Agenda item

To receive a verbal report from Julia Hughes (Independent Member).

 

Independent Member Julia Hughes (JH) referred to the voluntary audit she had undertaken to assess the accessibility of information from the websites of all 37 City, Town and Community Councils in Denbighshire from the perspective of members of the public.  Areas examined and information sought included –

 

·         the provision of a website and its accessibility

·         availability of the minutes of the previous meeting

·         details of the date, time and venue of next meeting and access to the agendas

·         bilingual provisions

·         general notes including links to the Council and Welsh Government websites

 

Members were reminded that the findings provided a snapshot at the time which could have changed and advised that the websites had been looked at in three tranches – 15 – 17 September 2015 (10 websites); 3 December 2015 (19 websites) and 3 March (8 websites).  JH verbally reported upon the findings of the final 8 websites visited which covered  – Nantglyn Community Council, Prestatyn Town Council, Rhuddlan Town Council, Rhyl Town Council, Ruthin Town Council, St. Asaph City Council, Trefnant Community Council, and Tremeirchion, Cwm and Waen Community Council.  A copy of the report findings would be circulated to members following the meeting.  [JH / GW to action]

 

JH then presented an overview report of the work undertaken across the 37 City, Town and Community Councils in Denbighshire and the main findings as follows –

 

·         many websites were in place but really out of date

·         many websites were not bilingual

·         some websites were under development

·         many councils had standard agendas only that never changed

·         the Town Council websites generally were more advanced

·         some sites were excellent examples for other areas to use if they wanted to

·         many sites were not linked or did not have up to date details on the Denbighshire website – www.moderngov.denbighshire.gov.uk

·         some sites were linked to www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/wa-councils/wa-council-ac.htm (a Welsh Government site) but many were not

·         some councils used Facebook rather than a website

·         two councils had no electronic presence

·         many had no details of their councillors or how to contact them

·         some councils had old websites that came up in searches so you believed there was no up to date information

 

Consequently JH recommended the following, in her view, as minimum requirements –

 

·         have a website

·         easy domain name that came up in searches relatively easily

·         link to Denbighshire modern government website www.moderngov.denbighshire.gov.uk

·         the link on the Denbighshire County Council website to the City, Town or Community Council website should be the correct one and not to an old site

·         link to Welsh Government website www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/wa-councils/wa-council-ac.htm

·         any links on www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/wa-councils/wa-council-dl.htm needed to be the correct ones

·         bilingual site essential

·         name of clerk with picture and contact details including email address and phone number

·         names of all councillors with their pictures and contact details including email addresses and phone numbers

·         dates of meetings, venues, time

·         agendas

·         previous minutes

·         details of the areas that the council covered with map if possible

·         how people could be involved – being a councillor, attending meetings

 

Optional additional recommendations –

 

·         electronic enquiry form

·         history of the area

·         events in the area

·         links to other local groups’ websites

 

Finally, following the discussions that the Community Engagement Manager was currently having with council clerks, JH suggested there may be value in repeating that research in about twelve months’ time to ascertain whether there had been an improvement in the accessibility of information about City, Town and Community Councils via electronic means for members of the public.

 

The Chair took the opportunity to thank JH for her hard work and excellent report and other members echoed those sentiments and there was support for a further review in twelve months’ time.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed he would arrange for the report to be circulated with a copy also given to the Community Engagement Manager to enable good practice to be shared. [GW to action]

 

The following points were raised during the ensuing debate –

 

·         as a member of Rhyl Town Council (RTC), Councillor Barry Mellor reported upon the lack of public attending meetings which he believed was partly due to the number of confidential agenda items which required the public to leave giving rise to the view that their attendance was not worthwhile.  RTC’s website was currently in transition and benefitting from a major upgrade but he felt more should be done generally to encourage young people to become involved

·         members discussed how best to involve young people in the process and gage some interest and the Chair suggested an initial pilot scheme involving a visit to sixth formers from Ysgol Bryn Hyfryd to outline the role, powers and responsibilities of City, Town and Community Councils.  The Monitoring Officer reported upon work in the run up to the local government elections in May 2017 involving roadshows for potential candidates and encouraging individuals to get registered and interested in voting.  He felt it would be appropriate to consider the Chair’s suggestion and level of youth engagement at that time as part of that process.  It was noted that the Council hosted primary school visits in the Council Chamber and the Monitoring Officer felt there would be some merit in raising the issue with education colleagues to further progress the matter and potential links with the Welsh Baccalaureate [GW to action] 

·         Councillor David Jones advised that the report findings echoed his own when attending meetings.  He felt much depended on the standards and skills set of the clerks and that the more recent legislation on access to information, including provision of a website, had caused problems for some.  He agreed with the report recommendations but noted some would take time and funds to implement, such as bilingual provision.  JH suggested that the Community Engagement Manager could provide some generic bilingual terms and standard information to councils which would allow them to concentrate resources on tailored bilingual provision

·         the Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that the report would prove very useful when planning training sessions for clerks in order to tackle relevant issues.   She referred to the statutory guidance on access to information on Community and Town Councils which outlined the minimum requirements but advised that councils were actively encouraged to provide additional information.

 

The Committee acknowledged that whilst some of the report recommendations would take time and require additional funds, others involved good practice and did not require additional resources.  It was also acknowledged that although the focus had been on improvement in some areas, the report had revealed many positives and excellent work and good practice being undertaken within communities which could be shared across Denbighshire.  Members considered the audit a valuable and worthwhile exercise which had also heighted awareness of councils and agreed to schedule a further in twelve months’ time.

 

RESOLVED that –

 

(a)       the reports presented by Independent Member Julia Hughes on the accessibility of information from the final eight City, Town and Community Council websites, and the Overview Report of the Electronic Communications of City, Town and Community Councils be received and noted;

 

(b)       copies of the reports together with the outcome of the discussions in respect of the audit be forwarded to the Community Engagement Manager who would be requested to liaise with the City, Town and  Community Councils in respect of matters raised [GW to action], and

 

(c)        a review to ascertain whether there had been an improvement in the electronic accessibility of information on City, Town and Community Councils for members of the public be added to the committee’s work programme in twelve months’ time.