Agenda and minutes
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Media
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Apologies for absence
Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor David Bellamy, Councillor Breda Griffin and Councillor Susan Sandall.
Councillor David Bellamy was substituted by Councillor Mary Whittington. Councillor Susan Sandall was substituted by Councillor Ray Wootten.
The AllianceSK vacancy was taken by Councillor Ashley Baxter. |
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Disclosure of interests
Members are asked to disclose any interests in matters for consideration at the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: None disclosed. |
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Minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2022
Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes for the meeting held on 5 December 2022 were proposed, seconded and AGREED. |
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Updates on Actions from the previous meeting
Additional documents: Minutes: The action from the previous meeting was an item on the agenda for discussion. |
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Amendments to the Constitution
To consider a number of proposed amendments to the Council’s Constitution. Additional documents: Minutes:
Recommendation 1
The first recommendation within the report followed a recommendation from the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny who had reviewed the Council’s overview and scrutiny function. The review identified risks in respect of the submission of amendments to the budget or the submission of alternative budgets. The late notice of such submissions could mean that the Chief Finance Officer and his team had insufficient time to consider if the submissions were financially sound or represented a balanced budget which was a statutory requirement of the Council’s Section 151 Officer.
It was proposed that a new paragraph was introduced under the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules in Part 4 of the Constitution:
“Any amendments to Cabinet’s proposals, of the submission of an alternative budget, must be considered by the Chief Finance Officer five working days prior to the day of the budget meeting of Full Council to ensure that proposals are financially sound and represent a balanced budget. By exception, amendments considered as minor which the Chief Finance Officer deems as financially sound and representing a balanced budget may still be proposed.”
It was questioned as to who decided whether an amendment was major or minor, what was the definition of minor. It was stated that the Section 151 Officer would make the decision over whether an amendment was major or minor but it would be looked at in relation to the context of the budget heading being discussed. It was stated that any changes to budget proposals needed to submitted on time and circulated to Members so that they had enough time to look at them including any proposed opposition budget. This was echoed by the Chairman who stated that he would write to the Section 151 Officer to make this point.
Ø Action
That the Chairman of the Constitution Committee write to the Section 151 Officer stating that any changes to the proposed budget or the submission of any opposition budget should be circulated to all Members to allow time for them to look at the content in the context of the budget framework.
Most Members were in agreement with the proposed paragraph inclusion, although one Member stated that this had not been a problem in the past. The proposed recommendation was seconded and on being put to the vote AGREED.
Recommendation 1 That the Constitution Committee recommends to Council that the following new paragraph be included under the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules in Part 4 of the Constitution regarding proposed amendments to the budget or proposed alternative budgets:
Any amendments to Cabinet’s proposals, or the submission of an alternative budget, must be considered by the Chief Finance Officer five working days prior to the day of the budget meeting of Full Council to ensure that proposals are financially sound and represent a ... view the full minutes text for item 28. |
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Committee Report Template
Verbal update to be given. Additional documents: Minutes: The Assistant Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer referred to the last meeting of the Committee where the new report template had been discussed. The removal of the sign off journey of the report had raised concern with some Members; however, it was felt that removing the sign off from the published report did not detract in any way from Members making a decision on the content of the reports before them. The report sign off was an internal administrative process and not mandatory. It was for report authors to be accountable for the report that they had written.
A short discussion followed and examples given where one Member felt that the information on report sign offs had been useful. Comments were also made about who reports were in the name of, was it the Cabinet Member or a Director or an Officer. It was stated that it depended upon the journey of the report as to whose name it was in and examples of difference scenarios were given. In all cases the first contact should be with the report author as they should ensure that the content of the report was accurate.
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Any other business which the Chairman, by reasons of special circumstances, decides is urgent
Additional documents: Minutes: The Assistant Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer informed the Committee that a report would be going to the Council meeting on 1 March 2023 regarding the appointment of Deputy Electoral Registration Officers. This was in response to the Elections Act 2022 whereby it was deemed good practice for the Council to appoint deputy Electoral Registration Officers. These appointments needed to be made at Full Council and there had not been sufficient time to bring this matter before the Constitution Committee ahead of the meeting of Full Council.
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Close of meeting
Additional documents: Minutes: Before the Chairman closed the meeting and as it may be the last meeting of the Constitution Committee, the Chairman placed on record his thanks to Members and Officers who had contributed to the Constitution Committee meetings. He also paid thanks to the Assistant Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer for the work that he had done on the review of the Constitution. The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing echoed the comments made by the Chairman in thanking Members and Officers for their contributions over the years to the Constitution Committee meetings.
The meeting closed at 12:43pm. |