Agenda item

To receive and consider the reports, minutes and recommendations of the recent meetings as follows:

Standards Committee on the 13^th March 2024

(Recommendation to Council

·         That the Constitution be amended as per the list within Appendix 1.

·         That delegated authority is provided to the Director of Legal, HR & Governance (Monitoring Officer) to amend the Constitution as per Appendix 1 and any other amendments required to reflect the changes.

(Recommendation to Council

·         That there be five (5) Policy Development Groups: Planning, Environment & Sustainability; Community, People & Equalities; Homes; Economy & Assets; Service Delivery & Continuous Improvement.

·         That the Constitution is amended to reflect the changes to the PDGs.

·         That delegated authority is provided to the Director of Legal, HR & Governance (Monitoring Officer) to amend the Constitution as per the above and any other amendments required to reflect the new PDGs.

The Chairman of the Standards Committee presented the report of the meeting held on 13 March 2024.

This covered minute number 31

At minute number 31 RECOMMENDATION to full Council:

·         That the Constitution be amended as per the list within Appendix 1.

·         That delegated authority is provided to the Director of Legal, HR & Governance (Monitoring Officer) to amend the Constitution as per Appendix 1 and any other amendments required to reflect the changes.

Following discussion and upon a vote being taken the MOTION was declared to have been CARRIED.

(Proposed by Cllr A Glover seconded by the Leader of the Council)

The Leader of the Council highlighted the following:

·         At the Standards meeting, many aspects of the Constitution were discussed as the Council looked to continued to improve the processes and to make the running of meetings better but also to ensure public participation.

·         I was heartened in advance of that meeting to receive communications from members of the public over concerns at some of those proposed changes.

·         The difference was that this administration listened to those concerns and made changes to those proposed changes, and it was those changes you would be voting on tonight.

·         Constitutional changes needed to happen with ever changing dynamics and processes in the smooth functioning of Council business.

·         Statements and questions from the public would still be made at all Council meetings and public questions included at Planning Committees, where we continue to be one of the only Councils in the Country to allow this.

·         Most of the changes to the Constitution revolved around changes to the management structure, some wording and the requirement for questions or statements to be relevant to an agenda item – except for the case at Full Council where a question or statement could be made that was around any aspect of Council business.

He was proud of the achievements of this Council over the last 12 months. We had worked together, cross party to deliver improvements to this Council. We have held engaging debate, challenging questions and have put the Council on a sound footing as we moved forward. Coming through soon would be our new Corporate Plan which would detail our aims and objectives over the coming years and was based on our manifesto pledges and would ensure this Council sets smart targets that delivered to the residents who elected us.

As part of these proposals we had streamlined the current make up of our Policy Development Groups (PDG’s) to ensure their focus was aligned to the new Corporate Plan. These would ensure proper policy setting as opposed to tick box exercises that we see now and would focus each PDG on their respective areas of expertise to deliver on our commitments. There would be efficient programming meetings and actual policy setting.

To do this, we proposed an additional PDG to help deliver on these vital policy changes and to deliver to our residents. The new proposed PDG’s would be Planning, Environment & Sustainability, Homes, Economy & Assets, Community, People & Equalities, Service Delivery & Continuous Improvement.

On the supplementary paperwork and within the next month the Cabinet roles would change to reflect the new PDG’s. This was not about standing still but about moving forward and allowing all Members of this Council to be involved in all elements of Council business.

These changes would see the PDG’s move from bi monthly to quarterly, however the requirements of its Members and Chairs would not change with the programming panel meetings and more working groups striving towards policy setting. This was a step in the right direction for better governance and I hope you would join me in supporting these amendments.

Proposed changes to Policy Development Group RECOMMENDATION to full Council:

·         That from the start of the municipal year there be five (5) Policy Development Groups: Planning, Environment & Sustainability; Community, People & Equalities; Homes; Economy & Assets; Service Delivery & Continuous Improvement.

·         That the Constitution was amended to reflect the changes to the PDGs.

·         That delegated authority is provided to the Director of Legal, HR & Governance (Monitoring Officer) to amend the Constitution as per the above and any other amendments required to reflect the new PDGs in conjunction with the Leader.

Following discussion and upon a vote being taken the MOTION was declared to have been CARRIED.

(Proposed by Cllr A Glover seconded by the Leader of the Council)