Issue - meetings

Report of the Monitoring Officer presenting the recommendations of Standards Committee for Changes to the Constitution from the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

Due to the size of the file Appendix 2 can be viewed digitally here.

Councillor Duncan McGregor (Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder – Corporate Governance) presented a report to Members proposing amendments to the Constitution as set out in Appendices 1 and 2. The Standards Committee and the Constitution Working Group considered and supported the amendments proposed in the review of the Constitution at its meetings held during the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

The report also recommended that delegated power be given to the Monitoring Officer to make changes to the Constitution arising from any new legislation, administrative errors or conflicts in interpretation and this be incorporated in to the Delegation Scheme

Councillor Peter Roberts referred to the ‘Standards Committee Terms of Reference’ section of Appendix 1 and expressed concerns that the bullet point “reviewing Member attendance at Committee Meetings on behalf of the Authority” could unfairly highlight Members who had legitimate reasons for not attending meetings, such as having a full-time job.

The Monitoring Officer assured Councillor Peter Roberts that this was simply a part of the Council’s checks and balances to monitor Member attendance.

The Deputy Leader of the Council responded by stating that Members had an obligation to make themselves fully accountable to the public, which included their attendance statistics for meetings. He added his belief that the transition to virtual attendance at meetings should make attending them easier.

Councillor Tracey Cannon felt that virtual attendance did not necessarily make attendance easier, because the reason for virtual meetings in the first place (COVID-19 pandemic) had vastly increased the pressures at home for all Members.

Councillor Natalie Hoy believed that monitoring attendance was necessary to make Members fully accountable to the public.

Councillor David Downes stated that Members knew that they would need to find time for meetings when they signed up to become Members, and he felt balancing a job and being a Councillor was not an excuse to miss meetings.

The two recommendations in the report to approve the amendments (Appendices 1 and 2) and delegate powers to the Monitoring Officer to make changes to the Constitution were moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Steve Fritchley (Leader of the Council).

RESOLVED that:

(i) The amendments to the Constitution detailed in Appendix 1 and set out in  Appendix 2 be approved; and

(ii) That delegated power be given to the Monitoring Officer to make changes to the Constitution arising from any new legislation, administrative errors or conflicts in interpretation and this be incorporated in to the Delegation Scheme.

(Monitoring Officer / Governance Manager)