Agenda and minutes

Mr Kerry Watkins

None

Agreed:

The minutes from the meeting 12 January 2023 were moved as a true record.

None

To receive any announcements the Chair wishes to make.

None

A Political Group: Labour (Pages 9 - 10)

The Leader presented the report to the Committee stating that real progress had

been made with very good engagement received for training. The Leader noted that

engagement was very important for training, with a wide range of people accessing

the training.

The Leader was pleased to announce that everyone in their group had completed

training with a number of people attending Anti-Racist training and Equalities

training.

Welsh Government have just introduced an anti-racism plan and it highlighted the

important role of Democratic Services who ensured Members take part in up-to-date

legislation.

The Leader stated that she was very supportive of refresher training and updates on

as it was necessary to update training in line with new legislation and to develop an

understanding in aligning the work with the Wellbeing and Future Generations

legislation.

The Leader commended Democratic Services for the training they had delivered so

far to Members.

The Chair commented that he felt it was fantastic that the Equalities training had

been included.

Councillor Whitehead stated that there were some good points made and he was

part of a small group but in public life there were standards, and it was a huge eye

opener on how Members should behave and how it was perceived. Councillor

Whitehead noted that he had learned that you are responsible for everything you do,

and you need to be careful on what you say and do.

Councillor Whitehead stated that Democratic Services provided a great service to

Members and were a great service and support.

Councillor Whitehead commented on the ever-changing political perspective and that

the role can take a toll and encouraged other members to seek advice and

information to take things forward.

B Political Group: Conservative (Pages 11 - 12)

Councillor Routley presented the report to the committee in place of Councillor

Evans who sent his apologies for not being able to attend.

The Chair noted that the stencil was not filled in like the others and noted that Councillor Evans had stated that they did not feel the need to do refresher training

and that maybe there’s a need to look at this in the future to make it less onerous with hybrid meetings making training easier.

The Chair stated that although Members may not pick up anything new on refresher

training it was needed to inform members that processes were being followed

correctly.

Councillor Routley stated that refresher training was not an issue and the Members

in the group were up to date on Code on Conduct, the group upheld the Nolan principles and the group fully complied with training.

Councillor Routley stated that some members felt that the establishment brought

some Members into disrepute where officers did not act as promptly enough.

Councillor Routley stated that he agreed with all the previous discussions.

The Chair noted that people in public office needed to be held to account if needed.

Councillor Cockeram stated that people can also do training as part of their work but

that this was not part of what the Council expected so how could we make sure

people completed all the relevant training.

Councillor Routley stated that all mandatory training had been undertaken and that

the group members received training in house and other instruction outside and they

were receiving a well-rounded approach both in their professional jobs and training

provided by the Council.

Councillor Cockeram confirmed that on the report Councillor Evans stated that he felt

there was no need to duplicate training if people received training as part of their day

job.

C. Political Group: Lliswerry Independent (Pages 13 - 14)

The Chair asked about code of conduct training, and it was confirmed members had

attended this training.

Councillor Morris stated that every member in the group were keen to do all

necessary training and were aware of the standards expected. The group had

regular meetings and any issues were dealt with straight away.

Councillor Morris stated that the required training was important.

D. Political Group: Newport Independents Party (Pages 15 - 16)

Councillor Whitehead confirmed that he was open to anything that was relevant to

the role and there was never an unwillingness expressed.

Councillor Whitehead noted the fantastic work done by the Leader in a short space

of time and in 2017 there was ambition, but you have to settle to be champions

where you live to raise issues and noted Members never stop learning.

Councillor Whitehead agreed that the group was happy to look at any additional

training.

The Chair commented that some Members had not done standards training before

the last Election but they have done it now so this was good to see and there would

be a mid-year invite to the leaders if they are content with that.

Dr Paul Worthington stated that discussion had been very useful and encouraging

that the group leaders have done the training when needed.

Dr Worthington noted that there was an immense commitment in being a councillor

and the buddy system was great for new councillors.

Councillor Whitehead stated that Councillors do see incorrect personal things written

about them and it was difficult.

Councillor Hussain confirmed that she had received a lot of support so far and have

regular 1:1 meetings with the Leader and gave thanks for all the help received.

The Chair agreed that there were some Councillors that had served for many years,

but everyone was still learning and noted that the Standards Committee wanted to

ensure that the Committee or the Ombudsman do not have to become involved.

Councillor Cockeram noted that if Councillors do make a mistake, by doing the

training Councillors will ensure they know what is correct and what isn’t.

Councillor Morris agreed that if something did happen all Councillors would be

judged the same regardless of the political party. Councillor Morris also stated that

anyone from any party could come to him with an issue for guidance if needed.

Dr Paul Worthington stated that corporate and personal responsibility mesh together

as personal actions reflected on the Council as a whole.

Agreed:

Group Leaders agreed to attend Standards Committee for a 6-month update.

Report to Follow

7.National Standards Committee Forum Feedback

The Chair stated that he would present the highlights to the Committee and that

there were some minutes from the forum available, but they were not to be shared at

present. The Committee would receive the forum minutes in due course.

The meeting took place on 27th January 2023 with Mr Clive Wolfendale was elected

as the Chair with Mr Jason Bartlett elected as the Vice Chair.

The Forum will consist of all local government organisations in Wales with 4

monitoring officers in attendance at any one time from principal councils, a

monitoring officer from the Fire Service and one from the National Park Authorities.

There will be 2 meetings a year and the Forum will have members attend on a

voluntary basis and would not be imposing anything, they will be present to share

ideas.

The Forum then went through areas of what Councils were doing and Newport was

ahead of what other Councils were doing and the Chair confirmed that only 5 other

members who had attended the Forum were able to share any information.

The Chair stated that they explained to the forum what the Newport standards

committee did and not a lot of councils had reached that point. For example, Merthyr

Tydfil Council Standards Committee had only held an introduction meeting with

group leaders. This was also the case with Swansea Council. The WLGA received

the request from Councils around group leader support, so Newport was ahead of

other Councils in this matter.

The Chair noted that Zoom had been used which caused problems when logging in

which will be shared with the Forum as Teams was a much easier platform to use.

Michelle Morris from the Public Service Ombudsman was present at the forum to

give an overview of their role and they stated that they investigate complaints from

service users, and members of the public etc which is where the role of the

Standards Committee also fitted in.

From April 2021 to March 2022 the Public Service Ombudsman adjudicated 300

complaints and 250 complaints which were not taken forward.

A number of breaches involved a lack of respect for others and how Councillors

treated each other which made up 50% of complaints.

The Ombudsman are keen to be invited to future forums as they feel they can add

more to the forum.

The 1st part of the Penn report was discussed with not a huge amount to report, just

that work of the Standards Committee and summoning witnesses in the future.

The Members Annual report was also discussed with the All Wales Forum to do

something on this in future.

The Chair stated that they would share minutes of the forum and find out why the

minutes couldn’t be shared at this time.

The Head of Standards stated that they might not want to share it at this time.

Councillor Cockeram asked why was the Fire Service attending the forum and the

Head of Law and Standards confirmed that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

8.Code of Conduct and General Member Training Update (Pages 17 - 22)

The Democratic and Electoral Manager presented the report to the Committee.

?? It was the responsibility of the Standards Committee to ensure high standards

and ensure Members have access to training and development regarding the

Members Code of Conduct.

?? Ensuring that members have access to a reasonable level of training and

development. falls under the remit of the Cabinet Member for Education and

Early Years, and the Democratic Services Committee.

?? The draft Induction Curriculum set by the WLGA to support Members

following the May 2022 local elections was considered by the Democratic

Services Committee in 2021: a final draft for members at Newport City

Council was shared in February 2022.

?? Key principles were focused on such as less is more, as a lot of new

members were elected, and they had to receive a lot of information in a short

time. Training opportunities were centred on Members with training being

made interactive so Members could ask questions.

?? Wherever possible members should be provided with learning opportunities at

their convenience, at a time when it is needed and relevant and in a

medium that is appropriate for the topic and activity.

?? Other facilitators with a specific expertise were sought to ensure the best

quality knowledge and experience was provided.

?? The agreed framework was also designed to be flexible, allowing for changes

as and when required to meet changing requirements.

?? There was a tight turnaround with 8 working days last year from the last

election count until the first Council AGM with Hybrid meetings being

introduced for the first time.

?? The curriculum then moved to focus on key legislation and preparing

Members for their relevant committees as appropriate, with bespoke sessions

for quasi-judicial committees such as Planning and Licensing.

?? In the Summer and Autumn, Councillors were introduced or refreshed on

other key legislation and policy supporting their decision making, such as the

Equalities Act and Safeguarding.

?? Councillors were also supported by Heads of Service, who introduced their

services and key policies in areas such as Environment, Public Protection,

and Housing.

?? In preparation for the budget setting process, a session on Finance and

Treasury Management was arranged for December.

?? Sessions arranged and provided by Newport City Council were augmented by

webinars provided.

?? by the Local Government Association on Supporting Councillors with Abuse

and Intimidation, and Personal Safety. There were also short online

cybersecurity courses were sent directly to email accounts covering password

security and phishing activity.

?? A table was provided highlighting the Summary of Training by Quarter and the

chart showed that Code of Conduct training attendance was 100%.

?? Where possible the sessions were recorded with a mixture of workshops

being hybrid and slides and recordings from the training were provided to

Members.

?? A survey will be sent to Members to see what has worked well and what

hasn’t.

?? This was a continuous development approach with training being followed.

Questions:

Gill Nurton noted that Equality & Diversity Training take up is just above  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

9.Forward Work Programme

Gill Nurton recommended the following items to go on the forward work programme.

- Ethical Standards Audit - Review of Register of Interests; Review of Gifts &

Hospitality and if appropriate Officer Business Interest Declarations, Officer Gifts &

Hospitality.

- Community Council Review - review of Code of Conduct Compliance and Register

of Interests.

The Chair commented that these were some great areas to be looked at and they

could be built into the agenda and that the most important one was that Local

Councillors were complying with the code of conduct also.

John Davies stated new members of their community council signed a code of

conduct when joining.

The Chair commented that this was a good process, and this was something the

committee could pick up and could create a stencil to give to chairs of community

councils.

Councillor Cockeram asked whether Members were having training and wondered

whether the Standards Committee could sit in on scrutiny committee.

The Chair requested that an invite could be sent to the Scrutiny Chairs to attend, and

the Democratic and Electoral Standards Committee stated that they were due to

meet the Scrutiny Chairs soon so this could be raised with them.

Dr Paul Worthington stated that the summary of principles for the training in the

report was very sensible as it was important to make the training manageable and accessible which was the key word and that the uptake of equality and diversity

training was very important as this linked most directly with the standards code of

conduct. Dr Paul Worthington stated that the point made by Councillor Cockeram

regarding being able to identify the content and quality of training that has been

undertaken was also an interesting point to link in.

The Monitoring Officer will report on any complaints received since the last meeting.

There were no Complaints to report.

13 July 2023 at 5:30pm

13th July 2023 at 5:30pm

Standards Committee, 13 April 2023 - YouTube

Standards Committee 13th April 2023