Minutes:
A representative requested some feedback on the success of the Newport Marathon held on the 5 May 2019. The Chair confirmed that media coverage of the event was very positive for the marathon but there was no information yet on numbers and what it brought to the local economy. Plans for next year’s marathon were already underway. Road closures were always an issue, but nothing was reported as such and it was shared how the organisation of the event went off without any hitches.
Declaration of Interest
The Chair clarified the Declaration of Interest for all Community Clerks and it was agreed that it was a very grey area. The Chair confirmed that it was good practice to complete it but that if someone objected to signing the declaration of interest then that person could not be forced to sign it.
The Chair clarified that this form was to be filled in at meetings and to be recorded in the meeting minutes. City Councillors also had a register to be signed in advance within 28 days of being elected as well as declaring it at the meeting. This was a separate form to be filled in also.
The Chair confirmed that the only difference between City and Community Councillors was that City Councillors had to sign the register.
The Chair stated that it was regular practice to declare an interest and then leave the room, but a form would still need to be filled in e.g. for a planning application. The Chair also confirmed that it also needed to be recorded that the person had left the room.
-It was discussed how in relation to the declaration of interest a form was filled in and published or the meeting could wait until the item came up and then the person could then put their hand up and declare it that way.
-The Councillor could declare an interest but there was no need to declare exactly what the interest was, but the details were on the form and it also goes on the register and there was no need to repeat it in the minutes. However, the person had to leave the room completely.
-It was stated how not all interests were prejudicial, sometimes a person could remain in the meeting if it didn’t affect their judgment and were not biased against it.
-If the interest was prejudicial, then physically leaving the room was needed and that person could not go and sit in the public gallery.
-The Chair confirmed that not declaring an interest and staying in the meeting was where the concerns would start.
Agreed:
For refresher training to be looked at and the Code of Conduct and the Declaration of Interest forms to be resent again to all Council Community clerks.
A representative questioned whether Run4 wales contacted The Farmers Arms? It was not known as to whether this occurred as no feedback had been received as yet.
Councillor Jacqui Ford from Langstone Community Council was nominated and accepted on the PSB’s engagement group and the Third Sector Partnership on behalf of all Community Councils.
Newport Boundary
It was discussed how the Newport Boundary would change and that it was agreed on format as the electoral review had given draft proposals to the Boundary Commission. In relation to the Electoral wards the councils have agreed, were now with the Boundary Commission.
Newport City Councils view has also been given and the Community Councils can give ideas to the Commission on the proposals.
A representative asked whether the proposals could be thrown out by the Commission and the Chair assured that this could not happen, it could go down one less but there was a margin of one or two either way. The Commission may disregard what the Council had presented. However there were four areas of under and over representation.
The Commission would consider and publish the proposals and Community Councils would then be able to comment.
Shared Charter
It was discussed how maybe it was needed to change the wording of how often the Charter was reviewed. The Community Councils were asked to come back to the Liaison meeting about the Charter and inform whether it needed to be reworded and reviewed so a consultation was discussed with all Community Councils to find out what they would like to see in the Charter. What was in the Charter was standard, but the wording could be changed in certain areas.
It was mentioned by a representative that it was good to have the Charter in writing but it was questioned as to whether the Council always adhered to it. It was discussed that an action plan was needed to change this.
It was discussed that an action plan was needed to change this.
The Charter was challenged due to the lack of concurrent spending, money was getting less and less and a representative stated that it was felt that a decision was made and then announced to the Community Councils and that the Community Councils only found out about these plans after they had been put in place.
The Chair noted that the concerns would be noted but maybe the action plan going forward was for those issues to be dealt with in a different way. It may be pertinent for Community Councils to get together to decide what goes into the Charter. Issues could then be identified, and Newport City Council could be informed.
It was noted that the Charter was a framework and it is how both the Council and Community Councils work together, if the framework was satisfactory then we could look at the concerns.
It was discussed how information and communication were important and that although the city contact centre was the first point of contact, one of the representatives stated that they have spent a lot of time trying to get responses from the contact centre in relation to different issues.
The representative described how they wanted to report bad service of a road, so they had phoned the contact centre and used a reference given but was given another reference as the first one was not chased up. The representative felt that responses were not given in an agreed time scale and that Community Councils should be given a timescale of when they will be responded to.
The Clerk was requested to put the issue in writing and the Meeting would take it further. It was discussed how the customer service manager could attend a future Liaison meeting to discuss the process of reporting a complaint.
The Charter sets out what we expect from the Council and how we should respond to the Community Councils. It was discussed how specific timescales could be agreed and then the action plan could then be reviewed.
Another representative mentioned that when they contacted the contact centre, they were treated the same at a member of the public and it was agreed that unfortunately this did happen. It was stated that if a Councillor rang in then there was a specific number that they could ring but the Chair said that this was not the case. The Community Councils were encouraged to report issues online more.
Another representative stated that they had rang the contact centre regarding a pothole and this was rectified very quickly.
It was also discussed whether Service Areas in Newport City Council had read the Charter? This could be an issue as a person in the contact centre may not know what’s in the Charter.