ON BEHALF OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SWANSEA COUNCIL

The City and County of Swansea Executive and Group Leaders have been briefed on the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Bill. Due in part to the General Election and no planned council meeting during December it was not possible to present a report to full council with a view to a formal consultation response being submitted. However the comments below represent those areas which had cross party support within the council. Political groups may submit their own response to the Committee direct.

With reference to the Committee’s terms of reference the position is as set out below:

Part 1 – Elections

The Council’s position is generally supportive of extending the voting rights to those aged 16/17 (individual political groups within Swansea may make separate representations to the Committee on this part of the Bill) with a view to widening democratic engagement and allowing those who contribute to society to participate in the democratic process. It is also supportive of changing the electoral cycle for principal councils from four to five years.

In relation to the voting system there are concerns around allowing individual authorities to determine their voting system. It is felt that this would lead to confusion and complexity and is therefore not supported. Similarly there are concerns around allowing council officers to stand in elections due to potential conflict but the amendment to the disqualification provisions  ie if subject to an order under the Sexual Offences Act is supported.

The Council welcomes and would encourage measures to increase voter participation in elections and is generally supportive of the electoral registration provisions within the Bill but would like reassurance that use of data will be GDPR compliant.

Part 2 – General Power of Competence

The Council supports a general power of competence for authorities.

Part 3 – Promoting Access to Local Government

The Council welcomes participation in decision making by local people but is concerned as to the cost of any additional duties to be imposed on the Authority ie preparation of a public participation strategy and associated costs of further consultation.

Whilst the Council supports the democratic principles around electronic broadcasting of all meetings open to the public the costs of doing so is a real concern in light of the number of council meetings it will cover. In Swansea there will be a need to extend webcasting into other committee rooms which are not at present set up for webcasting. Therefore this Council would like to see the costs of additional broadcasting, remote attendance and public participation covered by Welsh Government.

Part 4 – Local Authority Executives, Members, Officers and Committees

The Council welcomes the statutory provisions relating to the Chief Executive including performance management but would welcome further guidance being published as to the contents of any published performance report.

The Council welcomes Job Sharing within the Executive to improve diversity within the Executive and allow for part-time working arrangements. This Council has operated a form of Job Sharing for a number of years which has worked very well but the proposed change to the maximum number of executive members is welcomed although it is questioned as to whether the limit of 13 is needed. The family absence proposals are  supported.

As this Council’s Standards Committee already has a question and answer session with group leaders on an annual basis around ethics and standards the inclusion within the Bill of Political Group Leaders promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct is supported.

Part 5 – Collaborative Working

There is general support for provisions for better collaborative working however there are some concerns around whether there will be additional bureaucracy created and any impact on service delivery within the Authority. There are also concerns around funding of Corporate Joint Committees and the ability to recruit appropriately skilled staff.

Part 6 – Performance and Governance of Principal Councils

This is generally supported but it was felt that there should be some further clarification as to what is meant by a panel assessment of performance and whether there was an unnecessary additional layer of audit being imposed.