TRUST in politicians needs to be rebuilt, a member of Blaenau Gwent’s Standards Committee has said.

On, Tuesday, July 19, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Standards Committee discussed how it would implement a section of the Local Government Wales Act 2021.

The relevant part will require group leaders at councils all over Wales to take more responsibility for the actions and behaviour of their colleagues.

Section 62 of the act states a leader of a political group “must take reasonable steps to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by the members of the group and must co-operate with the council’s standards committee (and any sub-committee of the committee) in the exercise of the standards committee’s functions.”

Speaking at a meeting of the Standards Committee, which is made up of lay members and councillors, the council’s head of legal and corporate compliance Andrea Jones said members have “a duty to assess whether those leaders” have done their job properly.

This would then form part of an annual report published in April.

Ms Jones said: “It has been suggested being made about discussions and dialogue between the standards committee and those leaders is that we have a meeting at  least twice a year.

“Discussions would  be on steps being taken and things that are being done.”

Blaenau Gwent Council has currently two group leaders: Cllr Steve Thomas is Labour group and council leader while Cllr Joanna Wilkins is the independent group leader.

Part of a leader’s responsibility, according to Ms Jones, is to make sure that councillors in their groups attend the relevant training.

“Civility and respect” and “high standards of conduct and integrity” need to be promoted by group leaders explained Ms Jones

Lay member Roy Lynch said: “Unfortunately there’s general mistrust in politicians.

“People you speak to say politicians are only in it for themselves, which is largely not true.”

But recent issues such as partygate in Westminster had not helped that perception.

Mr Lynch produced his own list of priorities to rebuild trust.

He wanted to see more in-depth work done on checking councillors declarations of interest.

Mr Lynch also wanted to see review of “local resolutions” of problems with councillors included in an annual report which would show “group leaders have been doing their job,”

Mr Lynch said: “This is about establishing process of reviews to rebuild trust in politicians.”

Ms Jones explained the committee would need to stick within its legal remit and concentrate on councillor’s conduct.

Ms Jones said: “On declarations of interest it’s the members responsibility to let the monitoring officer and the chief executive know if there has been a change.

“At a start of a meeting or a conversation with someone and they have an interest in the topic under discussion, there is a duty to declare that interest to the meeting or person.”

She added that it was the monitoring officer’s job to ensure councillors are “doing that effectively.”

Committee chairman, Ronald Alexander said: “I would very much welcome the opportunity of meeting the two group leaders.”

He believed that the meeting should take place in October as this would allow both Cllrs Thomas and Wilkins time to establish a rapport with their groups and the new intake from the May council election.

The committee agreed this.