Agenda item

The Head of Law & Regulation confirmed that the Ethical Standards Questionnaire again yielded another poor response but it was statistically the same response as the previous questionnaire, which was 20%, and this was targeted and expected. Enquiries had been made with other local Councils, Swansea, Caerphilly and Torfaen. Caerphilly and Torfaen Councils confirmed that they were not aware of the Ethical Standards Questionnaire. Swansea Council confirmed that they invited their Political Group Leaders, and certain Chairs of Committees to their Standards Committee on an annual basis to have an open and honest chat about general ethics, standards and behaviour in Swansea.

The Head of Law and Regulation requested Committee Members to observe the Questionnaire and commented that Questions 1-4 were quite positive. Question 4 there was a balanced response and for Question 5 there was more uncertainty as to whether there was clarity in the differing roles between Members and Officers in the Council.

Question 6 showed most people in agreement; where Question 7 and 9 most agreed with one disagree answer. Question 10 showed that most people agreed that they would benefit from training. 

It was then discussed how there was a difficulty at times to get Members to attend training. The Head of Law and Regulation confirmed that Councillors could now have some online training rather than attend meetings. They also confirmed that Community Councils Clerk training was to be arranged in the future.

Councillor Hourahine stated that they had attended Fire Services training, which would not have worked as well if the training were online. The Head of Law and Regulation confirmed that the Fire Services training was an information session rather than formal training. 

The Chair commented as to whether Senior Officers knew about the Councillor Code of Conduct as stated in the comments at the end of the Questionnaire.

It was expected that Officers were familiar with the employee code and expected them to know that there was a code of conduct. The Head of Law & Regulation confirmed that this was covered in all new staff training and was covered in the Senior Managers Forum.

The Chair commented that there was nothing stated in the comments section to action. The Head of Law & Regulation confirmed that new Managers receive induction training and so there was already framework in place. In relation to Councillor training, this was only mandatory every 5 years. Planning Committee Members have training every 2-3 years into the role.

The Chair stated they had spoken to the Council Leader and the Leader of the Opposition previously and now they needed to be spoken to, to inform them about the results of the Questionnaires.

The Head of Law & Regulation confirmed that the Council Leader and the Leader of the Opposition could be written to separately but this was up to the Chair. Minutes of the Meeting were also reported to Council.

Agreed: The Chair to write a Letter as a courtesy, to the Leader of the Council and the Leader of the Opposition to inform them of the outcome of the Ethical Standards Questionnaires. 

            Any Other Business:

The Head of Law and Regulation confirmed that further guidance had been received from the Adjudication Panel about members exercising their rights to attend and be represented at panel hearings. Members were given 21 days to confirm that they would be attending and the details of any representatives and witnesses. However Members were not replying within the 21 days. The Panel were not satisfied with this and so they have said that they were in default if not all the information came back in 21 days. It was important to fill in the form within 21 days as the Member could lose the right to a full hearing otherwise.