Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence has been received from Mr Brian Hinchley.

An apology for absence was received from Mr Brian Hinchley, Vice-Chairman.

To receive any declarations of interest.  Members are advised to consider the extract from the Standard Board Code of Conduct for Members, which forms part of the Declaration of Interest Form at the back of this Agenda.  If a Member declares an interest, they should complete that Form and hand it to the Officer clerking the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the Minutes of the Constitutional Review Working Party meeting held on 11 November 2010, copy attached.

On the proposal of Councillor Harrison, seconded by Councillor Mrs Roberts, the minutes of the meeting of the Working Party held on 11 November 2010 were approved and signed by the Chairman.

It was AGREED TO RECOMMEND to Standards Committee that the changes to the Financial Procedure Rules, as set out at Annex 1 to the report, be approved. 

The point was made that all Members used to receive regular reports on debt write offs, although it was noted that information on debts exceeding £30K which were written off were currently included in Cabinet reports and thereby circulated to all Members.

The Working Party FURTHER RECOMMENDED that Members be notified of debt write offs below £30K.

On the proposal of Councillor Gregory, seconded by Councillor Harrison, it was AGREED TO RECOMMEND to the Standards Committee that the changes to the delegations of the Director of Community Services, as set out in Annex 1 to the report, be adopted.

The Democratic Services & Scrutiny Manager suggested three further amendments to Annex 2, as follows:

1. remove the word, “all” at Paragraph (e)
2. substitute words, “does not meet”, at Paragraph (g) with, “hold a valid meeting”;
3. at Paragraph (h),  change, “shall take effect on the date of the scheduled Overview and Scrutiny meeting at which it is considered”, to, “shall take effect on the date of the scheduled Overview and Scrutiny meeting at which it was due to be considered”.

On the proposal of Councillor Harrison, seconded by Councillor Latchford, it was AGREED TO RECOMMEND to Standards Committee that the Call-in Procedure be amended in accordance with Annex 2 to the report, subject to further amendments listed at (i) to (iii) above.

It was AGREED TO RECOMMEND to the Standards Committee that a new Council Procedure Rule 2.2 be inserted in the Constitution, as set out in Annex 2 to the Report.

Members of the Working Party felt that any changes in relation to the Chief Executive’s Report should be deferred until after the May 2011 district elections.

It was noted from the Head of Legal & Democratic Services that under the new Leader with a Cabinet Executive Model adopted by the Council, the Deputy Leader would be appointed by the Leader for the whole term of office, ending on the date of the Annual Meeting of Council in the year of the next ordinary election of Councillors, rather than for just the ensuing council year.

On the proposal of Councillor Gregory, seconded by Councillor Mrs Roberts, it was AGREED TO RECOMMEND to Standards Committee:

1. that the changes to the Constitution, as set out at Annexes 1 - 3 to the report be adopted;

2. that further changes which the Head of Legal & Democratic Services deemed necessary to reflect the appointment of the Deputy Leader for the whole term of office (4 years), as opposed to one year, be also adopted.

On the proposal of Councillor Mrs Roberts, seconded by Councillor Latchford, it was AGREED that a more detailed report on the introduction of Member Role Descriptions be brought back to the Working Party.