Agenda item

To receive the minutes of the meeting of County Council held on 20^th February 2025 (copy to follow) and the Special County Council meeting held on 26^th March 2025 (copy enclosed).

The minutes of the Council meeting held on the 20 February 2025 and the special meeting of Council held on the 26 March 2025 were submitted.

Matters Arising: Special Meeting of Council – 26 March 2025

Councillor Mendies referred to his suggestion made at the special meeting that it might have been prudent for the county council to borrow the funding for the proposed Denbighshire Leisure Limited (DLL) business plan, and he suggested a couple of potential financial or commercial companies such as Shawbrook and Bluestone. Councillor Mendies stated that a response made by the Managing Director of DLL during the meeting that Bluestone was a leasing company was incorrect, and that Bluestone was indeed a commercial company. Councillor Mendies noted that this exchange was not covered in the minutes.

The Monitoring Officer advised that the minutes were not a verbatim record of the proceedings but that these points could be noted if members wanted them referenced in the minutes.

Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts stated that he felt the minutes did not adequately reflect the positive sides of the debate, such as the shareholding arrangements whereby shares would remain with the company should a shareholder leave the company. He stated that the decision made was not to sell DLL but rather it was a decision ‘in principle’ and he felt it was important for that to be noted in the minutes for public information because the discussion itself had taken place in Part 2 (closed session). He also referred to the support given to the proposals by the Leader (subject to trade union discussions), by the senior leadership team and by the majority of members but Councillor Hilditch-Roberts condemned the sharing of confidential information in the media which he said had resulted in a loss of trust in the Councillors and reputational damage to the Council. He added that it would be beneficial to note that the Council was used to managing contracts through service level agreements as this had featured in the debate.

The Monitoring Officer noted the points made and advised that the discussion had been a difficult one to minute because it was covering a Part 2 discussion, so the aim was to provide as much transparency as possible for the public, without disclosing exempt information. There had been a fuller minute than was normal for a Part 2 discussion in order to achieve this balance.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor McLellan, referred to his query as to the reason why a member of staff, who was also a Unison trade union representative, had felt obliged to leave the meeting room once the meeting moved into Part 2. The Leader felt that the exchange and his preference for the staff member to have remained in the meeting, should be noted because it tied in with the points he made about the importance of staff terms and conditions and with engaging with the trade unions.

In responding to queries from Councillor Merfyn Parry, the Monitoring Officer clarified that even during a Part 2 discussion, the Council should be as transparent about the proceedings as it could be without revealing exempt information. In terms of a recorded vote, the way members voted was not exempt information so if members decided to have a recorded vote during a Part 2 item the way each member voted would have to be recorded in the minutes. Regarding the public disclosure of information after the meeting the Monitoring Officer viewed it as being unhelpful for information shared as being confidential to be released without proper authorisation as this could be corrosive to the Council’s way of working. It was clarified that not everything in a Part 2 discussion would be confidential, and information that was confidential today might not be confidential in the future, so it was important that people checked before releasing information shared under Part 2.

Councillor Hilditch-Roberts asked for the Monitoring Officer’s view on whether confidential information had been released after the meeting. The Monitoring Officer advised that in at least one case, information reported in the press and attributed to an anonymous source, was a breach of the confidentiality of the meeting.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on the 20 February 2025 and, subject to the above comments, the meeting held on the 26 March 2025 be received and confirmed as correct records.