Agenda and minutes

Venue: Conference Room B - Ty_Hywel. View directions

Contact: Lleu Williams 

Items
Expected timing No. Item

(09.15 - 10.15)

1.

Chair’s introduction

Minutes:

1.1.     The Chair welcomed Board members to the meeting.

1.2.     The Chair received apologies from Trevor Reaney. Trevor commented on each item in advance of the meeting.

1.3.     The Chair welcomed Joanna Adams to the meeting, who will support the Board in her role as the Assembly Member Senior Business Partner.

1.4.     The Chair informed the Board that this will be Sian Giddins’ last meeting at Deputy Clerk to the Board. On behalf of the Board, the Chair thanked Sian for her work over the past two years and wished her well in her new role.

1.5.     The Board agreed the minute of the meeting on 17 January 2019, subject to a minor amendment.

1.6.     The Board discussed the potential implications of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill on its remit and agreed to monitor the Bill’s passage through the Assembly.

1.7.     The Board discussed the revisions to the relevant policies and procedures in light of its previous decisions to introduce privilege days and a formal compassionate leave policy in addition to amending the Disciplinary and Grievances Procedures. The Board agreed to share the policies and procedures with the Representative Groups before formally introducing them.

1.8.     The Board noted the recent media coverage of the winding up allowance and agreed to maintain the current provisions.

1.9.     The secretariat informed the Board that following its decision to write to all support staff who work for independent Assembly Members to ask them to formalise arrangement for engaging with the Board a consensus had not been achieved as to who should represent this cohort of staff. As such, the Board agreed to share relevant information with all such staff electronically.

Action points:

The secretariat to:

-        publish the note of the meeting on 17 January;

-        circulate the revised policies and procedures to the Representative Groups;

-        write to all support staff who work for independent Members to inform them of its decision.

(10.15 - 11.15)

2.

Item for decision: Determination for the Sixth Assembly: Third consideration of part one

Minutes:

1.1.     The Board considered the provisions within the Residential Accommodation Expenditure, Members’ travel and the Office Costs chapters of the Determination which fall under part one of the review.

1.2.     The Board agreed to consult on its proposals to amend these chapters of the Determination.

1.3.     The closing date for the consultation would be 7 June 2019.

Action points:

The secretariat to:

-        issue and promote the consultation;

-        prepare a summary of the responses for the Board’s consideration at a future meeting.

(11.15 - 12.15)

3.

Item for discussion: Determination for the Sixth Assembly: First consideration of part two

Minutes:

3.1.     The Board undertook its first consideration of the issues which fall under part two of the review regarding the support provided to both Members and Political Parties, chapters 7 and 8 of the Determination respectively.

3.2.     The Board agreed to return to these issues at its next meeting.

(13.00 - 14.00)

4.

Item for discussion: Determination for the Sixth Assembly: First consideration of part two (continued)

Minutes:

4.1.     As item 3.

(14.00 - 14.45)

5.

Item for discussion: Evaluation of the Senior Advisor role: Report by Capital People

Minutes:

1.1.     The Board welcomed Paul Clayton and Joe Glover, who were representing Capital People, to the meeting.

1.2.     The Chair invited Paul and Joe to provide an overview of the report to the Board and to respond to the points of clarification raised.

1.3.     The Board agreed to return to the issue at a future meeting.

Action point:

The secretariat to liaise with Capital People on behalf of the Board to agree the next steps.

(15.00 - 15.30)

6.

Item for discussion: Evaluation of the Senior Advisor role: Report by Capital People (continued)

Minutes:

6.1.     As item 5.

(15.30 - 16.30)

7.

Item for decision: Annual review of the Determination 2019-20

Minutes:

7.1.     The Board considered the consultation responses received to its proposals as part of the annual review of the Determination.

Office Costs allowance

7.2.     The Board noted the concerns raised regarding its proposals to maintain the Office Costs allowance for its next Determination. However, as there was no evidence to suggest the allowance should be increase the Board agreed to implement its proposals which maintains the allowances at the current rate.

Residential Accommodation Expenditure

7.3.     The Board noted the support to its proposals to amend the provisions surrounding the intermediate area allowance, both for increasing the value and clarifying its use, and agreed to implement the changes in its next Determination.

7.4.     The Board also agreed to increase the outer area allowance by 2.4 per cent, which was the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September 2018.

7.5.     The Board agreed to maintain all other allowances associated with Residential Accommodation Expenditure.

Action points:

The secretariat to:

-        formally write to Assembly Members and support staff confirming the changes to the Determination for 2019-20, including details of their salaries which will be increased by 1.2 per cent in line with the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), gross median Earning for full time employee jobs in Wales;

-        publish the amended Determination.