Issue - meetings

To set the thresholds for Key Decisions for the 2025/26 Municipal Year and to consider the use of Urgency Rules for the previous Municipal Year.

Council considered a report presented by the Monitoring Officer which advised Members of any Key Decisions taken under statutory Urgency Rules in the previous 12 months, any decision taken under Urgency Rules with the Council’s Scrutiny Rules (this was where call-in provisions were waived as the decision was urgent and could not be reasonably deferred), and to set the Key Decision threshold for the forthcoming year in line with the constitutional requirement at Annual Council meetings.

The report stated that all Key Decisions were subject to the Council’s call-in provisions which were set out in the Scrutiny Rules. Call-in provisions may be waived only where a decision was urgent.  A decision was urgent if any delay likely to be caused by the call-in process would seriously prejudice the Council’s or the public’s interests.  The Chair of the relevant Scrutiny Committee (or, in their absence the Chair of Council or Vice Chair of Council) must agree both that the decision proposed was reasonable in all the circumstances and to it being treated as a matter of urgency.  Decisions taken as a matter of urgency were required to be reported to Council. In the past 12 months, four decisions had been taken using urgency provisions to waive call-in.  These decisions had been:

·             GovService G Cloud 13 Contract, (Decision by Chief Executive on 25^th October 2024);

·             Appointment of Contractor to complete flood mitigation works at Pleasley Vale Business Park, (Decision by the Executive 2^nd December 2024);

·             UK Shared Prosperity Fund 2025/26 – decision to accept the £803,023.00 funding from EMMCA, agree investment plan and make direct awards of contracts, (Decision by Chief Executive on 10 March 2025); and

·             To award an Electrical Works contract to Sureserve to undertake void repairs and annual testing to domestic properties following a procurement process undertaken through EEM, (Decision by Chief Executive on 29^th April 2025).

The report recommended that the Key Decision thresholds remained the same, which were:

·             Revenue Income, Savings or Expenditure - £75,000;

·             Capital Income of Expenditure - £150,000.

Moved by Councillor Tom Munro and seconded by Councillor John Ritchie

RESOLVED that (1) the decisions that had been taken over the past 12 months

          under Special Urgency Rules, be noted; and

          (2) the financial thresholds for Key Decisions be maintained at £75,000 (Revenue) and £150,000 (Capital).