Venue: Exe Room, Phoenix House
Contact: Julia Stuckey
Link: audio recording
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES AND SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS To receive any apologies for absence and notices of appointment of Substitute Members (if any). Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors R J Chesterton, Mrs L J Holloway and Mrs M E Squires who was substituted by Councillor N V Davey. |
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PUBLIC QUESTION TIME To receive any questions relating to items on the Agenda from members of the public and replies thereto.
Note: A maximum of 30 minutes is allowed for this item. Minutes: There were no members of the public in attendance. |
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MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING PDF 134 KB To approve as a correct record the minutes of the last meeting of this Committee (attached).
Minutes: The Minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee were approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman. |
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CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS To receive any announcements the Chairman of the Committee may wish to make. Minutes: The Chairman had no announcements to make. |
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CONSTITUTION WORKING GROUP PDF 131 KB To receive updates to the revisions of the Constitution from the Constitution Working Group. Minutes: The Committee had before it information* from the Constitution Working Group regarding Member Job Roles.
The Group had compiled the information for inclusion in the Constitution and it was before the Standards Committee for comment prior to inclusion in the full draft Constitution.
The Committee worked through the document page by page. The roles included Councillor Job Role, Community Leader, Decision Maker and Influencer, Day to Day Councillor, Chairman of Non-Regulatory Committees, Chairman of Regulatory Committees, Chairman of the Council, Leader of the Council, Deputy Leader, Cabinet Member, Scrutiny Committee Chairman and Scrutiny Committee Member.
Discussion took place regarding:
· There was no reference to the Chairman’s role in agreeing Motions. It was agreed that this should be added and also that this was in consultation with the Leader. · The job roles stated what Members should do but did not mention their rights. A section to be added listing the rights of Councillors, i.e. the right to submit a motion or to call in a decision. · Scrutiny Committee Members should be encouraged to obtain the necessary skills to contribute to the work of the Committee.
It was AGREED that the Job Roles be brought back to the next meeting of this Committee with the inclusion of the above amendments.
Note: - *Information previously circulated and attached to Minutes. |
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COMPLAINTS (00:10:08) To receive an update from the Monitoring Officer with regard to any on-going complaints being dealt with. During the discussion it may be necessary to consider passing the following resolution to protect the Members of Town and Parish Council’s being discussed.
During discussion of this item it may be necessary to pass the following resolution to exclude the press and public having reflected on Article 12 12.02(d) (a presumption in favour of openness) of the Constitution. This decision may be required because consideration of this matter in public may disclose information falling within one of the descriptions of exempt information in Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. The Committee will need to decide whether, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption, outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT – EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC
RECOMMENDED that under section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the next item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, namely information relating to an individual
Minutes: The Head of Communities and Governance and Monitoring Officer updated the Committee on complaints that had been received during 2015.
There had been one complaint reported regarding a District Councillor and there had been 10 complaints regarding one Parish Council. All 10 complaints had been from one complainant. The Monitoring Officer had written asking for further clarification from the complainant and if no information was forthcoming the complaints would be closed.
One complaint had been outstanding from 2014 as it had been appealed. The decision of the Monitoring Officer had now been upheld by the Deputy Monitoring Officer and the complaint closed.
Following a Sub Committee meeting in January a letter had been drafted to the appropriate Town/Parish Council. Changes had been put in place and it was hoped that the situation would be resolved.
As there had not been any discussion during this agenda item which would identify an individual Town or Parish Councillor, it had not been necessary for the meeting to go into Part II. |
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IDENTIFICATION OF ITEMS FOR THE NEXT MEETING Members are asked to note that the following items are already identified in the work programme for the next meeting:
Constitution Working Group Updates Minutes: Constitution Working Group Updates |