Agenda and draft minutes

Constitution Working Group - Tuesday, 9th July, 2024 7.00 pm

Venue: Committee Room 2, Civic Offices, New Road, Grays, Essex, RM17 6SL. View directions

Contact: Rhiannon Whiteley, Senior Democratic Services Officer  Email: direct.democracy@thurrock.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

11.

Nomination of Chair

Minutes:

Councillor Watson nominated Councillor Worrall as Chair. This was agreed by all members present. The nomination of Vice Chair will be dealt with at the next meeting.

 

12.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Councillor G Coxshall

13.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 89 KB

To approve as a correct record the notes of the Constitution Working Group meeting held on 26 March 2024.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2024 were approved as a correct record.

14.

Items of Urgent Business

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

15.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

No interests were declared.

16.

Chapter 4 - Overview and Scrutiny pdf icon PDF 209 KB

Minutes:

The Head of Democratic, Scrutiny and Member Services introduced the amended Overview and Scrutiny chapter of the Constitution. The Chapter had been drafted by CIPFA and signed off by the CfGS. The chapter also reinforces the Protocol drafted by CfGS which had received member input. The Head of Democratic, Scrutiny and Member Services highlighted that there were some small amendments that he had identified as follows: -

 

·       Paragraph 2.5 there are 11 members in the Overview and Scrutiny Committees this year to reflect political balance as agreed at Annual Council. The meeting agreed amended wording that membership would normally be 10 members but this was to be agreed at Annual Council every year.

·       The rules state that meetings will be every month and this should be changed to every 6 weeks.

·       Paragraph 10.1 should be amended for consistency to state that the duration of the meetings should be 2.5 hours and not 2 hours in line with other Committee meetings.

The meeting discussed the use of Sub-Committees and Task and Finish groups. The Head of Democratic, Scrutiny and Member Services outlined that the current team could support a maximum of two Task and Finish groups per Overview and Scrutiny Committee at any one time. This requires practical management, prioritising and considering whether the work can be completed via another means than a Task and Finish Group.

 

At paragraph 14 Councillor Worrall queried the power to require members and officers to attend to answer questions at an Overview and Scrutiny meeting and how much notice would be given. The Executive Director of Corporate Services and Monitoring Officer recommended that five days’ notice or earlier if agreed by the Member or Officer.

 

Councillor Fish queried the wording at 5.1 (a) and the meaning of ‘extraordinary circumstances’. The Executive Director of Corporate Services and Monitoring Officer stated that he would need to have a look at the wording of that paragraph.

 

Councillor Fish queried paragraph 10.2 as it was contradictory. The meeting agreed paragraph b is to removed and paragraph c will become b.

 

In relation to paragraph 10.3, Councillor Fish queried how long members would be allowed to speak. The Head of Democratic, Scrutiny and Member Services responded that this would be at the Chairs prerogative and a time did not need to be stipulated but normally 3 -5 minutes would be considered reasonable.

 

Paragraph 23.3, Rule 28 needs to be cross referenced in the constitution. The Executive Director of Corporate Services and Monitoring Officer advised that this could be changed to state the Access to Information rules to safeguard against further changes to the constitution meaning Rule 28 is no longer Rule 28.

The meeting discussed how a Chair could be removed as Chair from an Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The Executive Director of Corporate Services and Monitoring Officer confirmed this would need to be by Full Council.

 

Councillor Worrall queried why the Chair of a Committee can no longer make a Call-in. The Head of Democratic, Scrutiny and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.