Agenda item

The Democratic Services and Electoral Services Manager provided an overview of the report. This report proposed the content of the Democratic Services Committee’s annual report 2022/23. 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 attached annual report provides an outline of the resources made available in support of these functions, so that the Committee can fulfil its responsibilities under the Measure.

The following was discussed:

·        The Committee were pleased to see that Ward Meetings had resumed.

·        The Committee enquired whether the effectiveness of the change of policy regarding supplementary questions can be reviewed. The Head of Law and Standards informed Committee that it cannot be looked at again for 3 months and the Committee noted that it does need time to embed but would like it to be raised again in future.

·        The Committee noted their concerns that not all Members complete statutory training. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed Committee that a session on the Members Code of Conduct is the only mandatory training required to be completed. Part of the Democratic Services Committee role is making sure that Elected Members have the resources available to be able to do their jobs which includes a full curriculum of training throughout the term served. 

·        The Committee highlighted that most training takes place around 4pm so Members may find it difficult to attend due to work commitments. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed the Committee that a survey was distributed to Members around training and the most suitable time for it to take place and noted that multiple sessions can take place to ensure that Members can attend. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed Committee that attendance for training has improved since being held virtually and the biggest challenge is fitting in the training sessions over the year.

·        The Committee enquired how the effectiveness of training is measured. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed the Committee that a Member survey was conducted. The Committee stated that the concept of e-Learning meant that it could be done at any time and a window of when the training needed to be completed by could be provided. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed Committee that e-Learning has been used in the past and they are currently reviewing in terms of the Code of Conduct training.

·        The Committee enquired whether it is policy for training materials to be provided as they did not receive the materials for a previous training session when requested. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed Committee that how training is conducted needs to be reviewed including how to provide attendees with the training material. They assured the Committee that they will send out a survey again to Members to better understand their needs and offer different options.

·        The Committee enquired whether there are any penalties for not completing mandatory training. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed Committee that there are no penalties, but it could be brought before the Standards Committee so would then be in the public domain. The Committee stated that attendance at meetings is recorded so could this be applied to training. The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager informed Committee that attendance is monitored but it is not shared publicly at present. The Head of Law and Standards informed Committee that it is shared at Standards Committee and this year attendance at Code of Conduct training was 100%. They informed Committee that having attendance for training made publicly available could be added to the Forward Work Programme for consideration.

Resolved:

The Committee agreed to present the Annual Report to the Council in order to meet the requirements of the Local Government Measure.