A GWYNEDD Council committee has discussed ways to attract more women to local politics and the possibility of county councillors serving for a set number of terms.

Earlier this week, the local authority’s Democratic Services Committee met to discuss how to promote the role of young people, women, and disabled people in local politics.

Gwynedd councillor Catrin Wager gave a report after attending a Women in Democracy conference as a member of the committee.

The topics at the seminar were based on the findings of the Fawcett Society which published a detailed report in July 2017 - Does Local Government work for Women?

The report proposes a number of recommendations to encourage more women to stand as candidates in local government elections, and presents recommendations on how to improve circumstances within local government, focusing on ensuring that procedures are fair to women.

Amongst the recommendations were women undertaking leadership roles in government; specific policies to support elected members, such as maternity leave; contacting women who are active in their communities to encourage them to stand at local government elections; and maximum four-term role for members.

Had the maximum four-term rule been introduced in prior years, certain stalwart councillors across Dwyfor and Meirionydd would have lost their titles.

The committee has now considered the messages Cllr Catrin Wager presented and is looking to identify the way forward with the work of promoting democracy in local government.