Agenda item

That the Council responds to the Local Government & Elections (Wales) Bill, building on the positions that had previously been taken and aligning with the position and views of the Welsh Local Government Association.

The Chief Executive introduced the Local Government & Elections (Wales) Bill report which summarised the provisions of the Bill and details of the Council’s responses.  Many of the aspects in the Bill had previously been debated by Members during their draft stages.

            Appended to the report were papers of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) Council, as the Councils representative body.

            Councillor Roberts supported the views of the WLGA and the previous position as outlined by the Council which should form the basis of the response, which was seconded by Councillor Carolyn Thomas.  He said particular aspects would need to be dealt with at the time when the Bill was enacted.  He particularly welcomed the provision in the Bill for voting for 16 and 17 year olds.

            Councillor Bithell concurred with the comments of the Leader and said he would welcome some aspect of political education being delivered in schools. 

            Councillor Tudor Jones said Flintshire was a progressive local authority which had been demonstrated in the Council Chamber throughout the afternoon.  However, he expressed his concern that if the report was approved today, it would prevent the Council commenting in the future on the voting system.  He supported the vote being extended to 16 and 17 year olds but said they would be expected to use two different voting systems.  He agreed with the single transferable vote system but commented on the system for County Council elections where the person with the majority of the votes won.  However, some of those seats had very low majorities, with one example being a Councillor being elected with 24% of the vote; he felt this would be difficult to explain to young people.  A single transferable vote would see the achievement of a 50% majority.  He did not feel that the Council should align itself to the views of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA). 

            The Chief Executive said this was a topic which prompted a wide range of views in the Council Chamber and also at the WLGA.  The WLGA and the Council believed there should be a uniform voting system for all local authorities regardless of what voting system was used which would help to avoid confusion.  Councillor Jones said he disagreed with that view as people would only be concerned with the system that was in place where they resided. 

            Councillor Richard Jones commented on the change of name of the Audit Committee to Governance and Audit Committee and said he felt the reporting of performance measures should remain where they currently were, at Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee.   The Chief Executive explained that two Committees could operate with parallel roles and further thought would be given on that element of the Bill.

            Councillor Roberts said a debate would take place on a voting system once the Bill had been enacted.

            On being put to the vote the recommendation was carried.

RESOLVED:

That the Council responds to the Local Government & Elections (Wales) Bill, building on the positions that had previously been taken and aligning with the position and views of the Welsh Local Government Association.