Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Conference Room 1a, County Hall, Wynnstay Road, Ruthin LL15 1YN
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APOLOGIES |
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The Chair welcomed Committee Members to the meeting and
informed Members that Reverend Wayne Roberts had formally tendered his
resignation. The Standards Committee expressed their gratitude to
Reverend Roberts or his contribution to the Committee during the previous three
years. The Chair and the Deputy Monitoring Officer explained there
would be an advertisement for the recruitment of two new independent Members to
the Committee. A Selection Panel would be set up for interviews and a completely
independent member of the public would be required to sit on the Panel. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 59 KB Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: No declarations of interest. Councillor Bill Cowie
requested guidance from the Deputy Monitoring Officer (DMO) regarding the
distribution at every meeting of the Declaration of Interest Forms. The
DMO confirmed it was done as a reminder for Councillors to complete the forms
if necessary. Any disused forms were collected and re-used at future
meetings. Councillor David Jones asked that a copy of the form be sent
to all City, Town and Community Council Clerks to ensure a standard Declaration
of Interest form would be utilised throughout the county. The DMO
confirmed a copy of the forms would be sent out. |
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URGENT MATTERS AS AGREED BY THE CHAIR Notice of items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972. Minutes: No urgent matters. |
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MINUTES OF LAST MEETING PDF 170 KB To receive the minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 23 January, 2015 (copy attached). Minutes: The Minutes of the Standards Committee held on 23 January
2015 were submitted. Councillor Barry Mellor had not submitted apologies for the
meeting as he had been on holiday when he was informed he was the new member on
the Committee. Therefore,
Councillor Mellor’s apologies to be removed from the record. Matters arising:- Councillor Bill Cowie
had raised the question of a checklist of all City, Town and Community Councils
to enable Standards Committee members to indicate their preference as to which
meeting they would attend. The Deputy Monitoring Officer (DMO) confirmed she would be
meeting with the Community Engagement Manager for him to confirm the dates of
all the meetings and once this had been received then it would be circulated to
all members of the Standards Committee. Discussion ensued and the following points were raised: (i)
It was requested that a copy of all City, Town and Community Council
Clerk telephone numbers and email addresses be circulated for ease of
contact. (ii)
The name of the City, Town and Community Council be added to any
Councillors names for ease of identification within any minutes / notes or
communication. (iii)
Clarification to be sent to all members of the Standards Committee
regarding their attendance at meetings when a Part II item was to be
discussed. The DMO explained their attendance would be as a member of the
Standards Committee but also as a member of the public and, therefore, they
should not be in attendance for the Part II items. The informal mechanism
would be very much at the discretion of the Council. (iv)
A response from the Monitoring Officer (MO) was awaited,
regarding relaying the Standards Committee views to the Public Services
Ombudsman for Wales concerning the introduction of a public interest test. (v)
Code of Conduct training for Clerks of the City, Town and Community
Councils to take place between 2.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. on19 May 2015 in County
Hall, Ruthin.
Members of Standards Committee also invited to attend. There have been a
number of new Clerks and hopefully, they will attend, but also it would be
considered a refresher training event for the long-standing Clerks. Feedback to be presented at the Standards Committee being held on
22 May 2015. (vi)
Advertising of the City, Town and Community Councils had been
found to be lacking. The Committee recommended that Notices be placed on
the main streets close to the venues to encourage attendance by members of the
general public. The Clerk to the Ruthin Town Council
had emailed the DMO requesting feedback re: advertising of meeting and venue. (vii)
E-learning. The previous training event held by the MO and the DMO
had been filmed in the hope it could be used to deliver future training.
Unfortunately, following the viewing of the footage, it had been agreed that
the quality of the footage had not been of an adequate quality for training
purposes. (vii) A trainer was being sought by the DMO to
deliver training for Chairs and Vice Chairs and an update would be put forward at
the next meeting. RESOLVED that subject to
the above, the Minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2015, be approved as a
correct record.
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FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME PDF 16 KB To consider the Standards Committee Forward Work Programme (copy attached). Minutes: The Deputy Monitoring Officer (DMO) presented the Standards
Committee Forward Work Programme for consideration. Discussion took place and it was agreed that the following
be added to the Forward Work Programme: (i)
22 May 2015 – Chairman’s Annual Report feedback from Council meeting and
election of Vice-Chair to Standards Committee. (ii)
18 September – Feedback from the North Wales Standards Forum being held
on 30 May 2015. The DMO stated that a Standards Conference would be taking
place in Cardiff on 20 October 2015. All details would be circulated once
received. RESOLVED that the
Standards Committee agree the Forward Work Programme with the agreed
inclusions. |
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CHAIR'S ANNUAL REPORT PDF 75 KB To consider a report by the Deputy Monitoring Officer (copy attached) which enabled the Committee to have site and contribute to the Chair’s Annual Report, in advance of the item being presented to the full Council. Additional documents: Minutes: The Deputy Monitoring Officer (DMO) presented the Chair’s
Annual Report (copy attached) to enable Standards Committee Members to contribute
to the report in advance of the item being presented to Full Council. The
Monitoring Officer at the last meeting had been particularly keen to take into
consideration, the Chair and Committee’s views on the content. It had been agreed by Members of the Standards Committee
that an Annual Report should be presented on the work of the Committee and its
findings and observations to all Council members as part of the Committee’s
drive to increase standards of ethical behaviour and compliance with the
Members Code of Conduct. The Chair and Committee members offered their thanks to the
DMO for her excellent work on the report. RESOLVED that Members: (a) Note
the contents of the report (b)
Provided the Monitoring Officer with comments on its content in order
to ensure that it accurately reflects the views of this Committee (c) Recommend
its presentation by the Chair to the Full Council.
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APPLICATION FOR DISPENSATION BY MEMBERS OF RHYL TOWN COUNCIL PDF 58 KB To consider a report by the Monitoring Officer (copy attached) to allow the Committee to determine whether or not to grant a dispensation. Additional documents: Minutes: The Deputy Monitoring Officer (DMO) presented the
Application for Dispensation by members of Rhyl
Town Council Report (copy attached) to allow the Committee to consider the
application, determine whether or not to grant a dispensation, the conditions
to be attached to the dispensation. The Clerk to Rhyl Town
Council, Gareth Nicolls
was in attendance. An application had been received from Rhyl Town Council for
dispensation for the elected members of the Town Council in respect of matters
relating to the Rhyl in
Bloom Committee. Rhyl Town
Council appoint one of its elected members to serve on the Committee, however,
a majority of the members of the Town Council were also involved in the work of
the organisation either by being on the Committee in their personal capacity or
as members of the organisation. The Clerk to Rhyl Town
Council informed the Committee that the Rhyl
in Bloom Committee were considering a name change and asked that to be taken
into account with regard to the dispensation. In-depth discussion took place and members agreed to grant
the dispensation with conditions attached. The Clerk to Rhyl Town
Council was praised by the Committee in the way he had applied for the
dispensation. It was: RESOLVED that Dispensation be granted to Members of Rhyl Town Council pursuant to Regulation 2(a) and (d) of the
Standards Committees (Grant of Dispensations)(Wales) Regulations 2001: (i)
the Dispensation applies only to matters considered by Rhyl Town Council relating to the Rhyl in Bloom Committee (or such other name it is replaced by); (ii)
the Members must still declare a personal interest at the
meeting(s) at which such items are discussed. They may then speak and
vote in so far as they are permitted to do so by this Dispensation; (iii)
the Dispensation will apply for 12 months from the date of
this Standards Committee meeting (6 March 2015). Thereafter, the Clerk of
Rhyl Town Council is to apply in writing to the Monitoring
Officer for an extension to the Dispensation and setting the Rhyl in Bloom Committee (or such other name it is replaced by)
activities; (iv)
on election of a new Member, the Clerk of Rhyl Town Council to notify the Monitoring Officer in writing
for the Dispensation to be applied to the new Member. |
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At this juncture (11.30 a.m.) there was a break. Meeting re-convened at 11.40 a.m. |
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TRAINING PROVISION FOR THE COUNCILLORS AND CLERKS OF THE CITY, TOWN AND COMMUNITY COUNCILS To consider a verbal report by the Deputy Monitoring Officer regarding training provision. Minutes: The Deputy Monitoring Officer (DMO) presented a verbal
report to Committee regarding training provision. A future training event for Clerks and Vice-Clerks of the
City, Town and Community was to be arranged. A letter would be sent
to all Clerks requesting their preference on times and dates. Once the
responses had been received, the event would be booked, one in Rhyl and one in Ruthin at a time and
date suitable for the majority of the Clerks. The Chair expressed his and Committee’s gratitude to both
the Monitoring Officer and the DMO for providing such good work regarding
training. RESOLVED that
the verbal report be noted by members. |
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COMMITTEE ATTENDANCE To note the attendance by members of the Standards Committee at County, Town and Community Council and to receive their reports. Minutes: No Reports to receive. |
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ANY OTHER BUSINESS At this juncture, the Chair asked members if they had any other business. Councillor Bill Cowie requested during training course run by officers that a Councillor be elected as Chair to run the meeting leaving the facilitator free to concentrate on the training issues. Committee agreed to this request. |
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Standards Committee is scheduled for 22 May 2015. Minutes: Members noted that the next meeting would be held on Friday 22 May, 2015 at 10.00 a.m. in Conference Room 1a, County Hall, Ruthin. |
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EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC RESOLVED – that under
Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded
from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that they
involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 12
and 13 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 PART II |
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CODE OF CONDUCT - PART 3 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 2000 To consider a confidential report by the Monitoring Officer (copy attached) providing an overview of complaints against members lodged with the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. Minutes: The Deputy Monitoring Officer (DMO) presented the Code of Conduct – Part 3 Local Government Act 2000 report (previously circulated) to provide Members with an overview of complaints lodged with the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. RESOLVED that the Standards Committee receive and note the contents of the
report. |
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End of meeting – 12 noon |