The Democratic Services Manager presented a report which provided the Democratic Services Committee with the Annual Report for the period May 2022 to May 2023 and the work of the Committee during that period.

She highlighted the current situation, membership and meeting dates of the Committee as set out in section 3 of the report. She drew the Committees attention to section 3.6 which highlighted the various work undertaken since the elections in May 2022, particularly in relation to the Working Group that was established.

The Democratic Services Manager highlighted the structure of the Democratic Services Team, which had seen some changes since the last annual report. Details of this were set out in section 3.14 of the report.

A Member asked in relation to 3.6 making reference to the Sub Committee. He asked how often this Sub Committee met. The Democratic Services Manager stated that this was not a regular held committee, but held on an ‘as and when needed’ basis.

A Member asked in relation to 3.15, he was impressed with the level of detail in the minutes taken by the Democratic Services, however he did not want the team to be put under too much pressure. He asked that the team explore ways of alleviating pressures where possible and this may mean shortening minutes down.

The Democratic Services Manager agreed that this was something that needed to be looked at due to the time taken to draft the minutes, but also the high translation costs that come with the minutes.

A Member added that the use of working groups had proven to be very effective and hoped that this would continue.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the Annual Report for submission to Council for information.