Elected Members Annual Reports 

Section 5(i) of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 contains a requirement for Local Authorities to make provision, from April 2012, for each Member to make an Annual Report on their activities and for the publication by Members of such reports.  A local authority must also publicise what arrangements it had for publishing annual reports as per Section 5(3) of the same Measure.

Welsh Government identified that Annual Reports would help improve local people's understanding of what their local councillor did and the important role they served.  The use of Annual Reports will enable Members to highlight how they undertake their elected role(s) and professional development as well as how they represent and serve their communities.

Whilst the Measure requires the Council to make this facility available to Members, there is no obligation on individuals to produce an Annual Report.  It is also acknowledged that whilst Annual Reports can be regarded as a means of improving communication between Elected Members and the public, they are only one method of communication open to, and used by, Members.

Further information on the Elected Member Annual Report process can be found in the Statutory Guidance from the Local Government Measure 2011 - Section 5 Annual Reports - May 2013

• What are the duties placed on a Local Authority?

  A Local Authority must make the arrangements enabling its Members to produce Annual Reports. This means it must tell its Members how and by when to do this.

   

  The Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011, at Section 8 et seq, provides for a Head of Democratic Services (HDS) to carry out democratic services functions as defined in Section 9. This includes the provision of support and advice to Members to assist them in the carrying out of their functions and organisation of the Annual Report process would fall within this.

   

  The Measure prevents the HDS from providing support and advice to a member of an executive in relation to the carrying out of that member’s executive functions, but production of an annual report, even if it made reference to the member’s executive activities, is not an executive function in itself.

• What are the arrangements for publication? 

  Democratic Services will provide the report template as a word document to each Elected Member at the end of April each year. The report template will also be available to Members all year round via the Council’s internal intranet (MemberNet). This will then enable Elected Members to complete their initial draft of their report for the period from 1 May of the previous year until 30 April of the current year.

   

  Initial Drafts will be requested to be returned to Democratic Services by 31 May. One of the most important aspects of the template is that Councillors are encouraged to provide as much or as little information within the 500 word limit. Staying within the word count limit will provide some consistency and maintain the focus on the key issues of the Member’s report. It will also enable the translation costs necessary when publishing these reports to be managed.

   

  Reminders will be provided by Democratic Services to return completed initial draft reports. It will be assumed that any Elected Member not returning their report by the 31 May will not be completing an annual report for the period.

   

  Democratic Services will review the report and finalise any formatting before returning it to the Elected Member for approval. A copy of the finalised Annual Reports may be reviewed by the Group Leaders (if required).

   

  The approved reports will be translated and both documents will be linked from the ‘Councillor Search’ page on the Vale of Glamorgan Council website by 1 September each year.

View Elected Members' Annual Reports