Agenda item

The Senior Democratic and Civic Officer introduced the report and explained the purpose of the report was for the Governance and Audit Committee to recommend to Council the proposed amendments to the Constitution. For the second year running, the report also included an Annual Report from the Monitoring Officer. The report aimed to provide an holistic view of all governance associated matters. The Governance and Audit Committee were also asked to approve the amendment(s) made to the Financial and Contract Procedure Rules, which would subsequently be noted by Council as part of the Annual Review.

She detailed the amendments that had been recommended and also identified the areas that were highlighted for further review in the coming year. She explained that the majority of amendments were considered to be housekeeping however there were more significant changes in relation to planning applications and how to facilitate improved call-in functions for Parish Councils. It was proposed that through the coming year there would be further attention placed on the planning processes in terms of engagement with the local communities, such as workshops and further training sessions and any recommendations from these would be incorporated in the Constitution Review next year.

The Chairman proposed an amendment to the report that the fourth recommendation contained within the ‘Table of Proposed Amendments for Inclusion’, relating to the footnote regarding membership of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be removed and that Section 5.3.6 of the report similarly be amended to explain it was not being taken forward. This proposal was seconded and voted upon and

            RESOLVED that the amendments as detailed above be approved.

There was further discussion regarding the level of detail contained both within the report and within the Constitution itself and it was suggested that Members may find it useful to receive training on the content of the Constitution. The Monitoring Officer confirmed this was something that had been provided in the past and it would be possible to run workshops or sessions focussing on specific areas of the Constitution.

Members of Committee expressed their support for the focus on planning applications and greater communications with Parish Councils. It was acknowledged that the cancelled training sessions would have been a great resource for Members and Parish Council representatives but it was highlighted that these sessions would still be provided, albeit perhaps in a different format considering current circumstances.

RESOLVED that the Governance and Audit Committee APPROVE the following recommendations:

a) Subject to (i) below, the amendment(s) made to the Contract and Procurement Procedure Rules and Financial Procedure Rules detailed at Section 3 of the report (the full set of Procedure rules are attached at Appendix 3 and 4 for completeness).

(i) delegated authority be granted to the Head of Paid Service, in consultation with the Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee, to make any necessary housekeeping amendments to both sets of procedure rules, arising from the on-going re-structure, and the final versions be noted by Council as part of the Annual Review in due course

b) that delegated authority be granted to the Head of Paid, in consultation with the Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee, to confirm the final version of the Officer scheme of delegation, in light of the on-going re-structure, and the final version be included within the report, for approval at Annual Council

c) That Members agree the governance outlined in this report, in respect of managing Commercial and Economic Growth, provides assurance that the council is taking appropriate mitigating measures against the risks identified in its commercial approach and note the updated position provided at Section 7 of the report

The Governance and Audit Committee RECOMMEND to Council the following recommendations:

d) that the outcome of the annual review be noted.

e) that amendments detailed throughout Section 2 of the report, including those detailed in Appendix 2 relating to the Planning Delegation scheme be adopted and implemented with immediate effect;

f) that the proposed amendments, raised through the review process, but which are not being progressed, detailed at Section 2.8 be agreed for non-inclusion.

g) The appointments of Parish Councillors Elizabeth Hillman and Bruce Allison to the Standards Sub-Committee (Section 9)

h) That the progress made with regards to:-

·         the areas of work agreed for further development in the 2019/20 review (Section 5);

·         the further planned work for 2020/21 (Section 6)

·         the statistical data provided within the report in respect of the number, nature and outcome of Code of Conduct Complaints (Section 8); and

·         the support offered to Parish Councils (Section 11) be noted

i) That the interim decision making process(es) that have been in place during the COVID -19 Pandemic be acknowledged.