Agenda item

Committee considered a report in relation to areas for review within the Council’s Constitution.

The following areas had been identified for review at this meeting.

Junior Executive Members

The Leader of the Council had proposed the introduction of the role of Junior Executive Member.  The report set out the details of this new role.  Article 7 of Part 2 of the Constitution, which set out detail of the Executive would need to be amended to include details of the Junior Executive Member.  A revised version of Article 7 was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

In answer to a question the Monitoring Officer confirmed that it would be up to the Leader of the Council to appoint Councillors to this new role.

Access to Information Rules

The Access to Information Rules within the Constitution set out how the public could attend Council meetings, committees and the Executive and how they could access agendas, reports and minutes.  Following a review of these rules there were a number of omissions and points of clarification that needed to be addressed.  Of specific note were the changes to Rule 4.2.12, which would now place the responsibility for determining whether a report should be exempt with the Monitoring Officer.  A revised version of the Access to Information Rules was attached to the report at Appendix 2.

Scrutiny Procedure Rules

Following the separation of the Audit and Scrutiny functions, officers had taken the opportunity to complete a full review of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules.  The review highlighted that some sections required amendment to ensure they fully reflected current legislation and local operating procedures.  A revised version of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules was attached to the report at Appendix 3.

Councillor Call for Action (CCfA)

As part of the review officers had found that reference to the CCfA procedure had been omitted from the current version of the Constitution.  Furthermore, due to changes in legislation the original CCfA required minor amendments.  A revised Councillor Call for Action was now included within Appendix 3 to the report.

Executive/Scrutiny Protocol

Within the revised Statutory Guidance on Overview and Scrutiny in Local and Combined Authorities, guidance was given on the creation of an Executive/Scrutiny Protocol.  As part of the review of scrutiny procedures a protocol had been created, the aim of which was to outline practical expectations of the relationships between Scrutiny Members and the Executive.  The proposed Executive/Scrutiny Protocol for insertion into the Constitution at 4.5.21 within Part 4.5 was attached to the report at Appendix 4.

Members Roles and Responsibilities

The current document omitted the role of a Scrutiny Member, so this had now been added.  In addition, the role and responsibilities of the Vice-Chair of the Council had been added for clarity, and the new role of Junior Executive Member had also been included.  A revised Members Roles and Responsibilities section was attached to the report at Appendix 5.

Virement

There was currently a slight discrepancy between the two parts of the Constitution that dealt with virement, which were Part 4.3 (Budget and Policy Framework) and part 4.7.2(7) (Financial Regulations).  An amendment was proposed to make it clear that it was Members of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) who could authorise virements.  The proposed changes to the two sections were set out in Appendix 6.

Moved by Councillor Jane Yates and seconded by Councillor Anne Clarke

RESOLVED that having considered the proposed amendments to the constitution they be submitted to Council for approval.