Agenda and draft minutes

None.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13^th November 2025 were approved as an accurate record.

Proposed by County Councillor Strong.
Seconded by County Councillor Howells.

Watch the meeting here.

The Committee considered the Council’s first Annual Members’ Remuneration Report, which provides a comprehensive overview of payments made to elected members during the financial year, in accordance with determinations made by the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru.

The report detailed salaries, allowances and additional payments made under the Council’s approved Members’ Remuneration Scheme, confirming compliance with statutory guidance and the Independent Remuneration Panel.

Resolved:

That the report be noted

Watch the meeting here

The Committee received a report reviewing the effectiveness of the Planning Portal and MyMonmouthshire app, particularly in supporting members in their roles. The review was informed by member feedback.

Members generally agreed that the Planning Portal functions well and is reliable when accessed via council laptops. However, the following issues were raised:

• The map function does not always clearly link to applications.
• Limited status updates are provided during delays, particularly where applications are awaiting officer action.
• The portal provides insufficient information on progress between submission and decision.
• Some members highlighted digital exclusion among residents, particularly older residents without internet or email access.

Officers acknowledged the feedback and noted the need for continued consideration of accessibility and communication for digitally excluded residents.

Members raised a wide range of concerns regarding the usability, performance and functionality of the MyMonmouthshire app, including:

• The system appearing busy and overwhelming, with too much information presented at once.
• Reports occasionally crashing mid?submission, particularly when used on mobile devices or in areas with poor signal.
• Difficulty pinpointing locations on rural roads and open countryside, particularly for potholes and highways issues.
• Status updates such as “Under Review” or “Scheduled” remaining unchanged for extended periods.
• Limited reporting transparency once jobs are completed, with no clear description of completed actions.
• Duplication of reports due to the inability to see existing submissions in an area.
• Challenges with email authentication and verification codes where signal is poor.
• The application appearing dated and not particularly user?friendly.
• Concerns raised by residents regarding digital accessibility, cookie controls, and data handling.
• Frustration where issues are referred to external bodies but remain open in the system.

Members also suggested:

• Exploring integration with ‘What3Words’ to improve location accuracy.
• Improved dashboards or reporting views for submitted cases.
• Uploading photographs following completion of works, where feasible, to provide confirmation to residents.
• The possibility of incentivising community reporting to encourage good citizenship (noted as a suggestion only).

The Local Democracy Manager advised that:

• Most correctly submitted reports are being closed within appropriate timescales.
• Some reports remain open due to being logged under incorrect forms or forwarded to service areas not fully using the system.
• The system is compliant with WCAG 2.2 Level AA accessibility standards.
• Reporting and dashboard functionality is limited within the current system.
• There is willingness across services to improve feedback and updates, though system limitations exist.

It was proposed to collect further structured evidence of system issues and engaging the Digital Team to review improvements.

Agreed Actions:

1. Officers to circulate to Committee Members a summary of recent analysis on MyMonmouthshire usage, closures and service outcomes.
2. Further monitoring of reported technical issues to be undertaken to build an evidence base.
3. Consideration to be given to involving the Digital Team in a future meeting.
4. The Chair to consider whether wider scrutiny or resident feedback should be sought via the appropriate scrutiny committee.

Noted.