Agenda item

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 detailed throughout Section 3 of this report, identified during the 21/22 review be adopted and implemented with immediate effect;

(e)  the appointments of [the soon to be confirmed individuals] (Section 10) be approved;

(f)    that

·       the progress made with regards to the areas of work agreed for further development in the previous review (Section 2);

·       the areas considered but not taken forward (Section 6);

·       the further planned work for 2022/23 (Section 7);

·       the statistical data provided within the report in respect of the number, nature and outcome of Code of Conduct Complaints (Section 9);

·       the support offered to Parish Council (Section 11); and

·       the use of the Council’s RIPA powers during the period (Section 13)

be received and noted.

(g)  that the Monitoring Officer use current delegated powers, engaging the Chief Executive, and in consultation with Chairman of the Governance and Audit, to re-align the scheme of Officer delegation, on implementation of a new senior management structure (Section 4).