The Democratic Services Committee of Powys County Council met to discuss member champion roles, the remuneration of the chair of the Employment Committee, and changes to the council's constitution and petition scheme. The committee recommended that the current member champion roles continue, that a one-off payment be made to the chair of the Employment Committee, and that amendments to the constitution be adopted. The committee also discussed potential changes to the petition scheme, including limiting the number of times an issue can be petitioned and clarifying rules around visual presentations.

Member Champion Roles

The committee considered a report regarding the results of a survey of all councillors about what Member Champions [MCs] were needed. Only 20 responses were received, with seven councillors commenting that MCs are not needed. The committee recommended to the Full Council that the three current MC roles - Armed Forces, Anti-Poverty and Disability - should continue and that expressions of interest should be sought for these roles.

Remuneration of the Chair of the Employment Committee

The committee considered a report regarding the review of the remuneration of the Chair of the Employment Committee. They noted advice from The Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales [IRPW] that it was for the council to decide whether it could make ad hoc payments to chairs for work where they do not receive senior salaries. The committee recommended to the Full Council that a one-off payment of a senior salary for three months be paid to the Chair of the Employment Committee in acknowledgement of the workload associated with the recruitment of the Corporate Leadership Team.

Constitution

The committee received a report regarding changes required to the Constitution. They noted that regulations had recently been implemented by the Welsh Government which required implementation under Part 4 of the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017 by 29 November 2024, and that Section 13 Responsibility of Functions of the Constitution needed to be amended to reflect the change in the legislative structure.

The report before the committee stated that:

The Monitoring Officer has been tasked to undertake a complete review of the Council's Constitution, and it was felt that the appropriate place to start was in reviewing Section 4 of the Constitution which deals with the way in which Full Council meetings are held.

Appendix 1 of the report contained suggested amendments for the Democratic Services Committee to consider and, if appropriate, to recommend to Full Council. Some of the changes were of a modest nature and others more material. The report highlighted some of the most important changes that would need to be considered by the committee.

Key amendments to Section 4, Full Council, included:

• Various amendments to rule 4.2, The Policy Framework, to reflect that many provisions have been repealed or superseded by other legislation.
• Deletion of rule 4.3, Single Integrated Plan, due to repeal of legislation.
• Deletion of rule 4.5.1, Housing Land Transfer, as it was repealed by s 37 Regulation of Registered Social Landlords (Wales) Act 2018.
• Amendment to rule 4.62, Corporate Strategic and Equality Plan (CSEP), replacing reference to One Powys plan.
• New provision to incorporate questions submitted from the public in accordance with the Protocol for Public Participation at Council Meetings (rule 4.18.31).
• Clarification of the procedure and criteria for Extra Ordinary Meetings (rule 4.19).
• Substantial amendment to attempt simplification of the process for Notices of Meetings (rule 4.23.2).
• New rule added to clarify what happens if an individual agenda item cannot proceed due to declarations of interest (rule 4.26.3).
• Query for DSC - should Questions be restricted to Councillors or to Members (including co-opted)? (rules 4.28 to 4.36)
• Deletion of Questions at any time and moved to new Rule 4.36B & C on pages 38-39 (rules 4.29A and 4.29C).
• Deletion of Appointment and Removal of Leader and moved to new Rule 43 on pages 48-49 (rule 4.40.1).
• Deletion of In Motions without Notice section (rule 4.41.6).
• New Rules 4.48.7 and 4.52 1 added to give the proposer of a motion should have the right of reply at the end of the debate (rules 4.48.7 (page51) & 4.52.1 (page 57)).
• New Rule inserted to allow Chair discretion to allow amendments to be combined (rule 4.49.10).
• Mover of an amendment has no right of reply at the end of the debate. DSC is asked to Consider this rule in the light of its debate on allowing the mover of a motion to have a right of reply at the end of a debate (rule 4.52.2).
• Minor Amendments to subsections on Closure motions for clarity (rule 4.54.8).
• 2 Subsections on Closure motions deleted (rules 4.54.8.4 and 4.54.8.5).
• Proposed amendments reflects the position in hybrid meetings for Record of Attendance (rules 4.78 - 4.80).
• Proposed amendments to give clarity of process (taken from the Council's Petitions Protocol) and to remove reference to Councillors presenting petitions on behalf of constituents for Petitions (rules 4.97 – 4.98).

Key amendments to Section 11 included:

• Changing the reference to the new Corporate Strategic and Equality Plan and changes to the new Job titles of the Directors and insertion of their roles and responsibilities in accordance with their Job Descriptions (rule 11.2).
• Changes to the new job titles for some Heads of Service insertion of their roles and responsibilities in accordance with their Job Descriptions (rule 11.35).
• Changes to the new job titles for some Proper Officer posts (rule 11.40).
• Deletion of paragraphs relating to the appointment of Non Executive Directors (rules 11.52 to 11.55).
• Minor amendments to reflect that Heads of Service are Deputy Chief officers under the Constitution (rules 11.56; & 11.64).
• Old Rule 11.70 moved to Rule 11.69 (with minor amendment) (rule 11.69).
• Rule amended to reflect the fact the appointments officers below Heads of Service are for Heads of Service (rule 11.70).
• Rules 11.72 & 11.7 to avoid repetition (Rule 11.72 and Rule 11.73).

The committee recommended to Full Council that the amendments to the Constitution are adopted.

Minor Amendments to the Constitution

The committee were asked to note minor amendments to the Constitution undertaken by the Monitoring Officer under delegated authority as set out in Rules 2.4, 2.7 and 2.8 of the Constitution. Clive Pinney, Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer, advised that the following Sections referred to the Data Protection Act 1998 and these now refer to the Data Protection Act 2018:

• Section 3 – Getting Information and Getting Involved - paragraphs 3.11, 3.14.3 and 3.15.2
• Section 14 – Access to Information Procedure Rules – paragraphs 14.3, 14.23 and 14.39
• Section 17 – Contract Procedure Rules – paragraph 17.35

Clive Pinney also advised that the following amendments were made due to changes in the organisational structure:

• Section 11 – Officers – paragraph 11.3 Post given for DPO is incorrect and should now refer to the Senior Manager Customer Services and Information Governance
• Section 16 – Financial Procedure Rules – paragraph 16.64 should read Information Governance Team not Information Management unit.

The committee noted the minor amendments made to the Constitution by the Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer.

Review of the Petition Scheme

The committee considered a report on the review of the Petition Scheme. The current scheme went live in May 2022 as required under the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 Section 42. The Act stated that petition schemes should be reviewed from time to time and if the Council considers it appropriate to revise or replace the scheme any revised or new scheme must be published. The Petition scheme is referred to in the Council's Public Participation Strategy.

As at 26 August 2025, the following ePetitions had been received since May 2022:

• 2022-2023: 1- refused as a planning issue
• 2023-2024: 2 – under 50 signatures so issues sent to relevant service areas.
• 2024-2025: 1– under 50 signatures so issue sent to relevant service area. 1 – over 500 signatures and debated at Full Council in July 2025.
• 2025-2026: 1 – refused as the petition refers to an issue that is currently the subject of consultation undertaken by the Council.
• 1 ePetition closed and signatures being reviewed.
• 1 live" ePetition to close on 13/09/25.

The committee was asked to consider the following amendments to the scheme:

• For petitions regarding local issues, under the current scheme a petition with over 500 signatures is debated at Full Council. It was suggested that such petitions should be presented to the relevant Portfolio Holder and Leader and Head of Service and for them to respond as appropriate, as this would be a more appropriate use of Council time.
• A petition should be refused if the issue, to which it refers, has been debated by Council in the last six months – the reasons for refusing a petition does not include this. Currently a new petition can be refused if it is too similar to another petition submitted within the past six months, particularly where further action has been taken as a result of receiving the petition. The report noted that Motions to Council can be rejected if in the opinion of the Monitoring Officer and Chair they are substantially the same as a motion which has been put at a meeting of the Full Council in the past six months [paragraph 4.39.3 Section 4 of the Constitution]. Refusing a petition if the issue, to which it refers, has been debated by Council in the last six months would mirror the Constitution and will also ensure an appropriate use of Council time.
• No visual presentations should be made at a Council meeting when a petition is debated – the current scheme does not state this and so the information should be clarified.

The committee considered the issues and agreed to make a recommendation to Council.