The Democratic Services Manager presented a
report which outlined the key proposals of the Local Government and
Elections (Wales) Bill.
He advised that the Bill was published in
November this year and presented a number of proposals, as follows:
Local
Government Electoral Arrangements
- The voting age for local government elections will be lowered
from 18 to 16 and the right to stand and vote in local government
elections will be extended to qualifying foreign citizens residents
in Wales.
- Local authorities and community councils will be put on a
permanent five year electoral cycle, powers will be given to the
Welsh Government to establish an all Wales digital electoral
register and pilots of new ways to hold local elections will be
allowed (i.e all postal voting, new voting hours, electronic
voting, electronic counting).
Disqualification criteria to stand as a councillor
- People who have been declared bankrupt, are registered sex
offenders, have served a prison (suspended or not) sentence of 3
months or more will be disqualified.
- Council staff will be allowed to stand in elections to their
employer local authority but will be required to resign if
elected.
Governance
Arrangements
- The Bill will introduce a general power of competence for local
authorities and eligible community councils, giving the power to
act in their respective community’s best interests, generate
efficiencies and secure value for money.
- Local authorities will still need to appoint a Chief Executive
but must publish arrangements for managing their performance. The
Bill introduces job sharing for Cabinet level positions and places
a requirement on councils to have provision for maternity leave for
councillors.
- Standard
Committees will be required to publish an Annual Report, while
community councils will need to draft and publish a training plan
for councillors and staff
Mergers
- There will be provision for regional working by more than one
local authority through corporate joint committees. It also gives
the Welsh Government the power to intervene or order one local
authority to assist another one if it is believed a council is not
meeting performance requirements (based on self-assessment and peer
review).
- Any
mergers will be wholly voluntary. Two or more local authorities can
apply to Welsh Government with a merger application. The Bill sets
out the formal public consultation process and regulations required
to create a merged local authority. Councils can also request to be
abolished.
Public
engagement
- Local authorities will be required to publish a public
participation strategy. There will also be a duty placed on local
authorities to encourage local people to participate in local
government.
- Local authorities will need to introduce public petition
schemes, webcast all public meetings (subject to regulations) and
make arrangements for remote attendance by councillors. These
provisions will not apply to community councils.
- Community Councils will be required to allow members of the
public to make representations during meetings and publish annual
reports at the end of each financial year.
The
Democratic Services Manager explained that Councils will also be
allowed to choose their own voting systems in which elections can
be contested, either the existing simple majority system or single
transferable vote system
The
Democratic Services Manager informed Members that for Councils to
change their voting system, it would need to be the subject of a
vote at Council, with a minimum of two
thirds of Members voting in favour of
a change.
The
Democratic Services Manager explained that there were also changes
to the name of Audit Committee, with its new name being Governance
and Audit Committee. A lay person would be the Chairperson and a
third of the Committee would be lay members. Details of the new functions of the Governance and
Audit Committee were detailed at section 114 of the
bill.
The
Democratic Services Manager added that the Council will be required
to webcast all public meetings, details surrounding this are
currently unknown.
A
Member asked when the Bill was to be implemented. The Democratic
Services Manager confirmed that the Act was likely to be in place
by the Summer of 2020.
A
Member welcomed the proposals of the new Bill and stated that a
benefit of one of them is the requirement to make remote attendance
available to all Members. He stated that as many of the Members
work, they may struggle to make it to the meeting, but with remote
attendance being made available and a proper structure in place,
they could potentially attend, improving overall attendance by
working Members.
The
Chairperson considered that remote attendance would be beneficial;
however, good internet connectivity was essential to make it a
success.
A
Member stated that he was in favour of the new Bill but would like
to see more clarity on the voting systems.
The
Chairperson referred to the requirement for a Standards Committee
Annual Report and believed that it may be a short report as the
Standards Committee did not have a significant
caseload.
RESOLVED: That Members noted the contents of the report.