Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Conference Room 1a, County Hall, Ruthin
Contact: Committee Administrator
No. | Item |
---|---|
APOLOGIES |
|
APPOINTMENT OF VICE CHAIR To appoint a Vice Chair of the Democratic Services Committee for the ensuing year. Minutes: RESOLVED – that
Councillor S.A. Davies be appointed Vice Chair of the
Democratic services Committee for the ensuing year. |
|
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: No Members declared any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at the meeting. |
|
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 items were raised 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. |
|
DESIGNATION OF HEAD OF DEMOCRATIC SERVICES PDF 71 KB To consider a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic
Services (copy attached) to designate
the Council’s ‘head of democratic services’ for the purposes of the Local
Government ( Minutes: A
copy of a report by
the
Head of Legal and Democratic Services had been circulated with the papers for the meeting. The
Head of Legal and Democratic Services (HLDS) explained that the Local Government ( County
Council had resolved that membership of the new DSC would consist of eleven Councillors, politically balanced, which would not include
a Cabinet Member. The HDS designation would be a statutory,
politically restricted post whose role would be to undertake the functions set
out section 9 of the Measure and details of the functions had been included in
the report. Section 8 (4) of the Measure stated that
the Council may not designate any of the following as the (HDS):- ·
Head
of Paid Service ·
Monitoring
Officer ·
Chief
Finance Officer Paragraph 3.18 of the Statutory Guidance
for the 2011 Measure stated that ‘in many cases, there will be an obvious
person who already fulfils much of the HDS function. One would expect the Head
of Paid Service to make a recommendation to the DSC as to who would be a
suitable candidate’. Many LA’s had designated the officer
directly responsible for managing democratic/committee services. This would avoid duplication and potential
conflict between the service provision and statutory roles which were
essentially the same. In addition any
risk of duplication of roles, advice and lines of management of the service
would be avoided. Although the
Monitoring Officer could not be the HDS there was no restriction on having the
HDS report directly to the Monitoring Officer. The Committee were informed that
consultations had been undertaken in accordance with the Statutory Guidance for
the 2011 Measure, the Head of Paid Service and other Members of CET had been
consulted. CET had recommended that the
Democratic Services Manager be designated as the Head of Democratic
Services. The (HLDS) provided a brief outline of the
role and remit of the HDS and following a brief discussion, it was:- RESOLVED – that the Democratic Services Committee agrees that
the Council’s Democratic Services Manager be designated as the Council’s ‘Head
of Democratic Services’ for the purposes of the Local Government (Wales)
Measure 2011. |
|
CONSULTATION ON JOINT SCRUTINY COMMITTEES AND ANNUAL REPORTS BY MEMBERS PDF 60 KB To consider a report by the Democratic Services Manager (copy attached) on Joint Scrutiny Committees and Annual Reports. Additional documents:
Minutes: A
copy of a report by
the
Democratic Services Manager had been circulated with the
papers for the meeting. Joint Scrutiny The
HDS explained that Section 58 of the Local Government Measure 2011 empowered Welsh
Ministers to make regulations to permit two or more Local Authorities (LA’s) to
appoint a Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee and to issue statutory guidance
to which Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committees must have regard when
exercising its functions. Section 5 also
empowered the Welsh Ministers to issue statutory guidance to which LA’s must
have regard when making arrangements for the production of annual reports under
Section 5. The Welsh
Government was currently conducting a consultation exercise for views on the
Joint Scrutiny Committees, Appendix 1, and the production of Annual Reports by
Members, Appendix 2. Any views expressed
by the Committee could be relayed to the Welsh Government. It was confirmed that a similar report would
be submitted to the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice Chairs Group on the 13th
December, 2012 for comments on the joint Scrutiny arrangements. The Measure gave
two or more LA’s the power to form Joint Scrutiny Committees to strengthen
scrutiny arrangements through the promotion of collaboration and sharing of
scrutiny expertise. Joint Committees
would make it easier to scrutinise services or issues
that cut across geographical boundaries.
The draft Guidance provided examples of instances where a Joint
Committee might be appropriate and these had been outlined in the report. In response to a
question from Councillor M.L. Holland, the HLDS
provided an outline of the Measure which stated that LA’s may appoint Joint
Overview Scrutiny Committees but there would be no obligation to do so. He referred to the provision of regional and
sub-regional services, which might benefit from joint scrutiny arrangements,
and to the issue of designated persons.
It was explained that there would be an Order which would identify other
public bodies which could be subject to joint scrutiny. Matters which could be considered by the
‘Crime and Disorder Committee’, (the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee in
Denbighshire), under the Police and Justice Act 2006 could not be covered by a
Joint Scrutiny Committee. These included
the work of the Community Safety Partnership and various local crime and
disorder matters. Concerns were
raised by Councillor W.L. Cowie
regarding staffing resources, the possible duplication of work and the
subsequent increase in costs. The HLDS
referred to the legislative backup and the provision of the appropriate powers
to ensure the effectiveness of the joint scrutiny process. Councillor G.M. Kensler explained that the level of scrutiny support
provided by some other local authorities in Councillor M.L. Holland expressed concern regarding directives issued by the Welsh Government regarding collaboration. He highlighted the need to examine the management of internal Committees prior to ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
|
FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME PDF 40 KB To consider a report by the Democratic Services Manager (copy attached) on the future work of the Committee. Minutes: A
copy of a report by
the
Democratic Services Manager,
which outlined the role of the Democratic Services Committee and requested
consideration of future issues for deliberation by the Committee, had been circulated with the
papers for the meeting. The HDS introduced the report
and explained that as this was the Committee’s first meeting it had been considered appropriate to
discuss its remit and develop a forward work programme. The HDS referred to the design and
production of a template to assist Members when completing their annual
reports, the template when completed could be presented to the Committee for
comments and suggestions. It was also
agreed that, following the consultation period, details relating to the final guidance for Joint scrutiny and annual
reports
be reported to the Committee. The HLDS
explained that the Measures required that a survey be undertaken every term of
office to seek the views and requirements of elected Members with regard to the
scheduling and flexibility of
council meetings in terms of
frequency, timing and location. He
confirmed that approximately half the Members had provided responses to the
survey and suggested that the Committee consider responses when received and
the make recommendation to full Council.
The Committee agreed that Group Leaders be provided with details of the
Members who had not yet provided a response. In reply to questions from Councillor M.L. Holland, the HLDS provided details of the
Committee’s Terms of Reference which included reviewing the adequacy and
provision by the Authority of staff, accommodation and other resources to
discharge democratic services functions, particularly scrutiny support,
committee administration and member services.
The Committee would not make final decisions in respect of these matters
but could negotiate with the HDS, Chief Finance Officer and appropriate Lead
Members and submit formal reports on these issues to full Council. Councillor C. Hughes explained that while scrutiny
support in Denbighshire had been very good, the level of support and provision
of resources had been considerably less than that provided by other Local
Authorities. Members agreed that a
report be submitted to the Democratic Services Committee detailing the
resources and support provided for scrutiny in Denbighshire, together with,
comparisons with other Local Authorities in In reply to
concerns raised by Councillor A. Roberts and M.L.
Holland, the HLDS provided details of the rules pertaining to Members
attendance requirements, which stated a Councillor
could not be disqualified for non attendance if they attended one meeting
during a six month period. He confirmed
that there were issues pertaining to the creation of a culture around Member
attendance at Council meetings which could involve Group intervention regarding
Membership on Committees. Following a brief discussion,
it was:- RESOLVED – that:- (a) a
report be submitted to the Democratic Services Committee detailing the
resources and support provided for scrutiny in Denbighshire, together with,
comparisons with other Local Authorities in (b) following
the consultation period, a report
detailing the final guidance
for Joint scrutiny and annual reports be presented to the Committee. (c) a copy of the template when completed be presented to
the Committee for comments and suggestions. (d) a report detailing Members requirements regarding the scheduling
and flexibility of council
meetings in terms of frequency,
timing and location, be presented to the Committee prior to a recommendation
being made to full Council in respect of these issues, and (e) Group Leaders be provided with details of the Members
who had not yet provided a response to the recent survey, Meeting ended at 11.10 a.m. |