Issue - meetings

(a)       To put the slides produced for the training that was delivered to new and returning Town and Community Councillors, and a link to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales’ (PSOW) video about his role in relation to matters of Councillor conduct, on the Council’s website, so that they can be viewed by Town and Community Councillors;

(b)       To circulate a skills audit questionnaire to Clerks of Town and Community Councils to establish which Clerks and Councillors have received training; and

(c)       To consider the next steps at a future meeting of the Committee.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer presented a report on attendance at training events regarding conduct and good goverance of Town and Community Councillors and Councils, following the elections in 2017.

The report concluded that 59 of the 63 attendees at the four training sessions were Town or Community Councillors.  This represented around 13% of the total number of Town/Community Councillors in Flintshire.

Mrs. Julia Hughes spoke about the need to publicise the availability of the slides.  The Monitoring Officer agreed to arrange for an agenda item at the forthcoming County Forum meeting to bring this to the attention of Town and Community Councils.

Mr. Rob Dewey stressed the importance of ensuring that all Town and Community Councillors completed the training, particularly new members.  The Monitoring Officer advised that training was not mandatory and that there were no powers to impose sanctions for non-attendance.  As it was the responsibility of Clerks to advise members of their responsibilities within the Code of Conduct, an information sharing session for Clerks could help to reaffirm this.  In the absence of detailed training records, the Monitoring Officer suggested that Clerks could be asked to conduct a survey of their members and provide details of the training received, including themselves.

This was proposed by Mrs. Hughes who said that the communication should be conveyed as supportive and positive in raising awareness of the requirements of the Code of Conduct.  She suggested that records be kept of future training for Clerks and Councillors of Town and Community Councils.  The Monitoring Officer explained that attendance records were available but these did not indicate the number of Clerks.

Councillor Heesom said that a wider discussion was needed at a future meeting.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer agreed to circulate a link to the background documents listed in section 6.01 of the report.

The Chairman summarised the main points raised, and these were agreed by the Committee.

RESOLVED:

(a)       To put the slides produced for the training that was delivered to new and returning Town and Community Councillors, and a link to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales’ (PSOW) video about his role in relation to matters of Councillor conduct, on the Council’s website, so that they can be viewed by Town and Community Councillors;

(b)       To circulate a skills audit questionnaire to Clerks of Town and Community Councils to establish which Clerks and Councillors have received training; and

(c)       To consider the next steps at a future meeting of the Committee.