Council and democracy

To approve as a correct record the minutes of General Services Committee meeting held on 7 February 2022.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of General Services Committee meeting held on 10 February 2022.

The minutes of the General Services Committee held on the 7 February 2022 were approved as a correct record.

The minutes of the General Services Committee held on the 10 February 2022 were approved as a correct record.

To receive additional items that the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business.

There were no declarations of interest.

The report presented to Members set out the background and discussions of the recent review of the constitution by the Constitution Working Group and recommended that those findings be presented to Council on the 29 June 2022. The Constitution Working Group would meet again in August 2022 to discuss the next stages.

Councillor Worrall referred to the second row of the box displayed on page 88 and questioned why “and Finance” had been strikethrough. Members would be updated once clarification had been sought from the contracts team.

Councillor Gledhill referred to the paragraphs dealing with the cancellation or arrangement of extraordinary meetings and asked that “he/she – his/her” be amended to reflect a more specific title.

Councillor J Kent commented that the Constitution Working Group had undertaken a good job and had not disagreed with anything in the report to be taken forward. Councillor J Kent stated it would have been useful this evening to have had sight of the Corporate Peer Report to see how the changes and recommendations would be scrutinised. Councillor J Kent also referred to the issue of the security of member emails and elected members needed to be told, when possible, that their emails were being looked at. Those rights should be in the constitution and should form part of the next set of work of the Constitution Working Group and report back to this committee at a later stage. Councillor Gledhill seconded Councillor J Kent comment and stated the rules should be in place to notify members and be signed off similarly to the ED2 process.

Councillor Worrall stated more information would be required for her to participate in the next meeting planned for August 2022. The next stages of the work being undertaken by the Constitution Working Group would need to look at the different committee structures, reports to be presented at the right time and needed to have sight of the scrutiny report rather than the action plan. Councillor Worrall suggested to aid with the modelling process a visit to Southend on Sea Council would be a good idea to watch their members and speak with committee chairs.

Councillor Massey generally agreed with the report and the positive work being undertaken and for the need for email privacy.

Councillor Gledhill thanked officers for the report and with a few points to pick up, members agreed the recommendations.

RESOLVED:

1.        General Services Committee recommended that Full Council:

           Agree or note (where the amendment is a consequential amendment) the amendments supported by the Constitution Working Group listed at numbers 1 to 17 in Appendix 1, namely to:

Procedure Rules: (a) Remove Portfolio Holder reports from Full Council and give Overview and Scrutiny Committees the role of receiving these reports. (b) Allow Portfolio Holders/relevant committee Chair to acknowledge a petition upon presentation at Council. (c) Extend the time for Member Questions at Full Council to 45 minutes. Page 9 Agenda Item 5. (d) Clarify rules so that the Mayor or Chair of committee agrees to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Paperwork for this item will follow under separate cover.

The Committee considered the longlist for the roles of Assistant Director Legal and Monitoring Officer, as well as the Assistant Director Regeneration & Place Delivery.

RESOLVED:

1.       Six candidates for Assistant Director Legal and Monitoring Officer to be progressed.

2.       Eight candidates for Assistant Director Regeneration & Place Delivery to be progressed.