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1. |
APOLOGIES |
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Apologies for inability to attend the meeting were received from Councillors Cully and Wright. |
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2. |
APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN |
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RESOLVED: That Mr G A Lidgey be appointed as Chairman of the Committee for the Municipal Year 2003-2004. |
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3. |
APPOINTMENT OF VICE- CHAIRMAN |
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RESOLVED: That Mr R V Perry be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the Municipal Year 2003-2004. |
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4. |
MINUTES |
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RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 23 April 2003 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record. |
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With regard to Minute No. 5, the Borough Solicitor informed the Committee that the findings of the Committee would be incorporated into the Council's Code of Practice on Regulatory Board matters when that Code was reviewed as part of the second stage of the review of the Constitution later in the year. |
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5. |
REVIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION |
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Consideration was given to the Borough Solicitor's report, which recommended changes to the Council's Constitution in the light of comments received from Members and officers on the operation of the new Constitution adopted by the Council in 2002. |
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The Borough Solicitor informed the Committee that the review would be addressed in two stages; the first stage affording the opportunity to review the scrutiny process, together with certain changes to other specific areas. |
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The Policy and Organisation Overview and Scrutiny Committee, at their meeting on 2 July 2003, had agreed to recommend to the Council that the Audit Panel, which had been set up by that Committee to monitor, review and scrutinise the Council's internal audit function, should become a sub-committee of the proposed new Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee whose members would decide how such work should be carried out. |
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It was reported that a significant proposal in the report was that there should be no bar on Members being able to sit on both a Board and an Overview and Scrutiny Committee, should they so wish. As a result, clear guidance and advice would be required to enable Councillors to assess whether or not they could be involved in scrutiny of a decision or matter considered by a Service Board of which they were a member. This issue could be developed as part of best practice and included in an overview and scrutiny handbook. |
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Members noted that the Policy and Organisation Overview and Scrutiny Committee had also agreed to recommend to Council that where a request was made for scrutiny of a Chairman's decision to delegate a matter to officers (e.g. following a pre-agenda meeting and the publication of the 'key decision' list), the decision should not be implemented, or the officer be able to make a decision, until such time as the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had considered the matter whilst, at the same time, being mindful that there might be exceptions to ensure that the Council was able to conduct its business efficiently and, in particular, to comply with statutory and contractual requirements. |
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The Committee recognised that the proposed changes to the Personnel Sub Board powers of delegation were essential and it was imperative that amendments made as soon as possible. |
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There were no further comments made by Members on the changes to the Constitution proposed in the Borough Solicitor's report or on the recommendations of the Policy and Organisation Overview and Scrutiny Committee. |
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RESOLVED: That |
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(a) the comments received so far on the operation of the Constitution, as set out in Appendix 3 to the report, be noted; |
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(b) the proposed amendments referred to in Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the report and those set out in Appendix 2 to the report, be approved; |
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(c ) the proposed amendments, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved; and |
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(d) Council be recommended to approve the amendments as set out in the Borough Solicitor's report, having regard to comments received as a result of consultation with this Committee and the Policy and Organisation Overview and Scrutiny Committee. |
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6. |
FUTURE WORK AREAS FOR THE COMMITTEE |
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The Borough Solicitor submitted a report highlighting some areas of work on which the Committee might wish to focus during the year. |
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There would be consultation on a further stage of the Constitution review and in the light of new regulations and guidance being provided by the Standards Board for England, the Committee would need to consider some of the elements of the Constitution in advance of that consultation, in particular, the procedures for dealing with complaints and misconduct against Members of the Council. |
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Other areas of work would include consideration of Codes of Conduct, training and development for Members, the new legislation and other matters relating to the Ethical Framework. |
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The Borough Solicitor also advised the Committee that there was a wealth of information that could be accessed from the Standard Board's website. |
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RESOLVED: That the future work areas for the Committee be noted. |
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7. |
NEW ETHICAL FRAMEWORK REGULATIONS |
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The Committee considered a report by the Borough Solicitor advising Members of the regulations being issued by the Government on the new ethical framework, under the provisions of the Local Authorities (Code of Conduct) (Local Determination) Regulations 2003. The regulations set out the regime within which local Conduct and Standards Committees were able to consider reports on alleged councillors' misconduct completed by the Ethical Standards Officer and referred to the Council's Monitoring Officer. |
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The Standards Board for England were proposing to issue guidance to Conduct and Standards Committees shortly and the Borough Solicitor would prepare a further report once the guidance had been issued. |
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A copy of the new regulations would be placed in the Members' Room and an article would be prepared for inclusion in the Members' Information Bulletin. |
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RESOLVED: That the provisions of the new regulations be noted and that, in due course, the Borough Solicitor and Monitoring Officer submits a further report on this issue, including proposals for training. |
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CHAIRMAN |
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