Issue - meetings

The Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee introduced the report which stood recommended  from his Committee, and sought Council approval to amend the Council Procedure Rules by increasing the threshold at which Members could request a full recorded vote on a Council decision.

The Governance and Audit Committee had recommended that the threshold increase from 2 to 8.

With the recommendation moved and seconded debate ensued with Members noting West Lindsey’s current threshold was considerably lower than other Lincolnshire Authorities.

Opposition Councillors expressed their disappointment, questioned the motive for the change, and suggested the benchmarking did not go far enough or offer a rounded picture. It was further suggested that a recorded vote was a democratic right and that the proposal reduced transparency, scrutiny and accountability, and had a more detrimental impact to smaller groups.

Opposition Councillors suggested that all votes should be recorded as matter of course, and that greater use should be made of the technology in place.  Again the motive for change was questioned  along with the robustness of the Governance and Audit Committee’s consideration. The Opposition Leader shared with the Chamber statistics, relating to the number of times a recorded vote had been used and the average length of Council meetings.

Opposition Councillors considered the increase was too large, and rather than an arbitrary  number, the threshold should be set at a percentage, and take account of those present at the meeting rather than the total number of Council Members. Following an exchange and clarity the following formal amendment was proposed: -

That the matter be deferred and referred back to the Governance and Audit Committee for them to consider a threshold set at a percentage level of those in attendance.

The amendment was duly seconded and further discussion ensued. Administration Members challenged the points that had been made, referring to the thresholds seen across other Lincolnshire Councils.  A Councillor’s right to request their individual vote be recorded remained unaffected and Members could use this right for each and every decision.

A request for a recorded vote on the amendment was made, with a second Member supporting that request, the amendment was put to a recorded vote, with votes being cast as follows: -

For:         Councillors Dobbie, Hague, Howitt-Cowan, Rollings, Young (5)

Against:  Councillors Bailey, Barrett, Bierley, Brockway, Brown, Bunney, Carless, Darcel, Fleetwood, Key, Lawrence, Morris, Mullally, Palmer, Patterson, Rodgers, Smith, Swift, and Westley (19)

Abstentions: (0)

With a total of 5 votes cast for the amendment and 19 votes against, the amendment was declared LOST.

Returning to the original recommendation, debate ensued and again there was political exchange regarding the merits and motive. The effectiveness and relevance of the benchmarking was again questioned with a further amendment moved, namely: -

That the threshold be amended to 5 as opposed to 8 as recommended.

The suggestion that scrutiny and transparency were being eroded  was strongly refuted, and again it was suggested Members could and should use their right to request an individual vote be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77

Consideration was given to a report outlining an amendment to Council Procedure Rules to increase the threshold at which Members may request a full recorded vote on a Council decision following a benchmarking exercise.

A member expressed support for the changes and indicated that there had been a large number of recorded votes at Council so it was sensible to increase the threshold.

Councillor Barrett proposed that the recommendations be accepted and that the number required for recorded vote be set at eight councillors. This was seconded by Councillor Bridgwood.

A member expressed concern at changing from the current requirement of two councillors.

On being put to the vote the proposition was carried.

Councillor Darcel voted against the motion.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee, having considered the report, recommend to Council that the threshold at which Councillors can request a full recorded vote against a Council decision be amended, and the threshold be set at eight councillors.