Agenda and minutes

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.

There were no members of the public in attendance.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the last meeting of this Committee (attached).

The minutes of the last meeting of the Committee were approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any announcements the Chairman of the Committee may wish to make.

The Chairman had no announcements to make.

To receive any apologies for absence and notices of appointment of Substitute Members (if any).

There were no apologies.

To consider the new draft Constitution for recommendation to Council.

The Committee had before it a report * from the Head of Communities and Governance and the updated Constitution for their consideration.

The Officer reminded the Committee that a Members working group had been set up and had worked to draft a revised Constitution.  One of the areas that the working group had focused on was to make the Constitution more accessible and to improve the layout. The Committee had already reviewed the draft document at a previous meeting and agreed the changes that had been made.

The Officer explained that page numbering had not yet been entered into the index as the numbering would alter when the tracked changes were accepted.  This would take place when all of the agreed changes had been made.

The Officer worked through the changes that had been made at the request of the Committee.

Discussion took place regarding the allocation of work to the Policy Development Groups (PDG’s). There were currently three PDG’s but the Corporate Plan contained four priorities, Environment, Housing, Community Well Being and Economy.  The Committee discussed whether or not it would be appropriate to add another PDG to cover the economy or whether this could be absorbed by an existing PDG.

It was AGREED that the Head of Communities and Governance would prepare a further report for the Committee, outlining what came under each PDG and how it fitted with the Corporate Plan objectives, as well as recommendations regarding how many members should sit on each PDG and how often it should meet.

The Officer explained that she had undertaken research regarding what information other authorities used in their Constitutions to identify what constituted a key decision.  She explained that most specified a figure that was ‘significant’ and it was AGREED that this amount should be £50k.

It was AGREED that the wording bi-monthly led to confusion and should be replaced by ‘every two months’.

Discussion took place regarding sections 8 and 9 on page 92 regarding the process of decision making, and whether the section added any value.  It was AGREED that this section should be removed.

The Officer informed Members that sections regarding Councillor Call for Action, the Scrutiny of Crime and Disorder Matters and Reports and Recommendations for Calls for Action, had been added to the document.

Discussion took place regarding the Call for Action and whether or not Members could request that an agenda item be added to the County Council Scrutiny agenda as well as to their own.  It was AGREED that the Monitoring Officer would investigate this and report back to the Committee.

Page 136 contained information in table format which was considered unclear and difficult to read.  It was AGREED that this be added as an appendix and text be added to the section.

The Committee discussed the matter of standing to speak at Council.  The Officer informed them that she had spoken to the Facilities Manager who had confirmed that the new recording equipment was designed to be used from a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

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 District, 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

There were no formal complaints reported.

Members are asked to note that the following items are already identified in the work programme for the next meeting:

Complaints

Policy Development Group Review

Review of the microphones