zoom meetings with few problems. The DSM confirmed the intention to publically broadcast and translate meetings to Welsh remained a priority.
• The DSM stated he would email the complete membership of the working group membership to members. Nominations had been sought from groups through the group leaders.
• Remote working would have a benefit to the carbon emissions and footprint for Denbighshire.

Members thanked officers for the detailed response to questions and concerns. It was,

RESOLVED, that members note the recovery plan and the democratic arrangements as set out in the report.