Agenda item

To receive the minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 1 March 2024 (copy enclosed).

The minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 1 March 2024 were submitted.

Accuracy –

Page 10 (Item 6) – should read Samuel Jones to visit Llangynhafal and not Llanfihangel as stated in the minutes.

Matters Arising –

Page 8 – 2^nd paragraph – confirmation that the National Standards Forum minutes from the January 2024 meeting had now been circulated.

Page 8 – 3^rd paragraph – the Corporate Joint Committee had been covered during the pre-meeting training session this morning.

Page 8 – 8^th paragraph – Page 14 Chairing leaflets – the Chair requested clarification as to the meaning of this paragraph.

The Monitoring Officer clarified that in the past training had been provided to Chairs of City, Town and Community Councils by a person who was not employed by the County Council.  Unfortunately, that person had since retired.  Rather than training in person, guidance had been circulated to all Chairs.  The Monitoring team were to look as to how best to provide training and were to contact One Voice Wales for any useful literature and training available.

Page 9 – final paragraph – the Monitoring Officer confirmed social media etiquette would be added to the Council Workshop forward work programme.  If unable to slot into the Council Workshop forward work programme then a separate training session would be arranged.   The Monitoring Officer would update Standards Committee at the next meeting in September.

Page 10 – Resolution at the top of the page –

·       The Chair asked for confirmation that the “Our Findings” report had been circulated to Group Leaders.  The Monitoring Officer responded that he would enquire and report back to Standards Committee.

·       Had the Monitoring Officer written to the City, Town and Community Councils with training dates?  The Monitoring Officer explained that due to capacity issues, training dates had not been sent.   The new Monitoring team were to meet in September to map out training dates following which Standards Committee would be updated.

Page 10 – Item 6 Attendance at meetings –

·       The Monitoring Officer confirmed he would check with the Democratic Services Manager as to when the allocation of meetings Standards Committee Lay Members could attend would be reset and would report back to Standards Committee at the next meeting in September.

·       At this point, the Chair asked if there were any City, Town and Community Councils which had a new and inexperienced Town Clerk as they could be added to the list for visits.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed he would look for this information.

·       Lay Members could also visit County Council meetings in person or they could observe the meetings via webcast.  Webcasts were saved online for six months following conclusion of the meeting.  It was confirmed that a list of all County Council meetings would be circulated to Standards Committee members.

Page 11 – Item 8 National Standards Forum Update.  The National Standards Forum meeting was held every six months.   All Chairs of Standards Committee were invited to attend.  One of the six North Wales Standards Monitoring Officers would attend each meeting and then feedback to the other North Wales Monitoring Officers.  Each Monitoring Officer would attend one Forum meeting every three years.

Page 13 – third paragraph Section 15.8 of Page 179/180 – any update regarding background papers.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed he was seeking guidance from the Democratic Services Manager and would then update the Standards Committee.

Page 15 – third paragraph – Towyn and Kinmel Bay were not in Denbighshire.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed he had telephoned the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Office to point out the error.

RESOLVED that, subject to the above, the minutes of the meeting held on 1 March 2024, be received and approved as a correct record of the proceedings.