Agenda item

Members of the Committee were invited to feedback from the CTCC meetings that they had recently attended, and Members took the opportunity to offer a summary of how the respective Councils had operated.

 

Councillor W.L. Cowie had attended a meeting of the St Asaph City Council.  He confirmed that he had not encountered any problems and had been satisfied with the manner in which the meeting had been conducted.

 

Independent Members Anne Mellor (AM) and Julia Hughes (JH) attended a meeting of Aberwheeler Community Council on the 7^th October, 2015 and the following matters were highlighted:-

 

-               No areas of concern had been identified, and both Independent Members confirmed that they were satisfied with the manner in which the meeting had been conducted.

-               The Local County Council representative had attended the meeting and had been extremely helpful and informative.

 

Independent Member Julia Hughes (JH) attended the Special County Council meeting on the 7^th October, 2015, which had been well attended, and no issues of concern were raised.

 

Independent Member Julia Hughes (JH) attended the following meetings and the following points and issues were highlighted:-

 

Bodelwyddan Town Council:-

 

-               There had been no information available on the website, which required updating.  However, the Clerk had been very responsive, positive and helpful. 

-               Support was provided by the Clerk for the Chair and Members during the meeting.

 

An overview was provided by JH which included the following areas of concern:-

 

·                     The meeting had not been managed in the most effective manner

·                     Members were not respectful of the Chair of fellow Councillors during proceedings.  This had a detrimental effect on the management of the meeting, and Members not having applied protocol appropriate to the responsibility of their positions as Town Councillors and representatives of the local residents.

·                     The difficulty in recruiting people to the voluntary positions was acknowledged, with only one application having been received for two vacant positions on the Town Council.

 

Following a brief discussion the Committee requested that the MO write to the Clerk of Bodelwyddan Community Council highlighting the issues raised by Independent Member J. Hughes, and the subsequent concerns expressed by the Standards Committee following consideration of her report.

 

Nantglyn Community Council - 6^th October, 2015:-

 

-               A good example of how a meeting should proceed was provided.

-               The Council had a good, informative and well-constructed website.

-               An e-mail was sent to the Clerk to obtain the details of the venue, agenda and minutes for the next meeting.  

-               The Clerk to the Council had been very helpful.

-               There was no check by the Clerk, in respect of Declarations of Interest, with regards to a Member of the Council who arrived late.

-               Members of the Council participated in all agenda items in a supportive and constructive manner.

-               The Chair managed the meeting well and was supported by the Clerk, and business was conducted in the correct orderly manner.

-               Planning Applications had been addressed carefully and dealt with appropriately.

-               The Chair introduced JH to the Council Members and commented that he was surprised that he had not been made aware of the intention of the Standards Committee.  JH outlined the purpose of the visits to provide support to the respective Councils, and raise the profile of the Standards Committee to avoid being a remote body. 

-               Feedback on the proceedings of the meeting had been provided by JH.

 

The Committee were informed that a Member of the Community Council had expressed the view that he had not been made aware of the intentions of the Standards Committee, and that following discussions with the MO, his understanding had been that the role of the Standards Committee related to issues pertaining to the Code of Conduct and not Governance matters.  In response to concerns expressed regarding questions relating to the website, JH had referred to the introduction of the recent legislation.

 

Members were informed that following the meeting JH had forwarded an e-mail to the Clerk of the Community Council, which was read out at the meeting, summarising the role, remit and main duties of the Standards Committee.

 

In reply to concerns raised by Members of the Standards Committee regarding CTCC’s being made aware of the role of the Standards Committee, the MO agreed to write to CTCC’s enclosing details of the role and remit of the Standards Committee.  The MO provided confirmation that it was not mandatory for Members of the Standards Committee to visit or attend CTCC meetings.

 

The Chair informed the Committee that he and the Monitoring Officer had attended a meeting of Clerks and Community Councillors on the 25^th November, 2015.  Details of the items covered, and the proceedings, was provided by the Chair.  Confirmation was provided that the meeting had been well chaired and no issues of concern were raised. 

 

The MO informed the Committee that questions relating to the provision of training, and training providers, had been raised in terms of possible duplication of provision.  He explained that the Chief Executive had requested that the holistic programme of training be examined in conjunction with other providers.  The MO made reference to his responsibility in terms of the level, frequency and standard of training provision with regard to the Code of Conduct.  The Chair expressed the view that the level of training provided by Denbighshire had been excellent.

 

Following further discussion, it was:-

 

RESOLVED – that the Standards Committee:-

 

(a)          receives and notes the feedback submitted from recent meetings attended by Members of the Committee.

(b)          requests that the Monitoring Officer writes to City Town and Community Councils enclosing details of the role and remit of the Standards Committee, and

(c)          agrees that the Monitoring Officer write to the Clerk of Bodelwyddan Town Council highlighting the issues raised by Independent Member J. Hughes, and the subsequent concerns expressed by the Standards Committee.

          (GW to Action)