Agenda item

The Committee will be joined by representatives of Town and Community Councils to discuss issues of concern to them.

The Chair explained that questions had also been sought from representatives in advance of the meeting.

In response to questions raised by Mr. Gareth Roberts, Clerk of Bagillt Community Council, the Head of Legal & Democratic Services advised that it was the responsibility of councillors to identify whether or not they had an interest on an item under discussion.  He spoke of the difficulties that individuals sometimes had in recognising that they may have an interest on an item and the responsibility of other councillors to raise this with their colleague if they felt that an interest should be declared.  Failure to declare an identified interest must be reported as a breach to the Code of Conduct to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) by other councillors who would themselves breach the Code if they failed to do so.

When asked if a situation arose whether Chair could refuse a councillor permission to speak on an item if they were aware of a conflict of interest, the Head of Legal & Democratic Services explained that this was dependent on the Standing Orders.  In general practice, the Chair could refuse the councillor permission to speak if the meeting was disrupted.  Ordinarily it would be for the Chair to warn the councillor about the possible existence of a personal and prejudicial interest and the need to withdraw and the consequences of failing to do so.

The Democracy & Governance Manager said that some councillors could not recognise that they had a prejudicial interest on an item because of their closeness to that issue.  There was often a need to discuss the reasons for the interest to ascertain whether it was an interest and if so, what type, therefore the County Council encouraged councillors to seek advice on any possible interests in advance of the meeting which may allow time to apply to the Standards Committee for dispensation.

In line with paragraph 2 of the Code of Conduct guidance, it was confirmed that councillors must observe the Code, including declaring interests, whilst acting, claiming to act or giving the impression of acting in their official capacity at formal and informal meetings, which included working groups and committees.  This also applied to councillors who were present as observers at such meetings.

In response to queries raised by Mr. Ian Jones, Clerk of Connah’s Quay Town Council, the Head of Legal & Democratic Services said that an interest would be prejudicial if a member of the public (with all the facts) would say it was significant enough to prejudice the councillor’s judgement of what was in the public interest.  Prejudicial interests were mainly declared on matters relating to finance, planning or licensing where there was involvement in the issue by friends and family.  However, a councillor who was nominated onto the body by the Council would not have a personal and prejudicial interest as they would be expected to report back to the Council on matters affecting that body.  An exemption allowed Town and Community councillors to consider requests for funding up to £500 to community/voluntary organisations, irrespective of whether the councillor was appointed to that committee by the Council.  In response to a further query, an example was cited whereby a Council Member speaking on a planning item at Town or Community Council level would need to avoid prejudging their stance at County Council level.

The Democracy & Governance Manager said that the County Council’s Planning Committee had an arrangement where members of the public were able to speak on an item for three minutes enabling Council Members with a personal and prejudicial interest on the item to address the Committee in the same way, except that the councillor had to leave the room during the debate and vote.

In response to a question from Councillor Shelley Webber of Sealand and Queensferry Community Councils, the Head of Legal & Democratic Services gave an example of a situation where a Town/Community Council meeting was considering a request for funding from a school.  A councillor who had been appointed as a school governor by the Town/Community Council could speak and vote on the item whereas a councillor who had not been appointed in this way would need to declare a personal interest only and could speak on the item if the funding sought was below the £500 limit.  For funding sought over this amount, this councillor would need to declare a personal and prejudicial interest and would not be able to take part in the discussion.