Issue - meetings

Council gave consideration to a report which presented the 21/22 Annual Review of the Constitution and arising recommendations, as considered by the Governance and Audit Committee on 12 April and recommended for approval.

The report also included an Annual Report from the Monitoring Officer for the period 21/22. The report aimed to provide an holistic view of all governance associated matters.

The Governance and Audit Committee Chairman in presenting the report advised Members Article 14 of the Constitution stipulated how such a review should be conducted, detailed at Section 1.2

Comprehensive Reviews had been undertaken in 2011, 14, 17 and large sections of the document had also been amended in 2018, as such a number of relatively minor amendments, as detailed in Section 3 of the report were being proposed.  Reviewing the Public Participation at Planning Committee Scheme, Virtual first meetings, and Review of Working Groups had also resulted in some proposed amendments, also contained in Section 3 of the report. All changes included a rationale for doing so.   The comparative appendices, informing some of the work and recommendations, were highlighted to Members.

As part of the last Annual Review considered by Council in June 2021, Members had agreed a list of associated work to be undertaken during 21/22 civic year summarised at Section 1.5 . Section 2 of the report provided a brief update on progress achieved against each work stream over the period and the arising outcomes.

Whilst undertaking the annual review of the Constitution a number of other associated actions for further work, development or “a watching brief” had been identified, detailed at Section 7 of the report. Members noted that progress and any arising recommendations from this work would form part of the 22/23 review reportable to Governance and Audit Committee by no later than April 2023.

No changes had been made to the Financial Regulations or Contract Procedure Rules within the year.  As these remained unchanged they had not been included in the report to Council.  The S151 Officer had advised that housekeeping amendments (job titles) would be required as the new management structure was implemented but that these could be dealt with under already approved delegation.

The remaining sections of the report 8 -13  made up the Monitoring Officer’s Annual Report which aimed to provide an holistic overview of all governance associated matters and included information on such matters as, data analysis of the number, nature and outcome of complaints received under the Code of Conduct and details of the support the Monitoring Officer had provided to a number of Parish Councils to ensure their continued functioning. 

Section 10 of the report sought Council approval to a number of lay vacancies.

The Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee drew Members’ attention to the decision made by Mr Peter Walton, after over 70 years involvement with Local Government, to not seek re-appoint to the Governance and Audit Committee.  He considered Mr Walton’s services to Local Government were something to be in awe of, as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89

Members gave consideration to the Annual Review of the Constitution 21/22 for recommendation to Council proposed amendments to the Constitution.

The Annual Report from the Monitoring Officer aimed to provide a holistic view of all governance associated matters. The Report was broken down into 13 sections, with a few housekeeping amendments, and any aspect was open for discussion and consideration by the Committee.

Debate ensued and included a discussion on Council / Committee procedure rule, with Members drawing attention to issues surrounding a lack of knowledge in procedures, and welcomed the proposed usage of workshops to aide learning in this area. It was suggested by Members that this subject should be part of Members Induction and that a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ quick reference guide may be of assistance

In responding, the Assistant Director advised that the report did suggest Procedure Rules Training should form part of Members Induction in 2023, and furthermore would be considered mandatory for all Chairmen. The suggestion for a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section/booklet was welcomed by Officers, and would be considered for inclusion in the Members Induction Pack.

There was much debate on the face-to-face/hybrid list of meetings in sections 2.7.4 to 2.7.5. There were differing suggestions regarding a return to pre-pandemic face-to-face meetings for the human element of learning and debate, and home working / connectivity issues, and keeping the focus on online for cost-effectiveness and travel. The Officer gave assurance that the list of meetings was to reflect the current desires expressed and any legislation in place for meetings.  The importance of human interaction particularly when joining an organisation could not and had not been underestimated and as such it had been recommended that the induction for the Members elected in 2023 was to be in person.

In acknowledgement to a subsidiary question about the face-to-face aspect of decision making, discussion ensued on Members IT service and potential technologies such as 4G and SIM cards, to which the Officer informed Members that a review would be conducted in the upcoming civic year, and requested Members engaged with the process regarding the facilities provided to Members, where such options could be considered and assessed.

Having been moved and seconded on being put to the vote it was unanimously

          RESOLVED that:-

(a)  Members agreed that the governance outlined in Section 8 of the report, in respect of managing Commercial and Economic Growth, provided assurance that the council was taking appropriate mitigating measures against the risks identified in its commercial approach.

(b)  The Committee acknowledged the report, as drafted for Annual Council, granted delegated authority to the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee, to update the report, following consideration by the Committee where further progress was likely to be achieved in the intervening period and to reflect Committee feedback.

The Governance and Audit Committee RECOMMEND to Council the following:

(c)  that the outcome of the 21/22 annual review, as detailed in the report be noted;

(d)  that the additional amendments  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64