Agenda item

Review of the council's Constitution (Part 2).

Minutes:

Committee considered a report which set out areas of the Council’s Constitution which required review.

 

The Constitution was the Council’s ‘rulebook’ and set out how the Council operated and how it made decisions.  Council approved its latest version of the Constitution at the Annual Council meeting in May 2019.

 

At its meeting in July 2019, Standards Committee had agreed a number of areas of the Constitution for review.  Two further areas were subsequently identified, one by the Section 151 Officer and the second by a Member.  A table in the report listed the timetable for review of these areas and also other committees of the Council where the matters would need to be referred to for consideration.

 

The areas for review to consider at this meeting were;

 

·         Standards Committee Terms of Reference

·         Joint Employment and Appeals Committee

·         Questions and Motions

·         Membership of Budget Scrutiny Committee 

 

An appendix to the report set out the proposals and rationale for the review of each of the four areas.

 

Standards Committee Terms of Reference

 

In addition to the proposals from the recent Scrutiny Review (as set out in the appendix to the report) and the Parliamentary Committee’s Review on Standards in Public Life, Committee was also asked to consider the matter of Independent Persons terms of office which was currently continuous until the Independent Person wished to resign. 

 

A Member suggested that Independent Persons’ terms of office be for a 4 year period the same as it was for Elected Members. 

 

The report also proposed that 2 parish council representatives be co-opted on to the Standards Committee.  A Member noted that currently many parish councillors were also Bolsover District Councillors and suggested that any parish council representatives on the Committee ought not to be District Councillors.

 

In response to a Member’s queries, the Monitoring Officer explained the process of advertising and selecting an Independent Person to the Standards Committee with final approval from Council. 

 

For the appointment of parish council representatives as co-optees, the Senior Governance Officer explained that parish councils would be invited to nominate one of their Members to act as a representative on the Standards Committee.  The nominations would then be put to a vote across the parish councils with the final submitted as a recommendation to the Standards Committee for consideration. 

 

She further explained that the Constitution was reviewed on a regular basis and by way of officers and Members identifying areas for updating.  The Member requested that the source of any review/update be included in future reports.

 

Moved by Councillor Deborah Watson and seconded by Councillor Andrew Joesbury

RESOLVED that (1) the revised Terms of Reference for Standards Committee as set out in the report be supported, subject to the amendment that parish council representatives who are invited to sit on the Standards Committee not be parish councillors who were also District Councillors,

 

(2) a further review be undertaken on Independent Persons’ terms of office and this be presented to a future meeting of Standards Committee for consideration.

 

(Monitoring Officer/Governance Manager)

 

Joint Employment and Appeals Committee (JEAC)

 

Appendix 4 to the report outlined a request for a general review of the JEAC Terms of Reference, however, Committee made no proposals to amend the Joint Committee’s Terms of Reference but suggested that SAMT be consulted and a further report be brought back to Standards Committee with any recommended changes.

 

The Monitoring Officer set out 3 options for consideration by the Committee regarding changes to the JEAC Terms of Reference in relation to where the Council  was undertaking a recruitment for a Head of Service or Director who would solely work for Bolsover and be a member of the Strategic Alliance Management Team. 

 

Committee agreed that the following wording be added to the JEAC Terms of Reference for Bolsover only posts;

 

Where the Authority determines to recruit to a Head of Service or a Director post outside the Strategic Alliance or determines to take any disciplinary action in relation to such a post the Member Panel will be called the Employment and Appeals Committee and will comprise:-

The 4 Members of the JEAC and;

(Option 1):-

Where there are 2 “Leaders of the Opposition” of groups of equal size, both Leaders of the Opposition will be Members of the Employment and Appeals Committee increasing the size of the Committee to 5.

 

This proposed amendment was to be submitted to the next Council meeting, rather than as part of the full Constitution Review at Annual Council, due to the on-going Senior Management Restructure and recruitment taking place during the year.

 

Moved by Councillor James Watson and seconded by Councillor Deborah Watson

RESOLVED that Option 1 above be the preferred option of the Standards Committee,

 

RECOMMENDED that the above wording be added to the JEAC Terms of Reference and that Strategic Alliance Management Team recommend this to Council in November 2019.

(Monitoring Officer/Governance Manager)

 

Questions and Motions (Rule 8 Questions by the public, Rule 9 Questions by Councillors and Rule 10, Motions on notice)

 

Committee was asked to consider the number of questions and motions which were currently allowed and the overall time for consideration of questions and motions and in addition, whether they should be dealt with in the order of receipt, to assess the provision for urgency and to be satisfied that the scope and reasons for rejection were fit for purpose.

 

For Members consideration, a comparison of 5 neighbouring authorities’ practices in relation to the rules was carried out and included in the report.

 

Rule 8 - Questions by the public

 

Committee agreed that the current rules should be changed so that any member of the public may ask questions of Members of the Executive at ordinary meetings of Council so long as the questions met the scope and that the time allowed for questions and answers should not exceed 30 minutes.

 

Rule 9 - Questions by Councillors

 

Committee agreed that no changes be made to the current rule.

 

Rule 10 - Motions on notice

 

Committee agreed that no changes be made to the current rule.

 

Moved by Councillor James Watson and seconded by Councillor Andrew Joesbury

RESOLVED that (1) in relation to Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution, no changes be made to;

 

·         Council Procedure Rule 9 - Questions by Councillors and

·         Council Procedure Rule 10 - Motions on Notice,

(2) the following amendments to Council Procedure Rule 8 - Questions by the public, be recommended to Council for adoption;

             

·         To allow any member of the public to ask a question so long as it meets the scope.

·         To extend the time allowed for questions by the public to 30 minutes,

·         To amend the scope for questions so as to allow questions to be rejected where they relate to either an ongoing complaint being dealt with either by Council or the Local Government Ombudsman.

 

 (Monitoring Officer/Governance Manager)

 

Membership of Budget Scrutiny Committee

 

Currently under the Council’s Constitution all Councillors who were not Members of the Executive were automatically Members of the Budget Scrutiny Committee.  This was because Budget Scrutiny Committee dealt with the scrutiny role in the development of the Council’s budget and accordingly it was felt should involve all scrutiny members in the process.

 

It had been proposed by a Member that there should be a mechanism for membership of the Budget Scrutiny Committee to be declined.  This would involve an alteration to the Scrutiny Procedure Rules at 4.5.1(2) in the Council’s Constitution.

 

Only the Council could appoint to Committees and this was why at the Annual Council Meeting in May the membership of all Committees was agreed.

 

The Monitoring Officer suggested that Members be allowed to resign from the Budget Scrutiny Committee following appointment at the Annual Council Meeting and that the Rules be amended to allow this. 

 

The Member who had proposed that a Member should be able to decline membership of the Budget Scrutiny Committee had suggested the following alternative approach;

 

(i)            Non-Executive Councillors are NOT automatically appointed as a member of the Budget Scrutiny Committee.

(ii)          The Budget Scrutiny Committee be appointed by Council at its Annual Meeting and as with other Committees, Councillors agreeing to be members of the Budget Scrutiny Committee through their political groups.

(iii)       That membership of the Budget Scrutiny Committee be reduced with the number of seats set at a similar number to other Scrutiny Committees.

 

A Member considered it essential for all Members to be involved in the Council’s budget setting and monitoring, whether as part of Executive or as Scrutiny Members on the Budget Scrutiny Committee.

 

Moved by Councillor Andrew Joesbury and seconded by Councillor Deborah Watson

RESOLVED that no changes be made to Scrutiny Procedure Rules at 4.5.1(2) in the Council’s Constitution.

 

Councillor James Watson voted against the motion.

 

Supporting documents: