AGENDA ITEM NO.

REPORT TO: Corporate Governance and Policy Scrutiny Committee

REPORT NO: CLDSO/132/09S

DATE: 4 November 2009

REPORTING OFFICER: Chief Legal and Democratic Services Officer

CONTACT OFFICER: Peter Mullen (Tel: 292235)

SUBJECT: The Report of the Councillor Commission Expert Panel ‘Are We Being Served’

WARD: N/A

1 PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

To consider a proposed response to the recommendations contained in the report of The Councillor Commission Expert Panel Wales, ‘Are We Being Served’, for referral to the Executive Board for consideration.

2 SUMMARY

2.1 Following the report of the Councillors Commission in December 2007 – ‘Representing the Future’, an Expert Panel was established in Wales to consider which of the recommendations made by the Commission could be implemented in Wales and also to consider other issues in local government examined by the Commission which could affect the recruitment, retention and development of councillors in Wales.

2.2 The Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Mr Brian Gibbons, AC/AM, is consulting primarily on the recommendations of the Panel that are aimed at the Welsh Assembly Government, but would welcome views on any of the recommendations.

2.3 The closing date for the submission of comments is Friday, 27 November 2009.

2.4 All 35 recommendations, together with Officers’ suggested responses, can be found in Annex A to this report.

1

3 RECOMMENDATION

3.1 To consider Officers’ suggested responses to the Expert Panel’s recommendations prior to referral to the Executive Board.

4 INFORMATION

4.1 Following the report of the Councillors Commission in December 2007 – “Representing the Future”, an Expert Panel was established in Wales to consider the implications for Wales of the recommendations made by the Commission and also to consider other issues in local government not examined by the Commission which could affect the recruitment, retention and development of councillors in Wales.

4.2 The terms of reference for the Expert Panel were as follows

• to consider the recommendations of the Councillors Commission and their appropriateness for implementation in Wales; • to consider whether there are any other issues relevant to widening participation in local government in Wales, which have not been considered by the Councillors Commission ; and

• to make recommendations to the Minister by November 2008.

4.3 Members of the Panel were invited to participate on the basis of their expertise in particular areas.

4.4 The Panel membership was as follows:-

Sophie Howe (Chair) Political Adviser, Equality and Human Rights (Seconded to Welsh Assembly Government) Angharad Davies Head, Public Affairs BT Wales Karl Davies Head of Governance and Accountability in Wales, BBC Wales Trust Councillor Meryl Gravell OBE Independent Councillor and Leader Carmarthenshire County Council Councillor Gwenllian Lansdown Chief Executive, and Cardiff County Councillor Phi Nifield Former Political Editor South Wales Echo Councillor Ramesh Patel Councillor, Canton Electoral Division Richard Penn Chair, Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales Chris Roberts General Secretary Catherine Thomas Wales Women’s National Coalition Derek Walker Wales TUC Owen Watkin, OBE Former Chief Executive Ceredigion County Council Simon White Chief Executive, One Voice Wales

Advisors to the Panel

Derek Hurford Welsh Local Government Association Raine Larcher Welsh Local Government Association Frank Cuthbert Welsh Assembly Government

2

Secretariat

Margaret Adams Welsh Assembly Government

4.5 The Panel met on eight occasions, with five of these meetings considering specific themes which were linked to the themes considered by the Councillors Commission. The meetings were themed as follows:

• the role of councillors; • public perception and understanding of councillors and the role of the media; • balancing working and family life with being a councillor; • supporting, recognising and rewarding councillors; and • recruiting and retaining a diverse range of councillors.

4.6 The report of the Panel ‘Are we being served’? has now been published. It is a comprehensive report which has fully considered all the issues of how to promote more and varied involvement in local democracy by a wider range of people than currently is the case. The report can be viewed electronically via the website referred to at the end of this report.

4.7 In her foreword to The Report of the Councillor Commission Expert Panel Wales, Sophie Howe, Chair of the Expert Panel, concludes as follows:

‘The Expert Panel was established by the Welsh Assembly Government to consider the report of the Councillor Commission. We have considered carefully the evidence presented to the Councillors Commission, have taken our own evidence and have drawn on the expertise of the Panel’s membership. In short, it has been the task of this Panel to consider, “are we being served?” In considering this we have considered ‘we’ to be both 21st century councillor for whom the support to enable their job to be done properly is often lacking and ‘we’ the public who, despite the dedication and commitment of current elected members, are, in reality, mainly being served by people who are representative of only a small section of society. Our report examines how we can ensure that the role of a councillor is recognised, supported and made accessible to ordinary people – this, we conclude, goes hand in hand with encouraging a more diverse range of people to consider becoming councillors.

We believe that there is a role for central government, local government itself, political parties, the media and employers in renewing local democracy, in providing councillors with the support that they need to do their jobs – enabling them to communicate better and engage more effectively with their communities and helping them to shape the future of our public services and local democracy. I hope that those organisations who have recommendations directed towards them in this report will work towards ensuring that our community champions are supported in doing this and in meeting the challenge so eloquently described by Professor Stephen Coleman of being “ordinary enough to be representative and extraordinary enough to be representatives”.

4.8 The recommendations made by the Panel cover the areas of councillor development, campaigning with others to raise awareness of local government and increasing 3 interest in candidacy, and linking up with employers to promote community involvement including council service.

4.9 The Minister for Social Inclusion and Local Government, Mr Brian Gibbons, AC/AM, is consulting primarily on the recommendations of the Panel that are aimed at the Welsh Assembly Government, but would welcome views on any of the recommendations.

4.10 Attached at Annex A is a summary of the recommendations contained in the Panel’s report, together with Officers’ suggested responses thereto. In presenting this matter to Members, Officers consider it necessary to make the point that, in their view, although the recommendations appear to have been considered at length by the Panel they are extremely aspirational with little or no challenge given to cost/benefit.

5 EQUALITIES IMPACT ASSESSMENT

The report sets out a proposed response to a consultation exercise and, therefore, an equalities impact assessment is not required.

6 RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS

The consultation exercise itself poses no resource implications. However, if implemented, some of the recommendations made by the Expert Panel could pose significant resource implications for local authorities.

7 LEAD MEMBER COMMENT

This report has been drawn to the attention of the relevant Lead Member.

BACKGROUND PAPERS LOCATION WEBSITE INFO.

Letter dated 4 September 2009 Legal and Democratic http://www.adjudicationp from Brian Gibbons AC/AM, Services Department anelwales.com/consultati Minister for Social Justice and Local ons/localgovernment/bei Government, enclosing a copy of ngserved/;jsessionid=T3 The Report of the Councillor vzK1DMpXnTg4Lny0MC Commission Expert Panel Wales, 1s3SLgXyp1f6dTqJJgs6 “Are we being served?” kHh1VbQ2pBhG!- 1833824413?cr=5&lang= en&ts=1&status=closed.

CLJ/REP2009/CLDSO-132-09

4 ANNEXE A

Recommendation 1

As part of their statutory duties, local authorities should undertake equality monitoring amongst candidates standing for election and all newly-elected councillors. The same should be done for community and town councillors and in the meantime the census of county councillors should also be extended to community and town councillors.

It is considered that any equality monitoring at candidacy stage would have to be done by the Returning Officer as the information on candidates is held by the Returning Officer, not the local authority and would therefore add an extra burden to the Returning Officer’s duties.

From an equalities perspective, the proposed monitoring would be welcome.

Recommendation 2

Consideration should be given to introducing a legal separation of the executive and non-executive functions of the council with separate funding streams that would protect the central provision of members’ services.

The Council rejects this proposal. Accounting regulations are already in place to ensure that Member support costs are identified but the fact that such costs are identified does not mean that they can be protected. This proposal could lead to a doubling of support costs were there to be two separate structures for the Executive and Scrutiny functions. Without clearly established benefits, perhaps from a pilot scheme, there is insufficient evidence that such a radical change is warranted.

Recommendation 3

One Voice Wales should in conjunction with community and town councils and the WLGA develop role descriptions for community and town councillors.

The Council has formally adopted detailed role descriptions for elected County Borough Members and these are contained in its Constitution.

The Council believes that this is very much an issue for One Voice Wales and the Town and Community Councils.

Recommendation 4

The WLGA should place a stronger emphasis and focus on the role of a councillor in representing their community - the ward role, in the Wales Member Support and Development Charter.

This is a matter for the WLGA itself.

Having successfully obtained the Wales Charter for Member Support and Development, the Council is committed to ensuring that Members receive all the necessary support to enable them to undertake their various roles as effectively as possible. This will involve, among other things, the provision of training/awareness raising sessions; help with research/obtaining information and provision of advice on more practical issues such as arranging ward surgeries.

Recommendation 5

Work should be undertaken within local authorities to further raise the awareness and recognition of the different roles that councillors undertake, in particular ward representation in their communities. This could be achieved by involving members in officer training and induction and including this aspect of their role in the induction and development programmes for council officers.

Awareness raising in relation to Members' different roles is covered by the Council mainly as part of the Member Induction process and this includes a separate session dedicated to 'Working in the Ward'. The Council is exploring the possible provision of joint Member/Officer training events as well as joint training with other local authorities.

In line with the requirements of the Wales Charter for Member Support and Development the Council is actively encouraging Members to participate in the personal support and development interview process in order to identify their individual learning and development needs. Possible future joint Member/Officer training events can be appropriately tailored once Members’ individual needs are known.

Recommendation 6

Political parties should:

a. make better use of the Candidates' Guide developed by the WLGA amongst candidates and potential candidates; and

b. consider developing or, where they already exist, standardising their own role descriptions to match with the WLGA role specifications to inform the candidate selection process (although the part of the councillor role related to representing their political party would remain the responsibility of each party).

This is a matter for the political parties themselves, but the Council would support the increased use of the candidates' guide developed by the WLGA as a means of trying to familiarise candidates and potential candidates with some of the key issues to which they will need to pay regard if elected. Nevertheless, it would suggest that either the WLGA and the Electoral Commission may want to consider renaming their respective guide as both previous guides from these bodies were called the ‘Candidates’ Guide’. This caused a lot of confusion at the 2008 local elections.

Recommendation 7

The National Assembly, Welsh Assembly Government, the WLGA and One Voice Wales should lead a Governance Wales Campaign which would seek to clarify and explain to the public the responsibilities of the different tiers of government in Wales and what different types of representatives do.

The Council supports this recommendation.

Recommendation 8

Local authorities should be charged with a statutory duty to facilitate local democratic engagement. This should be supported by the production of guidance from the WLGA.

In principle, this appears to be a good idea, but the Council would wish to have the opportunity to examine any guidance produced by the WLGA before coming to a firm view on the matter.

Recommendation 9

Local authorities should put in place arrangements which ensure that council officers recognise the importance of working with and supporting councillors to engage with their communities and particular, where appropriate, with marginalised, seldom heard or so called “hard to reach” groups.

The Council already seeks to do this via its community cohesion strategies and therefore supports the principle.

Recommendation 10

The Code of Practice on Local Authority Publicity should be reviewed by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Agreed.

Recommendation 11

Local authorities should make arrangements to support councillors to publish (as a minimum on the website) an annual report of their work both in their communities and within the council.

Each Member of the Council already has a profile on the Authority’s website, but it is considered that the provision of an annual report would not be practical. There is no indication or suggestion within the Expert Panel’s report as to where the resources to support this proposal would come from. In addition, the Council has concerns about the possibility of party political comments being associated with Council publication mechanisms.

Recommendation 12

The Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRP) should consider making a communication allowance available to councillors which could be used to fund communication with their electorate. This expenditure should be accounted for in an annual report and any communication would need to adhere to the Code of Practice on Local Authority Publicity.

This proposal is not supported. The Council considers that any such allowance should be funded from existing Member allowances.

Recommendation 13

Councillors should be actively encouraged to embrace the digital age in communication with their communities. In line with the WLGA Charter, local authorities should provide all elected members with training opportunities on using appropriate IT packages and communicating through digital media (such as developing websites and blogging), as well as ongoing IT support. Wherever possible, such training should be opened up to community and town councillors.

In line with the requirements of the Wales Charter for Member Support and Development, the Council has made ICT facilities available to all Members (eg laptops with e-mail facilities and access to the Council’s network and the internet). In addition to formal training opportunities, ongoing IT support/training is provided.

The possible further development of websites and blogging would pose significant resource implications, as would opening up the Council’s training opportunities to community and town councils. In the current financial climate this may not be practical.

Recommendation 14

Local authorities should provide training and ongoing support in dealing with the press and broadcasters for all their elected members. Wherever possible, such training should be opened up to community and town councillors.

The Council has provided specialist media training for designated Members as part of its approved Member Development/Training programme. The cost of all such training has to be met from a relatively small, cash limited budget. Opening up training opportunities and providing ongoing support to community and town councillors would undoubtedly pose major resource and financial implications for the Council unless the community/town councils themselves made appropriate funding support available.

Recommendation 15

The Welsh Assembly Government, WLGA and One Voice Wales should initiate discussions with the public service broadcasters in Wales and Ofcom to identify what role these broadcasters could play in enhancing the coverage of local government, and, in particular, how the BBC will carry out the commitment given by the Director General in January to improving coverage of local government.

The Council supports this recommendation.

Recommendation 16

The UK Government should consider including a provision in the forthcoming Equality Bill which will allow political parties to use special measures for the selection of black and minority ethnic candidates. Political parties should be encouraged to use special measures for women which are already permissible in their selection processes in order to ensure that a balanced list of candidates are standing for election.

This recommendation is supported.

Recommendation 17

The Electoral Commission should assist political parties in Wales to identify and take account of good practice from other parts of the UK and learn from other parties in measures to engage with under-represented groups and support them through the process of selection and candidacy.

Although this is a matter for the Electoral Commission, the Council supports the recommendation.

Recommendation 18

The Candidates’ Guide produced by the WLGA should be available to potential candidates prior to every local government election and steps should be taken by the Electoral Commission to promote the guidance which is available to all candidates, particularly to independent candidates who do not have practical support provided by a political party.

The Council supports this recommendation. See comments under recommendation 6. Recommendation 19

The possibility of establishing a fund to support the specific needs of people from under-represented groups to become candidates (such as meeting accessibility needs, communication support where English is not a first language etc) should be explored by the Welsh Assembly Government in conjunction with the Electoral Commission.

The Council does not support this recommendation. Whilst the principle may be good, with limited resource it is felt that other priorities would have a greater need of such resource.

Recommendation 20

The Welsh Assembly Government should work in partnership with the Assembly Commission, the WLGA and other relevant organisations to develop an all Wales shadowing scheme which would provide opportunities for shadowing and mentoring people from under represented groups by councillors and AMs.

The Council would wish to be consulted on any proposed All Wales shadowing scheme but accepts that mentoring systems are effective ways of breaking down perceptional and attitudinal barriers for many groups.

Recommendation 21

Schools and council officers working with children and young people or in promoting democracy should be encouraged to actively seek opportunities to engage councillors (both county and community and town) in meeting and working with children and young people, both at county and ward level.

The Council has previously undertaken a number of initiatives as part of Local Democracy Week to encourage more dialogue between elected Members and children and young people. In addition, Members have played a key role in securing the establishment of a Children’s University and a yr Ifanc, both of which highlight the Council’s commitment to work and maintain close links with children and young people. The Council’s Children’s Services Departments enjoy close working links with Members, in particular Lead Members and Scrutiny Co-Chairs. This recommendation is therefore strongly supported.

Recommendation 22

A comprehensive review of the role of a councillor role and the time commitment required to fulfil it should be undertaken by the IRP in the course of their fundamental review of Members’ Remuneration this year.

This appears to expand the role of the IRP beyond its strict terms of reference. Recommendation 23

Local authorities should consider ways in which time commitments for councillors and cost burdens for local authorities can be reduced, for example through the use of video conferencing facilities, remote voting and paperless working. In addition, One Voice Wales, the WLGA and the Welsh Assembly Government should jointly consider how to promote greater use of ICT by community and town councils.

The Council is keen to explore ways in which time commitments for Members and cost burdens for the Authority can be reduced. To ease the demands on Members' time, it has already agreed to arrange more 'bitesize' training sessions prior to Council and main Committee meetings. In addition, Officers are investigating the provision of alternative methods of delivery (e.g. use of DVDs and increased use of the Council's intranet site).

Video conferencing facilities are available for Members’ use. Satisfactory use of such facilities could make savings.

Recommendation 24

The WLGA should develop an employer’s pack in conjunction with Employer organisations which sets out the benefits to supporting employees who wish to become, or are, councillors. The pack could include examples of good practice.

The Council welcomes this recommendation although again care will be required in progressing this during a period of recession.

Recommendation 25

Consideration should be given to how public sector employers can be encouraged to actively support employees to participate in public life and whether it is possible to use procurement to achieve the same outcome amongst private sector employers.

Please see comment on recommendation 24 aove.

Recommendation 26

Guidance should be issued to local authorities to encourage them to put in place policies for maternity, paternity (including adoptive) and caring leave for councillors. Similarly, policies for time management, including cover in periods of absence, flexible working and support should be developed.

The Council would need to examine the detail of any such guidance before coming to a view. The budgetary position in the private and public sector for many years to come may render such an aspiration undeliverable.

Recommendation 27

The forthcoming consultation being conducted by the IRP on a review of councillors’ allowances should engage members of the public in a meaningful way, possibly through the use of a Citizens Panel.

Agreed.

Recommendation 28

Councils should be required to undertake a bi-annual survey of members in order to identify their support needs. This survey should be reported to full council and shared with the WLGA.

The Council has concerns about this. It believes that an annual or biennial survey would be better than a biannual survey as a means of identifying Members' support needs mainly because this could be arranged to tie in with the annual budget preparation process. To carry out a survey on a half yearly basis, as proposed, would be a huge resource burden at a time when local authorities' budgets are under considerable pressure. Besides, consulting Members on a half yearly basis on this issue, whether by e-mail, letter or telephone, is hardly consistent with the Expert Panel's desire to see the demands made on Members' time reduced.

A biennial survey would be more appropriate. However, it should be noted that, here in Wrexham, Members are encouraged to inform the Member Support team of changes in their support needs as they arise.

Recommendation 29

Investors in People UK should ensure that the Investor in People Standard assesses a council’s commitment to developing their councillors as well as their employees. Investors in People status should only be awarded to councils who have been successful in being awarded the Wales Charter for Member Support and Development.

Although the Council considers that applying the Investor in People Standard to Members should be looked at, it rejects the proposal that Investors in People status should only be awarded to those Councils which have been awarded the Wales Charter for Member Development and Support. The local government sector should not seek to pressure or influence an independent organisation like IIP.

Recommendation 30

All local authorities should ensure that training and development opportunities are available to their elected members and ensure that consideration is given to ways in which these programmes can be delivered in a way which minimises the time commitment required for members. The development of training packages should be done in association with community and town councils, whose councillors could also benefit from training and development opportunities.

The Council’s Member Training and Development Programme is open to all Members of the Authority, and the Council is actively looking at alternative methods of delivery (eg use of DVD’s and increased use of the Council’s intranet site).

The Council already provides training to community and town councils on the Code of Conduct, and manages and administers an effective Town and Community Council Forum, which plays a key role in raising awareness of major issues within the County Borough.

It must be stressed once again, however, that the Council does not have the resources to develop training packages for the benefit of community and town councillors, whose roles are in many ways are markedly different to those of County Borough Councillors. There is an unwelcome thread running through a number of these recommendations that the Counties and County Borough Councils exercise regulatory and advisory controls over the Community and Town Councils.

Recommendation 31

The WLGA should consider the development of accredited training which could be taken up by councillors on a voluntary basis.

It is understood that the WLGA is already pursuing this issue with local authorities via its Member Support Officer Network.

Recommendation 32

Consideration should be given to allocating some funding, with an appropriate audit mechanism attached, to individual councillors through the remuneration framework to allow members to meet some support needs. This could be explored further by the IRP.

The Council does not support this recommendation as Members’ support needs are met by way of the existing Members’ Allowances Scheme. Introduction of discrete sums throughout these recommendations is unwelcome and potentially unwieldy.

Recommendation 33

Councils should consider the needs of individual members when determining what technological support is provided. In doing this they should be mindful of addressing the specific need for councillors to combine their role with other commitments.

Insofar as ICT provision is concerned, home visits are made on request by relevant support staff to help Members with specific problems/queries.

Recommendation 34

The WLGA should issue guidance to local authorities in consultation with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on meeting their obligations to councillors in respect of the equality enactments and councils should be encouraged to provide support over and above their statutory obligations as a way of encouraging the recruitment and retention of under-represented groups. All councillors should be offered an assessment which would identify any accessibility needs, language support requirements or caring needs. Local Authority Members support officers should in conjunction with the individual councillor and where appropriate party group officers draw up a plan to identify how these needs can be met.

This recommendation is supported by the Council. It is suggested that equality and diversity training for all Members should perhaps be mandatory.

Recommendation 35

Political parties should ensure that support for councillors extends beyond candidacy and should consider ways in which mechanisms for supporting their councillors can be developed.

This is a matter for discussion by the political parties.