Agenda item

(a)       That the number of feedback reports from visits to Town and Community Councils considered at each meeting is adjusted so that agendas are not overloaded, unless urgent issues need to be fed back when these will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.  The reports are to be considered in chronological order;

(b)       That the written notes (using the agreed template) form background papers to agendas.  Verbal reports to be made at each meeting to enable the Committee to resolve what feedback is to be given to Town and Community Councils that have been visited; and

(c)       That Members inform the Monitoring Officer of a visit to a Town or Community Council and send their written notes of the visit to him, as soon as possible after a visit has taken place, for the purposes of agenda planning for the Committee.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer presented a report to agree a mechanism for reporting feedback to Town and Community Councils from visits being undertaken by independent members of the Committee, as discussed at the previous meeting.

The Committee was asked to consider a set of recommendations which had been drafted by officers to set out the best approach.  Written notes from each visit provided to the Monitoring Officer would enable him to plan agendas based on workload.  The recommendation for written notes to be attached to the public agenda pack would enable them to be considered by the Committee before meetings as well as using them as feedback to Town and Community Councils.

With regard to the future programme, it was suggested that councils could be revisited in two years’ time to allow time for feedback to be considered and changes/training undertaken if it was felt necessary.  Future visits could also be scheduled at councils where there had been significant membership changes or a new Clerk.  Alternatively, Clerks may wish to request a visit, with or without prior notification.

The Monitoring Officer said that if Members did not wish for their written notes to be included on the agenda, these would be designated as background papers and the Committee would need to agree on the feedback to be given to Town/Community Councils on each occasion.  On trend analysis, a report could be provided once or twice yearly to summarise the main issues identified during that time which could inform training requirements.

Whilst some Members spoke in favour of sharing written reports, others felt that the feedback should be agreed by the Committee as a whole and that verbal reports would provide an opportunity to clarify any areas of uncertainty before finalising feedback.  It was suggested that a section on website information be included on the template form used for writing notes from the visits.

Julia Hughes proposed an amendment to Recommendation 2 in the report for written notes to be forwarded to the Monitoring Officer and reported verbally by Members at meetings of the Standards Committee to allow opportunity for amendment and clarification if required.  The summary of feedback would be recorded in the minutes and made available to the respective Town and Community Councils.  This was seconded by Ken Molyneux.

It was also agreed that reports would be considered in date order of the visits as Town and Community Councils were keen to receive early feedback.  This would also give them an opportunity to clarify any issues which may have been misinterpreted.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the number of feedback reports from visits to Town and Community Councils considered at each meeting is adjusted so that agendas are not overloaded, unless urgent issues need to be fed back when these will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.  The reports are to be considered in chronological order;

(b)       That the written notes (using the agreed template) form background papers to agendas.  Verbal reports to be made at each meeting to enable the Committee to resolve what feedback is to be given to Town and Community Councils that have been visited; and

(c)       That Members inform the Monitoring Officer of a visit to a Town or Community Council and send their written notes of the visit to him, as soon as possible after a visit has taken place, for the purposes of agenda planning for the Committee.