Agenda item
DIVERSITY IN DEMOCRACY
To consider a report by the Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services (copy attached), to bring to the attention of Members, the WLGA’s Diversity in Democracy Programme.
Minutes:
The Leader, Councillor Hugh
Evans, introduced the Diversity in Democracy report (previously circulated) to
bring to the attention of members the WLGA’s Diversity and Democracy Programme
and the actions approved by the WLGA Council, together with a request for all
Welsh Councils to commit to becoming ‘Diverse Councils’.
The WLGA had an ambitious
Diversity and Democracy Programme to try and ensure that council chambers were
more representative of the communities they serve. They had been considering
ways in which greater diversity could be achieved following the local
government elections in May 2022.
In September 2018 the WLGA
Council agreed to take steps to advance gender equality and diversity in
Councils before the 2022 elections. This was in recognition of the lack of
diversity in Welsh Councils. A cross party working group was set up to explore
broader underrepresentation in democracy. At a special meeting held in March of
this year the WLGA Council received a report from that cross party working
group with proposals designed to achieve a step change in diversity following
the 2022 elections.
The WLGA Council agreed unanimously that a concerted and collective
effort would be required across the local government family and political
parties. As a result of that meeting, a letter had been sent to each local
authority in Wales, signed by each of the leaders of the political groups
represented on the WLGA Council. A copy of that letter had been attached as
Appendix 2 to the report previously circulated.
Commitment was sought to the
following declaration:
This Council commits to being a Diverse
Council.
We agree to:
·
Provide a clear public commitment to improving
diversity in democracy
·
Demonstrate an open and welcoming culture to
all, promoting the highest standards of behaviour and conduct
·
Set out a local Diverse Council Action Plan
ahead of the 2022 local elections Demonstrate a commitment to a duty of care
for Councillors
·
Provide flexibility in council business by reviewing
our practical arrangements for the holding of meetings
·
Ensure that all members are aware of the
allowances and salaries to which they are entitled, particularly any
reimbursement for costs of care, so that all members receive fair remuneration
for their work and that the role of member is not limited to those who can
afford it.
If the declaration was to be
endorsed a more detailed report would be presented to the Democratic Services
Committee to develop a Diverse Council Action Plan ahead of the 2022 local
government elections.
During discussions, the
following points were raised:
·
Councillor Tony Thomas raised the issue that in
the past upon his nomination to be a Councillor he had to resign from his post
as a teacher. The Head of Legal, HR and
Democratic Services confirmed that the WLGA had been looking into that aspect
of the nomination process.
·
Councillor Bobby Feeley raised the gender
balance of Denbighshire County Council.
14 of the Councillors were female, 1 member of Cabinet was female and only
one Chair of various Committees were female.
This did require a cultural change as, in her opinion, a lot of women
did not see themselves in politics.
With regards to older councillors, they did bring a lot of experience to
the role so a diverse council would be more appropriate.
·
It was stated that due to covid,
meetings had been taking place remotely.
Remote meetings would give more people an opportunity to stand, as would
not take up time travelling to and from meeting venues. This was especially beneficial if a working
person wished to stand as a councillor in the future.
·
The issue of abuse to councillors from members
of the public, especially female councillors was raised. This would not be tolerated and hoped this
would not deter people from putting themselves forward to stand as a councillor
in the future.
·
It was confirmed that a key part of the
declaration would be to encourage an extremely high standard of conduct from
councillors.
·
The diversity of the council was to encourage
prospective candidates regarding of gender, age, race, ethnicity, disability
etc., to stand as councillors.
·
Roadshows were to be held in various areas to
enable as much information as possible to be passed on to members of the public
who would be interested in standing as a prospective candidate in the
future.
Proposed by Councillor Mark
Young and seconded by Councillor Bobby Feeley to accept the report.
A vote took place and it was unanimously agreed to accept
the report.
RESOLVED that :
(i)
Council notes the content and actions
outlined within the WLGA Council report and letter contained in Appendices 1
and 2.
(ii)
Council commits to being a ‘Diverse
Council’ and supports the principles set out in the draft declaration in
Appendix 3.
(iii)
the Democratic Services Committee is
tasked with developing a Diverse Council Action Plan ahead of the 2022 local
government elections.
Supporting documents:
- ORIGINAL Council Report Diversity in Democracy2, item 5. PDF 224 KB
- 210305 WLGA Working Group on Diversity in Local Democracy (00000002), item 5. PDF 320 KB
- App 2 - WLGA Letter re Diversity in Democracy, item 5. PDF 362 KB
- Appendix 3 Draft Diverse Council Declaration, item 5. PDF 208 KB