Members (x) - Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales
- Body
- Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales
- Appointing Department
- Welsh Government
- Sectors
- Charity & Public Sector, Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Regulation
- Location
- Meetings are virtual and held across Wales
- Number of Vacancies
- 3
- Remuneration
- £198 per full day, £99 per half day (Banding under review).
- Time Requirements
- 1-2 days per month
Campaign Timeline
-
Competition Launched
07/09/2021
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Closed for Applications
11/10/2021 at 16:00
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Panel Sift
25/10/2021
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Final Interview Date
03/12/2021
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Announcement
26/05/2022 at 12:00
Announcement
An announcement has been made on the outcome of this appointment.
The Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales keeps under review the electoral arrangements for the 22 principal councils, including the number of councillors and wards in each council area.
Dianne was born in Cumbria and she spent her childhood in the north of England. Moving to Cardiff in 1985, she has spent most of her life living in Wales, is married to a Welshman and has two grown up Welsh children.
She worked as a solicitor for 20 years in local government, mostly in South Wales. After ten years as a director with South Glamorgan and Cardiff Councils, where alongside her duties as the Council’s senior lawyer, she also acted as returning officer for many elections, she was appointed as the Deputy Clerk of the then National Assembly for Wales, later becoming the Assembly’s Chief Operating Officer. In this role she worked with elected representatives from all parties to support the Assembly’s legislative work and its scrutiny of the Welsh Government.
Since her retirement from full time employment in 2012, Dianne has demonstrated her keen interest in representative democracy and local services, working with organisations including the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Hansard Society, the UK Honours Committee and Taff Housing Association. As an Associate with Global Partners Governance, which helps to develop effective democracies across the world, Dianne was part of a project which provided advice and training for the Parliament and Governorates of Jordan.
Her spare time is divided between travel, walking, rugby (supporting Cardiff and Wales), the family allotment and helping to care for her two grandsons.
Finance and Local Government Minister Rebecca Evans said:
I am pleased Dianne is joining the Commission and I am sure she will make a valuable contribution to its work strengthening local democracy in Wales.
This appointment has been made in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments.
Dianne Bevan will be paid a daily fee of £198 per day with a time commitment of 1-2 days per month.
Vacancy Description
Members will:
- Develop the Policy and Practice and Council Size Methodology for the next Electoral Review Programme, reflecting learning from the previous programme and commissioning research on specific issues.
- Ensure there is wide ranging consultation with Welsh Government, Principal Councils, Community and Town Councils, and all other stakeholders as part of this.
- Assess a range of options for the numbers of councillors and the areas they represent, taking into account the complexities, and often contradictions, of the demography and infrastructure of the area under review and a wide range of opinions from consultation feedback.
- Act collectively in making draft and final decisions on individual electoral reviews.
- Work with principal councils to ensure community boundaries and electoral arrangements are regularly reviewed and coordinated with the programme of electoral reviews.
- Act collectively in making orders on individual community reviews.
- Be aware, at all times, of the risks, reputational and other, associated with the reviews and the potential consequences for the Commission, its members and Welsh Government.
Person Specification
Applicants must be able to demonstrate:-
- a reasonable knowledge and understanding of how local government operates in Wales;
- strong interpersonal and communication skills – be able to engage with a wide range of people on a one to one basis and collectively;
- the ability to exercise independent judgement – make decisions and explain how you have come to that decision;
- the ability to identify and formulate solutions using a methodical and analytical approach;
- the ability to evaluate a wide range of information, including geographical data, and formulate a reasoned conclusion;
- an understanding of the importance of effective corporate and financial management of an organisation;
- collective corporate responsibility and an understanding of risk.
- An understanding and commitment to equality issues and challenging discriminatory practices.
Welsh Language
Welsh language skills are desirable but not a pre-requisite for appointment. However, all candidates will be expected to display an empathy towards the language.
Additional Information
For further information regarding the selection process, please contact:
Public Appointments Team, Public Bodies Unit
Email: publicappointments@gov.wales
For information about the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales you may wish to visit the Commission’s web site: Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales or contact the Chief Executive of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales, Shereen Williams,
Telephone: 02921 052501,
email: shereen.williams@boundaries.wales.
For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments.
How to Apply
To apply for this role, click on the ‘Apply’ button on the Welsh Government online recruitment centre. The first time you apply for a post, you will need to complete a registration form for the Welsh Government’s online application system. You will only need to register once, and you will be able to keep yourself updated on the progress of your application, and any other applications you make, via your registered account.
Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to access the application form. To apply you will need to submit two supporting documents. The first, a document outlining how your knowledge, skills and experiences meet the criteria for the role as outlined in the information for candidates. This document should be no more than 2 sides of A4. Your application may be rejected if you exceed this limit. The second document is a full, up to date CV. The two documents should be uploaded to the ‘Reasons for applying’ section of the online application form.
In your application, you will also be asked to provide details of any activities which have helped you to develop skills that would be useful in a public appointment role, and list the organisations for which you undertook these activities. We also need to know about any political activity that you’ve undertaken over the last 5 years.
It is recommended that you register for an account and access the application form as soon as possible so that you see how the application form is structured, before starting to prepare your evidence. You don’t have to complete the application form all in one go. You can save your responses, and log in and out as required, until you’re ready to submit – just follow the guidance in the application form.
If you’d like to apply for this opportunity in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.
If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Public Appointments Team on: PublicAppointments@gov.wales.