Format change of Minutes of meetings


The Monitoring Officer’s misleading statement

There must have been a change in the legislation on recording minutes of meetings

Pleased to note the new format of the minutes, which is now recording the answers to the questions raised and also the persons providing the answers.

Well done to the Democratic Services Department.

What the Monitoring Officer has said

…….we have an agreed policy as to how we record in accordance with what the requirements of legislation are for the minute and that is for there to be a record of the actions that were agreed at the meeting and that is what we record.

……we have an agreed policy as to how we record in accordance with what the requirements of legislation are and that is for there to be a record of the actions that were agreed at the meeting and that is what we record.

The reasons why minutes of committee meetings are approved by Full Council

…..The reason why the minutes are approved at this meeting is because that is the way they get entered into the Council’s formal records.

So, it’s not approval on the basis of the people who were present at the meeting approving the minutes it’s a way of ensuring that they are entered into the Council’s formal record so we then comply with the Council’s Constitution which allows us to record actions and decisions made at formal meetings within the Council agenda so that’s the reason why it’s done like that.

If you want to have a discussion separately with me, we can certainly do that.

But that’s not something we can change during this meeting.

Load of nonsense

The Monitoring Officer makes up her own rules and legislation.

More relevant posts

There has to be a way for matters related to the approval of minutes of committee meetings to be discussed at Full Council meetings

Full Council meeting 5th February 2025 and the FARCE of the approval of the minutes of previous meetings continues even further.




It would appear that the Monitoring Officer and the Democratic Services Department will go to any lengths to ensure that no Council Meeting will ever see the Audit Wales Report on the Review of Whistleblowing Arrangements related to Safeguarding at Merthyr Council by not including reference to it on agendas and minutes of meetings.


Screenshot 1 Clarifications Post-Meeting are included in the list at the top of the page Hyperlink to above https://democracy.merthyr.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=159&MId=6549&Ver=4&LLL=0 Screenshot 2 Additional item added to previously published Agenda, but not actually included on the printed frontsheet of the Agenda. Screenshot 3 The Monitoring Officer’s response. You will not find this in the printed draft minutes…

Keep reading

The Monitoring Officer played a blinder


To play a blinder meaning: It implies a performance so impressive it seems “blindingly” good, often with an element of surprise or disbelief. With the emphasis on DISBELIEF. What Councillor Thomas actually said. At the meeting of the Full Council on 3rd December, when it came to Agenda item No.3 to approve the minutes of…

Keep reading

Can you believe it?


This letter of apology was issued by Gareth Chapman, CEO, to Chris Jones, Senior HR Officer, at Merthyr Council, in April 2014. The apology letter was issued following a period of 18 months of suspension from work from July 2012 to January 2014. This is the unbelievable bit Not one person was ever made accountable…

Keep reading

Agenda and Draft Minutes and Decisions Record for the RCT COUNCIL meeting of the Standards Committee held on Monday, 12th May, 2025. Compare and Contrast with Merthyr Council’s meeting of the Standards Committee held on 25th July 2025.


RCT COUNCIL Hyperlink to Agenda and Reports Pack https://rctcbc.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=181&MId=50005488&Ver=4&LLL=0 Agenda Frontsheet Printed Decisions Record Draft Minutes Merthyr Council’s Standards Committee Meeting 25th July 2025 https://merthyrcouncilcoverupblog.home.blog/2025/08/03/draft-minutes-and-video-stream-of-the-standards-committee-meeting-held-on-25th-july-2025/ Compare and Contrast

Keep reading

The FARCE is over, its time to call it a day. A change is gonna come. It is time to make the necessary changes to the Carys Kennedy/Simon Jones CONstitution.


Minutes Not Fit For Purpose My first post related to THE MINUTES of Merthyr Council meetings was first published in October 2019. (See below): https://merthyrcouncilcoverupblog.home.blog/2019/10/08/merthyr-council-minutes/ Audio file This audio file is a record of Carys Kennedy, Monitoring Officer, misleading the members with her absurd explanation why draft minutes are confirmed by the Full Council and…

Keep reading

Agenda for Standards on Friday, 25th July, 2025, 2.00 pm


Hyperlink to Agenda and Reports Pack https://democracy.merthyr.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=6507 Agenda Frontsheet https://merthyrcouncilcoverupblog.home.blog/2025/04/22/draft-minutes-for-meeting-of-the-standards-committee-held-on-on-friday-4th-april-2025-2-00-pm/ Minutes of previous meeting Officers in attendance Observation 1 The draft minutes are always put to the Full Council for approval. Merthyr Council is the only Council in Wales that does not allow the committees to approve the minutes of their own meetings. Observation 2…

Keep reading

Draft Minutes and Video Stream of the meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee on Monday, 14th July, 2025, 2.00 pm


Hyperlink to Video Stream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5loHm6lI7Lc Extract related to approving draft minutes Hyperlink to Draft Minutes https://democracy.merthyr.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=6596 Officers in attendance Observation 1 The agenda item related to the draft minutes stated: Minutes of Previous Meeting for Information Observation 2 The Draft Minutes stated: The minutes of the meeting on 12th May 2025 were noted. Observation 3…

Keep reading

The Farce of the Approval of Minutes of all Council Meetings by the Full Council Continues – Perhaps for not much longer.


This is a reblog of a post published in February 2025. Transcript of section of meeting of  Full Council regarding the conversation between the Monitoring Officer and Councillor Andrew Barry Why would the Monitoring Officer want to exclude any part of this conversation from the minutes Transcript taken from YouTube video stream 34:06 Andrew Barry:…

Keep reading

An Independent AI Analysis of Merthyr Council’s recent difficulties related to recording meetings and writing minutes.


Independent AI Analysis Conclusion The transparency issues at Merthyr Council, as highlighted by Geoff Jones, stem from a combination of technical errors, outdated governance practices, and a reliance on legal minimums rather than best practices for public accountability. While the council has taken steps to address specific incidents (e.g., correcting the March 5 video upload),…

Keep reading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Leave a comment