Minutes:
It
was noted that the Chairman had asked all Councillors in advance of this
meeting if they had any matters to raise.
The following items had been presented to the Chairman:
a) It
was noted that the press had recently reported on dispensation applications presented
to the Ethics and Standards Committee.
It was agreed that the Corporate Lead Officer would discuss this matter
with the new Chairman of the Ethics and Standards Committee with a
recommendation to stipulate on the dispensation form that information provided
will be made public.
b) Members
queried as to the expected time-frame for returning to Penmorfa. It was noted that it would not be possible to
return during the installation of the new Council Chamber equipment.
c) It
was agreed that the Democratic Services Committee would ask the Leader of the
Council to provide a substantial update on Covid-19 as an agenda item,
focussing on short-term developments as opposed to providing a verbal update in
order that Members are able to prepare questions in advance. It was acknowledged that data relating to
Covid-19 cases would need to be provided verbally on the day.
d) Members
noted that the ‘CLIC’ enquiry system in itself was working effectively, however
Members do not know who is dealing with any particular enquiry, and often do
not receive feedback when a matter has been dealt with. It was also noted that the system provides
separate ticket items when you follow up on a query, and that it can be
difficult to keep track of queries. It
was noted that the Service is currently developing ‘your account’ which will
facilitate this. Officers were asked to
clarify the time-frame for this development
e) Members
asked whether they would be eligible to receive eye-care vouchers which are
currently available to employees. It was
noted that the regulations relating to Display Screen Equipment relate to
health and safety legislations for employees and workers. Whilst Members are not technically
categorised as employees or workers, the advice from People and Organisation
Services suggested that if Democratic Services believe that members fulfil the critiera within the DSE legislation, they may be eligible
to claim under the Council’s eye-care scheme.
The Health and Safety regulations stipulate that: “The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations apply to
workers who use DSE daily, for an hour or more at a time. We describe these
workers as 'DSE users'. The regulations don't apply to workers who use DSE
infrequently or only use it for a short time”.
It was noted that a process would need to be developed for
Councillors and they themselves would have to declare that they use DSE daily,
for an hour or more at a time.
f) Members
asked about the provision of a secondary piece of IT equipment for Chairs of
Committees. It was noted that last year,
Cabinet Members and Chairmen of Committees who had previously requested an
I-pad had been offered the loan of a lap-top in order to facilitate with the
co-ordinating of committees whilst working from home. Those Members that are no longer Chairs of
Committees will be asked to return the loan equipment, and new Committee
Chairmen will receive the same offer. It
was noted that information relating to the cost of providing additional
equipment would be reflected in the Statement of Members’ Allowances paid
during 2020/21 which would be published shortly.