Agenda item

The Chief Executive gave an update to the proposed new council plan. Following on from the completion of the 4 all-member workshops, Cabinet was to note that a refined draft of the Council Plan was under consideration. In particular the proposed Implementation/Action spreadsheet was now being reviewed by officers and would be further discussed with Portfolio Holders. It was currently proposed that the spreadsheet would be ready for wider Council consideration by the middle of June.

Thereafter it was proposed that there would be a joint meeting of the Overview and the Scrutiny Committees where the updated spreadsheet and proposed prioritisation of the draft Council Plan would be further considered. The matter would then come before Cabinet for final view and prioritisation with the final version of the Council Plan being presented to Full Council in September 2021.

The Portfolio Holder Council and Corporate Co-ordination wished to thank Jo Avery, Management Information Officer and Anne Reed for their hard efforts in bringing this swiftly to this point. He thanked officers for the time they had taken in engaging in the process.

RESOLVED:

that the proposed council plan update be noted.

REASON:

To update members on how any future proposals would be considered before coming back to Cabinet for final view and prioritisation, with the final version of the Council Plan being presented to Full Council in September 2021.

Developing Member and staff relationships

The Portfolio Holder Council and Corporate Co-ordination made the following statement.

‘Two sets of internal relationships should be in the forefront of the minds and actions of Members – those between Members, and those between Members and staff. Both sets of relationships have been matters that have highlighted the need for individual and collective introspection over the past 24 months.

The relationships between Members have not always shown themselves to be conducted respectfully, even taking account of the political differences between groups, as well as the challenging political environment that this council finds itself in when there is no majority overall control by one group. Sometimes Member behaviours have fallen below what should pass as respectfully acceptable. This has led to an increase in Code of Conduct complaints and subjected staff to observing these poor behaviours playing themselves out either in meetings and/or through emails and social media. These poor behaviours reflect upon us all negatively.

The relationships between Members and staff have very much been a concern, particularly in light of the staff survey conducted earlier in the year. We all, as Members, have a responsibility to show respect to all staff at all times. As we are aware not all Members have acted in a responsible and reasonable way in their engagements with some staff.

As the largest group within this council the Democratic Alliance has reflected upon both of these issues and has asked me, as the respective Portfolio Holder, to bring forward some proposals to address these matters. I have drafted a set of broad proposals which I have discussed with the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer and which have also to be discussed with the new Chair of the Standards Committee.

I therefore am working on the assumption that in conjunction with these colleagues a report, containing proposals for developing Member and staff relationships will be presented to the next Cabinet meeting.

As regards the matters raised through the staff survey, the Democratic Alliance has discussed and reflected upon these and I wish to say directly to the Chief Executive and all staff that any inappropriate actions or behaviours directed at him or his staff by any group Members are deeply regretted and I apologise on the group’s behalf.

That in itself is not sufficient and the Democratic Alliance has created a group internal standards process which would allow it to in future hold its Members to account should their behaviour fall below the required standards. This is a separate set of processes to the Council’s Code of Conduct and is not a substitute for it.

The Democratic Alliance would invite all groups within this council to create their own group internal standards processes to assist in each group being able to regulate their Members’ behaviours. I hope too that each group has reflected upon the implications of the staff survey results as it is important that we all look to our own actions and those of our group colleagues.

I hope that as we move into the third year of this council term, we can all create a more mature and respectful environment within which we can do politics and deliver, through our resourceful and dedicated staff, the quality services that our residents deserve.’