Agenda item

Members gave consideration to the Annual Review of the Constitution 2022/23 for recommendation to Council in respect of 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 14 sections, with a few housekeeping amendments, and any aspect was open for discussion and consideration by the Committee.

 

The Council was required by law to prepare and keep up-to-date a Constitution which explained how the Council operated, how decisions were made and the procedures which were to be followed to ensure that these were efficient, transparent and accountable to local people.

 

Article 14 of the Constitution stipulated how such a review should be conducted namely:

a)    by observing meetings of different parts of the Member and Officer structure;

b)    by undertaking an audit trail of a sample of decisions;

c)    by recording and analysing issues raised with Monitoring Officer by Members, Officers, the public and other stakeholders;

d)    by comparing practices in this authority with those in comparable authorities, or national examples of best practice; and

e)    by undertaking a review of each committee’s effectiveness.

 

As comprehensive reviews of the Constitution were undertaken in 2011, 2014 and 2017, and a large number of amendments were made to large sections of the document in 2018, a number of relatively minor amendments were proposed as detailed at Section 3 of the report. Officers were to consider during 2023/24 as to whether a more comprehensive review of the Constitution was required in coming years, noting the date when such work was last undertaken.

 

The Constitution had continued to be tested during the 2022/23. The Monitoring Officer was pleased to report that it had provided a clear and robust framework for the governance and decision-making of this Council. This was especially important with the delivery and inception of some very ambitious projects.

 

As part of the last Annual Review considered by Council in May 2022, Members agreed a list of associated work to be undertaken during the 2022/23 civic year namely:

 

·       Parish Charter

·       Member Development

·       Members IT

·       Work on 4^th tier governance review

·       Adoption of New Code of Conduct by Parishes

·       Government Response to the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s review of Local Government Ethical Standards

·       Review of Council Procedure Rules

·       Working Groups Terms of Reference

·       Call-in Objection Form for Parish Council Use

 

Section 2 of the report provided a brief update of the work which had been undertaken over the period and any arising outcomes. Any proposed amendments arising from this work or feedback received through the year were contained in Section 3 of the report, with all amendments being brought together in a table of changes for implementation at paragraph 3.9. On this occasion some amendments proposed throughout the review were not being proposed for progression; these were detailed at Section 6 of the report together with the rationale.

 

Section 7 details associated work planned to be undertaken during the 2023/24 civic year, which included those areas of work which not progressed as expected in 2022/23, and concluded the Annual Review.

 

Sections 8 – 14 made up the Monitoring Officer’s Annual Report and aimed to provide a holistic overview of all governance matters.

 

Section 8 of the report sets out the governance arrangements in place to manage Commercial and Economic Growth and Section 9 was a new section outlining the implications of the new Subsidy Control Act 2023 and a statement of compliance. Section 10 presented a data analysis of the number, nature and outcome of complaints received under the Code of Conduct, during the 2021/22 civic year.

 

Section 11 of the report asked Council to approve the appointment of Mr Andrew Morriss, an Independent Member of the Governance and Audit Committee due to an expiry of office. Section 12 detailed support the Monitoring Officer had provided to a number of Parish Councils to ensure their continued functioning.

 

Section 14 was a new addition in 2020/21 and provides information in respect of the Council’s Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIPA). A review of arrangements saw an arising recommendation from the Inspector that Members should receive at least annually the number of times the Council has used it powers. The Monitoring Officer’s Annual report was the channel through which such information is reported and concluded the Annual Report.

 

Debate ensued, and Members raised multiple aspects, focusing on parish councils and the parish charter. Members expressed a desire for broader communication and the implementation concerns with the new parish charter, which was to establish communication between the Authority and parish level bodies. The Chairman informed Members that the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee would review the new Parish Charter annually.

 

In response to a specific query about the past signatures being liable to the financial statements and responsibilities of parish councils, the Financial Services Manager stated the precept information was checked regarding paying into the correct account, with a double check on the correct bank details. It was further explained that they would still have liability until it was fully confirmed after a possibly lengthy process.

 

A Member also expressed a desire to advertise to the newly elected Parish Councils their call-in abilities to the Authority’s Planning Committee and requested further communication with all Parish Councils. Members also expressed that not enough progress had been made on the relationships between the Authority, and parish and town councils.

 

It was also noted that minor spelling and numbering issues would be corrected before the report was to be considered by Full Council at the Annual Council meeting on 22 May 2023. Members also supported the minor amendments to the Constitution regarding public participation and attendance to working groups.

 

Having been proposed and seconded, upon taking the vote, it was unanimously

 

RESOLVED that:-

 

a)    the amendments to the Financial and Contract Procedure Rules, summarised in Section 4, and attached as Appendices 5 and 6 to this report. be approved;

 

b)   that the governance outlined in Section 8 of the 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 be agreed; and

 

c)    delegated authority be granted 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 is likely to be achieved, or to reflect Committee’s views prior to its submission to Annual Council

 

Further RESOLVED that the Governance and Audit Committee RECOMMEND to Council the following:

 

a)    that the outcome of the 22/23 annual review, as detailed in the report be received and noted;

 

b)    that the additional amendments detailed throughout Section 3 of this report, identified during the 22/23 review be adopted and implemented with immediate effect;

 

c)    that the appointment of Mr Andrew Morriss as Independent Member on The Governance and Audit Committee until Annual Council May 2027 (Section 11) be approved;

 

d)    that delegated authority be granted to the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee, to amend the Scheme of Corporate Delegations (pages 48 – 60 of Section IV), if required, on approval of HR policies by Corporate Policy and Resources Committee throughout 2023/24;

 

e)    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 2023/24 onwards (Section 7);

·   the introduction of the Subsidy Control Act (Section 9)

·   the statistical data provided within the report in respect of the number, nature and outcome of Code of Conduct Complaints (Section 10);

·   the support offered to Parish Councils (Section 12); and

·   the use of the Council’s RIPA powers during the period (section 14)

            be received and noted.

 

f)     that the amended Financial Procedure Rules and Contract Procedure Rules approved by the Governance and Audit Committee be noted.