The Democratic Services Manager presented a report which sought to:

a)     Provide information relating to the Annual Report Process for Elected Members; and

b)     Provide opportunity to review the process and make any suggested amendments or improvements, specifically how to encourage Member take up and promote the final reports.

She explained that there was no mandatory duty on Members or Cabinet Members to make an Annual Report on their activities. However, all political groups will be requested to actively promote the completion of Annual Reports by all of their Members.

She drew attention to Appendix 1 which was the current report template that Members should use. Appendix 2 provided guidance in completing the annual report, and Appendix 3 provided an example. Further details on submitting an annual report were at section 3 of the report.

The Chairperson asked for confirmation on timescales that the annual reports needed to be completed by. The Democratic Services Manager confirmed that June 30^th 2023 was the deadline.

The Chairperson asked if there were any data available on how many of the annual reports were read by the public. The Democratic Services Manager stated that this was not monitored in the past but could look into ways of monitoring this for the future.

A Member suggested that attendance statistics were referenced in the annual reports as this may be something members of the public would be interested in.

A Member asked if the number of referrals that are submitted by Members is easily obtainable information, as this would also provide some useful feedback to the public. The Democratic Services Manager stated that the new referral system did not provide statistics as easily as the old one. She said that she would look into providing this information.

A Member suggested that annual reports could be promoted either via social media or through the Town & Community Councils.

RESOLVED: That the Committee

(1) Considered the Annual Report process and provide any comments or suggested amendments,

(2) Considered how to encourage Member take up of the process and how to promote the final reports.