Agenda and minutes

None

Agreed:

The Minutes of the Last Meeting held on the 21 February 2023 were held as a true and accurate record

The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager presented the item to Committee. Under the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011, the Democratic Services Committee is required to keep under review the provision of staff, accommodation and other resources made available to the Head of Democratic Services, to ensure that adequate resources are provided for the responsibilities of the post.

The Committee is asked:

(i) To consider and comment upon the Annual Report.

(ii) To endorse the view of the Head of Law & Standards and Democratic Services Manager that the provision of staff, accommodation and other resources by the Council is adequate to discharge the statutory requirements in relation to decision making, democratic administration and scrutiny; and

(iii) To ask the Democratic Services Manager to keep under review the provision of staff, accommodation and other resources made available to members to ensure that statutory requirements and any changing needs of elected members are met, and to present a report to this Committee should any review be required.

The statutory functions of the Head of Democratic Services are set out in the Measure and relate to the provision of advice and support to non-executive members as part of the democratic process, and all councillors when carrying out their representational role. In effect this covers Committee services, scrutiny and governance, and general member support services.

Main Points:

·       The Democratic Services covers Community services, Scrutiny and Governance, and general member services.

·       The report considered the period 2021/22 and during the reporting period there were no changes to the provision of staff in terms of capacity and resource. However, there were changes to officers as there were a retirement of one of the Governance Support Officers and the Scrutiny Officer applied for another role, so that role was vacant. All posts have now been filled on a permanent basis and the team is currently at full capacity.

·       Following the retirement of the Elections Manager, responsibility for this area was transferred to sit under the Democratic Services Manager responsibilities in January 2022. The role became the Democratic and Electoral Services Manager, and the key objective at this time was to successfully deliver the local elections in May 2022, and subsequently to provide induction and support services to those members appointed.

·       There was a full complement of staff in the Democratic and Services Team in this period and there were changes but the provision of staff was adequate to discharge functions.

·       In accordance with the requirements of the Measure the staffing and resources available to discharge these democratic functions will need to be kept under regular review, to ensure that they remain adequate and effective. This will include reviewing the provision of staffing in Electoral Services in consideration of the changes to legislation under the Elections Act 2022 that start to impact operations in 2023.

·       Adopting Hybrid Meetings was a major legislative change and since May 2022 Members have been able to join meetings in person and from other locations; there was a tight turnaround between the Election and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The report was presented to the Committee by the Head of Law and Standards where at the Council meeting on 24th January 2023 it was resolved that Democratic Services Committee consider Standing Orders in place under Part 4: Rules of Procedure of the Constitution regarding Questions at Council to the Leader of the Council.

Main Points:

·       It was moved on the 24^th January 2023 for the committee to consider Questions to the Leader in the Leaders absence and the Democratic Services Committee asked for debate regarding an extension to the time for allotted for Leader’s Questions.

·       The current Standing Orders under Part 4: Rules of Procedure do not reference any specific provision regarding the role of the Deputy Leader in Leader’s questions, including Leader’s announcements, on such occasions when the Deputy Leader is deputising in the Leader’s absence at Full Council meetings. 

·       Clarification of the requirements of the Deputy Leader when deputising for the Leader in full Council would require a new Standing Order to confirm the procedure concerning Leader’s announcements and Leader’s questions.

·       In terms of Questions to the Leader, Newport City Council has a unique approach whereby questions are not required to be submitted in writing in advance of the meeting.

·       Under current Standing Orders, Members can submit Questions in numerous ways to the Leader and the Cabinet Member outside of the Council meeting.

·       The Committee was asked to consider options set out in the report:

a. Deputisation for the Leader at Council

Option 1a

The Committee recommends that Standing Orders are updated to specify that the Deputy Leader conducts Leader’s announcements and responds to Leader’s questions when called upon to deputise for in the Leader’s absence at full Council meetings.

Option 2a

The Committee recommends that Standing Orders are updated to specify that Leader’s announcements and Leader’s questions are not part of proceedings when the Deputy Leader is called upon to deputise in the Leader’s absence at Council meetings. In this circumstance, questions to the Leader would be submitted in writing with written responses being provided within 10 working days following the Council meeting.

b. Questions to the Leader

Option 1b

Standing Order 4.2 is not amended; Questions to Leader are asked verbally, and responded to verbally at the Council meeting, and the time limit remains 15 minutes.

Option 2b

Standing Order 4.2 is amended to align with the process for Questions to Cabinet Members. Questions are submitted in writing to Democratic Services ahead of the meeting, no later than 4pm three working days before the meeting. Accepted questions are then asked verbally and responded to verbally at the meeting within a time limit of 30 minutes. The timeline for submitting questions, to the Leader or to Cabinet Members, would be by 4pm 10 working days in advance of the Council meeting. Consideration would be given to changing the times of Council to start earlier, to allow for the increased time for

responding to questions.

Preferred Option

The Head of Law and Standards stated that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Head of Law and Standards presented the report to the Committee which was an information only report. 

Main Points:

·       This is the final Annual Report of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales, setting the Decisions and Determinations on pay, expenses and benefits for elected members of principal councils, community and town councils, National Park Authorities and Fire and Rescue Authorities for implementation from April 2023.

·       In Council on 16^th May, Members will be asked to adopt this following Council AGM and appointments will be made and salaries will be published.

Constitution Update- 20 July 2023

Participation Strategy Update- 20 July 2023

Annual Report of the Head of Democratic Services- 23 November 2023

·       Constitution Update- 20 July 2023

·       Participation Strategy Update- 20 July 2023

·       Postal Voting- 20 July 2023

·       Annual Report of the Head of Democratic Services- 23 November 2023

The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager stated that changes to the Constitution would be on the agenda for the next committee and that there would also be a presentation on postal voting as the Committee needed a recap.

The Chair commented that the ID for postal voting was different and confusing for people.

The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager stated that legislation has been passed on a national level.

The Chair commented that would have a good example next week from England voting.

A Committee Member stated that Members needed the know the profile of who was voting. 

The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager stated that evidence from local England Elections could be brought to committee. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager stated that the ongoing work to prepare will be done operationally to ensure that we were ready but that the Committee could have updates on the legislation as it was implemented across Wales.

The Chair stated that the Committee needed to know the difference in rules for a general election and its postal rules and then for Senedd and Council as these will be different again. The Committee needed to look at this so residents will know what’s needed.

A Committee Member asked whether the Council criteria would be the same as the Senedd criteria or would it be up to the individual Councils.

·       The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager confirmed that the Elections Act was all of the UK, and this covered the parliamentary and the National Elections and then the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act was Wales only and there is a divergence between the two so there would be an increase in differences in how elections for Wales are managed compared to parliamentary elections.

A Committee Member stated that they were concerned about Welsh Government and Local Elections. 

·       The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager stated that they were largely the same, but a summary can be brought to committee on what the differences are.

A Committee Member stated that there would be some sort of list system for Senedd Elections, and it was noted that there was a lot of elections coming up. 

The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager stated that it was important to identify what was important for residents. 

20 July 2023 at 10am

20 July 2023 at 10am

Democratic Services Committee, 27 April 2023 - YouTube