Agenda item

To consider a report by the Monitoring Officer (copy enclosed) informing the committee of the matters discussed at the meeting of the North Wales Standards Committee Forum held on 17 October 2016 in Llangefni.

The Chair introduced the item advising of his attendance, with the Monitoring Officer, at the North Wales Standards Committee Forum held on 17 October 2016 in Llangefni.  Following that meeting he had received an email from the Chair of Ceredigion Standards Committee regarding the potential for other mid Wales authorities to join the Forum.  The Chair had agreed to raise the matter at the next Forum meeting to consider whether membership of the Forum could be extended beyond North Wales to accommodate those interested in joining.

 

The Monitoring Officer (MO) submitted the report (previously circulated) informing the committee of the matters discussed at the meeting of the Forum held on 17 October 2016 which was also attended by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) who gave a presentation and answered questions, details of which had been attached to the report.  [The minutes of the Forum meeting had been made available that week and were circulated at the meeting].

 

In presenting the report the MO drew attention to the following –

 

·         the PSOW reiterated his support for the local resolution of complaints made by elected members about each other and believed it would be useful to extend the process to Town, City and Community Councils but it would be a matter for local standards committees to consider

·         the PSOW welcomed the decrease in the number of complaints received in respect of county councillors across Wales but there had been an increase in the number of complaints relating to town and community councillors (three town and community councils having accounted for 50 of those complaints)

·         it was pointed out by the PSOW that most complaints were closed after initial consideration and that numbers referred to Standards Committees or the Adjudication Panel for Wales were very low which was cause for celebration.  He also reflected on the operation of his public interest test and factors to be taken into account when applying that test which he did not consider had a significant impact on that outcome

·         the management of resources remained an important issue for the Ombudsman who advised of an increase in complaints from the health sector with 75% of resources currently being used for consideration of health complaints – in that context he would not use his powers to investigate low level complaints in respect of elected members but would only deal with the most serious breaches including abuse of power, bullying and corruption

·         following the Ombudsman’s item the Forum considered its future operation and agreed it remained a useful tool for learning and sharing of practice.  It was decided that the Forum would meet twice each year at a different authority in rotation and be chaired and administered by the hosting authority with the MO of the host authority in attendance.  Denbighshire would host the next meeting in March/April 2017

·         the Forum also considered an issue regarding the bilingual completion of the register of interests by members and it was agreed that each authority would check the situation in their own authorities.  There was also a discussion on the availability of mediation training for standards committee members who may be involved in local resolution procedures.  The MO was making further enquires in that regard with HR colleagues across North Wales given that a collaborative approach to training would help minimise costs.

 

The MO also took the opportunity to elaborate upon the questions put to the PSOW and the answers given which had been included in the appendix to the report.  Members’ particular attention was drawn to the following –

 

·         some questions related to the local resolution protocol and the MO reminded members of the issues raised in the draft Local Government (Wales) Bill consulted upon previously, including the suggestion that City/Town/Community Councils become larger which may have an impact on the resources they had to support this

·         it was noted that not all City/Town/Community Councils were members of One Voice Wales but it was hoped that they could all use the draft model they had produced on local resolution protocols if they wished to do so

·         guidance on sanction had been issued by the Adjudication Panel for Wales which standards committees might find useful and the MO agreed to try and obtain that guidance for circulation to committee members [GW to action]

·         there was some discussion on the new SI. i.e. suspension only within current term of office and the PSOW had advised that the issue related only to a very small number of cases.  The Chair pointed out that the issue was not restricted to elected members and also occurred in other sectors where individuals were sworn into office under a particular Act – once the individual no longer held that position there was no power to enforce a sanction against them

·         it was clarified that if the statutory requirement for City/Town/Community Councils to have a website was not met it was not an issue to be considered under the Code but it may amount to maladministration.  The PSOW did not have proactive powers and a complaint would be needed from the public for him to investigate.  Councillor David Jones referred to the declaration of interest process for City/Town/Community Councils and the MO confirmed there had been some confusion in that regard and he would check whether there was a statutory requirement for them to publish a register of interests [GW to action].

 

Denbighshire had raised two questions with the PSOW as follows –

 

(1)  There is a concern that the public may lose confidence in the enforcement of the Code of Conduct if they feel that legitimate complaints have been considered not worthy of investigation.  Would the Ombudsman consider referring cases that he has determined not to investigate for local investigation?

 

The Ombudsman felt that the public could lose confidence if trivial complaints were investigated which was also the reason behind the public interest test.  Cases had been referred for local investigation in the past but take up had been low and there was some reluctance from Monitoring Officers given the demand on their resources – however the ability to refer matters still applied and could be done if deemed appropriate.  One of the factors to be taken into account was evidence of similar complaints having been made previously and when asked by the Chair how long complaints were kept on file he referred to retained knowledge in the office and that moving forward he would ensure that they kept a good feel for what was happening.

 

The Chair did not consider that to be a satisfactory response given that there appeared to be no robust system for retaining low level complaints with reliance on the knowledge of individual staff meaning valuable information could be lost following staffing changes.  The MO referred to the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulations and provided an overview of the changes in a number of provisions within the Data Protection Act including ‘the right to be forgotten’ in particular cases with legislation around how long particular information about an individual could be retained which would also have an impact.

 

(2)  Does the Ombudsman consider that the setting of minimum standards and mandatory training for Clerks to Town, City and Community Councils would assist in the maintenance of high standards of conduct and the operation of Local Resolution Procedures in those Councils?

 

The Ombudsman felt this would be highly beneficial but he was not something he could resource.  However he would support by attending conferences and promoting the issues.

 

The Chair highlighted the prevailing theme from the PSOW was on local resolution.  While there was some sympathy for the Ombudsman in managing the pressure on his resources the result was a greater emphasis on local resolution and the Chair stressed the importance of standards committees being in a position to contribute to that process where possible.

 

In responding to the emphasis on local resolution and given the potential impact arising from the latest draft Local Government (Wales) Bill (due out for consultation in early 2017) members agreed the following actions suggested by the MO –

 

·         consideration be given as to what practical actions could be undertaken in Denbighshire with regard to the local resolution process for City/Town/Community Councils – this should include training, the level of engagement between local councils and the role of the standards committee in that regard.  Given that the PSOW had welcomed the draft model template for local resolution protocols produced by One Voice Wales it was felt that model could also help inform the process.  The MO was attending a meeting with Clerks of some of the largest town/community councils the following week and would gauge opinion on the appetite for the process.  It was agreed that the committee would receive a report back on that work at their meeting in March

 

·         the draft Local Government (Wales) Bill would likely include reform which would impact on both county and city/town/community councils.  Members were reminded of the proposals arising from the previous draft Bill, including suggestions of minimum standards for councils and councillors reportable to standards committees.  Given the potential reform issues and impact on standards committees as a result of proposals in the new draft Bill the committee agreed to receive a report back in March (providing the draft Bill had been published in time and consultation timescales were sufficient – it was accepted that a special meeting may need to be convened if necessary).

 

The Chair thanked the MO for his comprehensive report and bringing the most pertinent issues to the committee’s attention.

 

RESOLVED that –

 

(a)       the report on the matters discussed at the last meeting of the North Wales Standards Committee Forum be received and noted;

 

(b)       a report on a local resolution process for City, Town and Community Councils be submitted to the committee in March 2017 [GW to action], and

 

(c)        a report on the draft Local Government (Wales) Bill be submitted to the committee in March 2017 (timescales permitting) [GW to action].

 

At this juncture (11.10 a.m.) the meeting adjourned for a refreshment break.