Council rule restricting councillor contact with MSs and MPs raised in Senedd
Flintshire County Council has told its own elected councillors they must not contact Members of the Senedd or MPs directly without permission from the chief executive.
The protocol was raised in the Senedd last week by Sam Rowlands MS, Welsh Conservative MS for Fflint Wrecsam.
Mr Rowlands told the Siambr on Tuesday he had received a four page protocol from the council setting out how it expects contact with MSs, MPs and their staff to be handled.
“There’s quite a worrying line within this that says that MSs and MPs are asked not to liaise directly with councillors, and the council has asked that its councillors must not engage directly with MSs or MPs outside this process, unless expressly authorised by the chief executive,” he said.
“I would find that wholly inappropriate that elected councillors have to get the permission of a chief executive to speak to other elected members,” Mr Rowlands said.
He asked the Welsh Government to set out its position on the protocol.
Heledd Fychan, Trefnydd, Chief Whip and Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport, responding on behalf of the Welsh Government, said she had not previously been aware of the protocol.
“I was unaware of this matter, and I think it’s really important that we gain an understanding of what led to this approach,” she said.
Ms Fychan said her own experience as a former councillor and current MS had not involved needing a chief executive’s sign off to speak with colleagues in local government.
“I’ve benefited as a Member of the Senedd from working cross-party with councillors without having to approach a chief executive in the past, and, as a councillor in the past, I took that approach too. It’s about putting your constituents first and being able to work together and set aside political differences,” she said.
She said she shared Mr Rowlands’s concern and would raise the matter with the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, but stopped short of committing the Welsh Government to any formal intervention or review.
“It is, obviously, a matter for the local authority to answer, but I will also make the Cabinet Minister for local government aware. I’m sure the fact that it has been raised here will encourage Members representing the area of Flintshire council to perhaps have that constructive dialogue with the chief executive,” she said.
Gareth Owens, Chief Officer for Governance at Flintshire County Council, said the number of elected representatives contacting the council on behalf of constituents had increased.
“We now have 12 MSs all based in the locality they represent. The possibilities for multiple contacts to different points of contact on an issue have therefore markedly increased,” he said.
“Replies to our MPs and MSs need to be of high quality to reflect the importance of their role and status. If MPs and MSs use different channels to communicate, we have no visibility of their communications or the replies, and could have multiple people working on the same issue, who all need to be co-ordinated and monitored,” Mr Owens said.
“We have therefore provided a nominated point of contact to ensure efficient, timely communication.”
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