Agenda item

The Chairman of the Constitution Committee to submit the recommendations of the committee from:

 

(a)  the meeting held on 27 April 2009; and                               (Enclosure)

(b)  the meeting held on 11 June 2009.                                      (To follow)

 

 

DECISION:

 

1. To make the following amendments to Delegated Authority at Part 3 of the Constitution to include:

 

Housing

 

1. to authorize grants under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 as implemented under the Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) (England and Wales) Order 2002 with the exception of discretionary Disabled Facilities Grants

to include an additional delegation to the Corporate Governance and Housing Portfolio Holder:

 

Discretionary Disabled Facilities Grants

 

2. That the Council’s Constitution be amended to take account of the new Councillor Call for Action (CCfA) process. The Constitution to be amended to include at page 189 after Call in a new item 12a

 

12a. Councillor Call for Action (CCfA)

     

1.     Any member of the Council can refer to the  Scrutiny Committee,  any ‘local government matter’ which is relevant to the functions of that committee. 

                 

                                                       i.     local government matter” means -  any matter relating to the functions of the authority which affect the member’s area or any individual who lives or works in that area which is not an excluded matter”

 

2.     If a member wishes to refer a Councillor Call for Action to the Scrutiny Committee they must complete the approved Councillor Call for Action pro-forma and submit this to the Scrutiny Officer.

 

3.     The Scrutiny Officer in conjunction with the Chair of the Scrutiny Committee will assess whether the Councillor has completed the necessary checklist and if so will place the request on the agenda for the next meeting.  Where approval for inclusion on the agenda is unlikely because the criteria have not been met, the Chairman will liaise with the Member raising the Call for Action.  If there is disagreement the Call for Action will not be submitted to committee for determination.

 

4.     Prior to considering the request Members of the Scrutiny Committee will first confirm that the call for action is valid and meets the criteria in the checklist. 

 

5.     The member raising the call for action will then be asked to present in person the issue before the committee.  Should the member be unable to attend then they may request another councillor from their ward to present on their behalf.  If no ward councillor is able to be present the committee will defer the item to a future meeting.  The presentation should include an indication of what they would see as a satisfactory resolution

 

6.     Members will then consider the call for action and agree what they will do to resolve the issue.  This may include calling witnesses (including portfolio holders, officers or external representatives). In making any recommendations for a solution on the matter before them, regard should be had to the resource implications for the Council.

 

7.     Having considered and resolved the call for action as agreed the Committee will report the outcome to the member raising the call for action.

 

8.     The matter should not be being separately considered by another local authority.

 

Insert into Constitution under Terms of Reference, Scrutiny Committee new point (v) on page 44.

 

(v)            To consider Councillor Calls for Action.

 

3. To refer Members’ Job Descriptions to the Scrutiny Committee

 

4.  To make the following amendment to the Development Control Committee Delegation, (shown underlined) at page 79:

 

(Please note that as well as the amendment at a), points b) - f) have been reproduced for clarity)

 

The Development Control Committee shall only have delegated power to refuse an application against the clearly expressed advice from Development control Services Manager if it has acted in accordance with the following:

 

a)       If any such motion is put and seconded, the members so proposing and seconding the motion shall express the necessary planning reason for the motion at the meeting for consideration of the matter.  If no such reasons are provided or the Development Control Lead Professional considers that the reasons given are not valid planning reasons or cannot be supported by evidence then the rules detailed below at clause 2(b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) shall prevail.

 

b)       If any such motion is put and seconded, the Chairman or Vice-Chairman shall before any vote is taken, inform the Committee and the public of these provisions.

 

c)       On first consideration the Committee is not empowered to determine the application against the officer recommendation.  If the Committee is minded to do this it must pass a resolution stating that on the basis of the consideration to date it is minded to refuse and therefore requires to defer a decision pending the receipt and consideration of further information clarifying the proposed reasons for refusal and the planning officers’ responses to those reasons.

 

d)       This vote must be recorded and all members who support it must within the next five working days provide to the Development Control Services Manager, the planning reasons for their view and the evidences that supports it.

 

e)       The application shall be placed on the agenda for consideration at the next Development Control Committee.  At this meeting the Development Control Committee shall have the power to determine the application, but, before doing so the Development Control Lead Professional (Services Manager), having assessed the information provided to him, shall inform the Committee whether, in his opinion, the reasons advanced are substantial enough for the authority to defend the decision at an inquiry.  In light of this additional information members may then determine, without being fettered by their vote at the previous meeting.

 

f)        The second vote must also be recorded and any member who votes to refuse the application in contravention of the officer recommendation must be willing to appear for the authority and give evidence regarding the reasons for their decision at any planning inquiry.

 

5.  The Constitution Committee recommends to Council the following amendments to Local Choice Functions (page 87-89) in the Constitution:

 

17.     The approval of key human resources and organisational development strategies and polices that have significant financial implications e.g. remuneration/pay, pensions, redundancy.

 

·     Decision Making Body – Cabinet

·     Delegation of function – The member with responsibility for human resources and organisational Development.

 

18.   The approval of operational human resources and organisational development policies, working procedures, protocols.

 

·     Decision Making Body – The Head of Paid Service and their management team

·     Delegation of function – a list of powers delegated to the Chief Executive is to be found on page 90 of this Constitution

 

 

& pages 175/176 under Consultation at 2.4 to include on the list

 

·     Key human resources and organisational development strategies and polices that have significant financial implications

 

 

The list of powers delegated to officers on page 90 to be updated in respect of the responsibilities of the Chief Executive

 

1. All functions as Head of Paid Service, including the approval of operational human resources and organisational development policies, working procedures, protocols.  The Head of Paid Service may delegate such approvals to the management team.

 

 

 

and the responsibilities of the Corporate Head of Finance and Customer Services (Chief Finance Officer)(S151 Officer) to include:

 

5. To make the appropriate financial arrangements and/or payments to mitigate risk, including litigation or risk management situations, taking such action as may be required for each situation/case based on appropriate professional opinion and advice.

 

The minutes of the meeting of the Constitution Committee of 27 April 2009 and 18 June 2009 were presented to Council by the Chairman of the Constitution Committee. It was agreed that the Council would discuss and vote on each recommendation from the Constitution Committee separately.

 

Decision number 1 relating to changes to the Scheme of Delegation was moved and seconded. On being put to the vote the motion was duly carried.

 

Decision number 2 relating to Councillor Calls for Action was moved and seconded. On being put to the vote the motion was duly carried.

 

Decision number 3 relating to Members’ Job Descriptions was moved and seconded. It was reported that the descriptions had been before the Policy Development Groups in order to seek the opinion of as many Members as possible. Members questioned where the need for job descriptions had come from. They had initially come from the priorities previously approved by Council and a set of tasks agreed by the Cabinet. A number of Members spoke to state that they did not see the point of Members’ job descriptions and that this had been the prevailing mood at the various Policy Development Group meetings, although it was noted that the descriptions did set out responsibilities that could be used as a basis for criticizing Councillors who were under performing and also to provide the general public with knowledge of the responsibilities of the various roles within the Council were. Members noted that it was the electorate who provided their mandate and assessed if they had the right attributes to undertake the role of Councillor. The Monitoring Officer stated that Members’ Job Descriptions had come before the Council as it was part of the action plan for the code of good governance.

 

An amendment was moved and seconded to scrap Members’ Job Descriptions in their entirety. On being put to the vote the motion was duly carried as a result of the Chairman’s casting vote. The amendment now became the substantive motion. On being put to the vote the motion was defeated.

 

The Council then returned to the original motion to refer Members’ Job Descriptions to the Scrutiny Committee. On being put to the vote the motion was duly carried.

 

Decision number 4 relating to the Development Control Committee was moved and seconded. It was clarified by the Monitoring Officer that the amendment removed the reference to a trial period and formalized the arrangements that were in place at the time. Some Members expressed concern that the arrangements placed too much control in the hands of officers rather than the elected Members of the Development Control Committee. Members of the Development Control Committee confirmed that they were in favour of the arrangements and confirmed that they were responsible for making the decisions, not an officer. Members of the Committee were of the opinion that the system was the most appropriate at the present time. On being put to the vote the motion was duly carried.

 

Decision number 5 relating to Local Choice Functions was moved and seconded. On being put to the vote the motion was duly carried.