BLAENAU Gwent Council is to scrap the civic position of chairman or woman, and will instead bring in the equivalent of Westminster’s ‘speaker’.

At the authority’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday, May 26, councillors will be told of wide-ranging changes to how council business will be conducted from now on.

The number of scrutiny committees will be cut from nine to four’ and the role of chairman or woman will be replaced by a ‘presiding member’.

The suggested salary for a council presiding officer according to the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales, is £25,593.

Cllr Julie Holt was elected to the role of council chairwoman last year, with ehr term to come to an end at the AGM.

The Senedd has a presiding officer, Elin Jones, who chairs meetings and is seen as a figurehead for the institution, the role is the equivalent of Westminster’s speaker Sir Lindsey Hoyle.

In her report Gemma Wasley, the council’s service manager performance and democratic, explains the changes.

Ms Wasley said:  “As a result of the reduction in elected members from 42 to 33, we have undertaken comprehensive research exercise to consider where the democratic function of the council could be strengthened and modernised.

“From the research a number of findings and proposals have been put forward for consideration.

“A number of new approaches have been identified for implementation for the 2022 council cycle.”

The presiding member will be responsibile for the following areas:

  • Chair council meetings;
  • Maintain order and to protect the rights of councillors including ensuring that council business is managed on the basis of equality and impartiality;
  • Promote democratic engagement and leadership;
  • Act as the ambassador by attending events in order to publicise and raise the profile of the council.

At the meeting on Thursday, councillors are expected to elect a presiding officer and a deputy.

Ms Wasley goes on to explain that the council is set to change the number and remits of its scrutiny committees, which look at the work and decisions taken by council.

The report says nine councillors will sit on scrutiny committees, except for the planning, regulatory and general licensing committee, which will have 11.

The posts of chairman and vice-chairman and members of these committees will be also finalised at the annual meeting.

The new scrutiny committees are:

  • People scrutiny committee – the remit of this committee is social services, education, and safeguarding;
  • Place scrutiny committee – the remit of this committee is regeneration, community services, decarbonisation/climate change and community safety;
  • Partnership scrutiny committee – the remit of this committee is public service board, Cardiff capital region city deal, education achievement service, regional partnership board, tech valleys, shared resource service and Aneurin Leisure Trust;
  • Corporate and Performance scrutiny committee – the remit of this committee is corporate overview, performance and finance.