Agenda item

To receive the minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 16 June 2023 (copy enclosed).

The minutes of the Standards Committee held on 16 June 2023 were submitted.

Accuracy –

Page 5, Item 2: Declaration of Interests – the Chair reported that Councillor Gordon Hughes was still a member of Corwen Town Council.  It was clarified that minutes were written in the past tense and therefore the reference that Councillor Hughes ‘was’ a member was technically correct.  The declaration could be recorded that Councillor Hughes ‘was currently a member’ to more accurately reflect that he was a serving member at the time that the meeting was held.

Page 7, Item 6: Attendance at Meetings – to include wording to accurately reflect the position as follows “…that both the clerk and the chair were married to each other and queried whether any declarations of interest should have been raised…”

Page 12, Item 12: Standards Committee Forward Work Programme – to remove the reference to the first bullet point which was an error, with attendance at meetings being reported back to each meeting.       

Matters Arising –

Page 5, Item 4: Minutes of the last meeting – training for clerks via video conference would be provided, but no date had yet been confirmed.

Page 6, Item 4: Minutes of the last meeting – the Chair had presented the Standards Committee Annual Report to full Council on 5 September, and she provided feedback thereon.  Given the length of the meeting, some members had left before the item, but the report and subsequent minutes would be available for all members.  The Chair had also highlighted the importance of training for Town/City/Community Councils and improving attendance; corrected and confirmed the National Standards Forum meeting dates; stressed the importance of the Group Leaders Duty and welcomed the Group Leaders Reports, but expressed disappointment over missed submission deadlines, and referred to further work on the process in future; gave a snapshot of the presentation by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales to the National Standards Forum, and provided an update on the Penn Review.  Questions were answered regarding mandatory training with all county councillors having undertaken Code of Conduct Training apart from the newly elected councillor, and the Monitoring Officer also referred to wider training provided by One Voice Wales and confirmed a piece of work to provide an overview of training provision.  Different leaders also welcomed the process for dealing with small problems informally.  Councillor Bobby Feeley added that the meeting had been well attended and the report had been well received.

In respect of an annual online meeting with the Town, City and Community Councils, the Deputy Monitoring Officer agreed to take the matter back to the Monitoring Officer to advise further.

Page 7, Item 6: Attendance at Meetings – no resolution had been agreed regarding providing feedback following reports back to the Standards Committee and it was agreed to discuss the matter further under that agenda item later in the meeting.

Page 8, Item 8: Comparison of Standards Committee Recruitment Panel Compilation – a request had been made for a report on the matter to be included on the Council’s forward work programme and confirmation of a slot was currently awaited.  An update would be provided to members when available.

Page 8, Item 9: Code of Conduct Training – the Committee would be advised once the newly elected councillor had undertaken the mandatory training.  Discussions were ongoing with Democratic Services regarding recording a training session and circulating that material; a further update would be provided at the next meeting.

Page 10, Item 10: Group Leaders Reports to Standards Committee – it was suggested an Ethical Liaison Group meeting be held on the same day as the next Standards Committee and it was agreed to discuss the matter under agenda item 9.

RESOLVED that, subject to the above, the minutes of the meeting held on 16 June 2023 be received and approved as a correct record.