The Committee to receive updates from the Constitution Working Group.
To follow.
Minutes:
The Committee had before it information* from the Constitution Working Group regarding Councillor Job Roles and the Responsibility for Functions.
The Group had compiled the information for inclusion in the Constitution and it was before the Standards Committee for comment prior to its inclusion in the full draft Constitution.
As Members walked through the documents the following issues were raised:
Councillor Job Roles
Chairman of Regulatory Committees:
· 8th bullet point – remove ‘Executive Director’ and replace with ‘Head of Service and relevant Cabinet Member’.
Chairman of the Council
· 4th bullet point remove ‘Leader’ and replace with ‘Vice Chairman’
· 5th bullet point remove (along with the Leader)
Leader of the Council
· 11th bullet point remove ‘other’ prior to ‘political groups’.
· Delete the final 2 bullet points
Cabinet Member
· 1st bullet point – in final line remove ‘with’ and replace with ‘within’.
· 6th bullet point – remove ‘give’ and replace with ‘provide’.
Scrutiny Committee Chairman
· 6th bullet point – remove ‘constructive’ and replace with ‘working’, adding ‘the’ before ‘Cabinet’ and deleting ‘especially with relevant Cabinet Members’
Responsibility for Functions
Discussion took place regarding:
· The number of seats on each Committee/Group identified in the Council’s Committee Structure. It was suggested that the number of seats on the PDG’s be raised from 7 to 9; the Audit Committee from 5 to 7 and the Scrutiny Committee from 10 to 12.
· The make up of the Planning Policy Advisory Group, it was agreed that the Monitoring Officer consider this further.
· Consider adding wording regarding the role of the Monitoring Officer in terms of further on ward delegation by officers into Section 1 - 4.1
· Under Section 2 – 5.1 - agreed that the table setting out the powers of the Licensing and the Licensing Regulatory Committees be accessed via hyperlink and that the Monitoring Officer query the casino policy with the Licensing Team
· Under Section 4 – 8.2, the Monitoring Officer to consider further the Local Choice levels re key decisions.
· Appendix 3 – forms to be accessed via hyperlink.
· Section 5 – Scheme of Delegation to Officers only, the need to comply with Article 12 was felt appropriate to all Heads of Service.
· Section 5 – 8.6, the Monitoring Officer to clarify with the Legal Department.
· Under Corporate Personnel Functions – appendix 2, the Monitoring Officer to consider paragraphs (c), (h) and (o) and that (d) be moved to the bottom of the list in line with the other Pay and Grading Group tasks.
· The Monitoring Officer to clarify the authority of the Chief Executive with regard to land transactions and to the deployment of vehicles where the expenditure was not within an approved budget.
· Amendments be made to specific officer delegations within this section.
· Add ‘Calculation of’ to Rent Rebates.
· Reword ‘Council Shops’ to read ‘Management of Council Shops and Commercial Units’.
· Remove ‘To provide a Warden Service’ and references to representations of new applications for HGV’s as this was already mentioned in the section referring to delegated authority to the Head of Planning and Regeneration.
· Under Section 6 – Proper Officers remove mention of the ‘Member Services Manager’ and replace with ‘Principal Member Services Officer’.
· Under the paragraph 2. Head of Communities and Governance amend reference to the Localism Act to read Chapter 7 Section 29-1.
· Remove reference to the ‘Financial Services Manager’ and replace with ‘Finance Manager’.
The Chairman explained the next steps and that papers would be sent out for the next meeting on 8 April.
Note: * Information previously circulated, copy attached to minutes.
Supporting documents: