To agree arrangements and a timetable for undertaking a review of governance models in compliance with a resolution passed by Council on 11 October 2019.

The solicitor to the council presented the report and highlighted:

·         This follows a motion from council held on 12 October 2019.

·         The design principles were agreed by council

·         The CfPS guidance sets out the number of steps to take.

·         There will be a recommendation to Council in October 2020 and following that recommendations for any changes to the Constitution would be drafted in readiness for the May 2021 Council.

During the discussion of the item, the following was highlighted: 

·         A progress report to the audit and governance committee meeting in March 2020 would be helpful.

·         The review of the effectiveness of partnerships would be useful.

·         The experiences of other councils in changing governance models would be considered by the working group. 

·         The solicitor to the council (monitoring officer) had delegated authority to make legal, grammatical and technical changes to the Constitution.   A log of these changes was now available on the website. 

There was one urgent item in the current Constitution which needed review.   This was how public and member questions were dealt with at scrutiny committees.   The solicitor to the council had consulted with the scrutiny chairs and their preferred option for dealing with questions was option 2 in paragraph 12 of the report.  The committee  confirmed that they would like to receive a report on the proposed amendments to the scrutiny questions for the January 2020 committee meeting.   Any changes would then be recommended to Council for adoption at the February or March 2020 meeting. 

It was confirmed that the planning rules and guidance was one area that also needed to be reviewed but this would covered as part of any recommendations to Council in October 2020. 

RESOLVED

That

(a)     the timetable and arrangements for the review of the council’s models of governance, as set out at appendix 2, are approved;

(b)     the scope of the review incorporates the effectiveness of our partnerships governance arrangements in meeting the guiding principles and the impacts of any recommendations on partners;

(c)     the planned biennial review of the constitution is not progressed pending the outcome of the review of models of governance; and

(d)     the committee receive a report in January 2020 setting out the proposed amendments to the process for public and member questions at scrutiny set out in paragraph 12, option 2, of the report and, as necessary, recommends that changes to Council; and

(e)     the committee receive a progress report from the review of governance models working group in March 2020.