To consider the suggested amendments to the council’s constitution proposed by the re-thinking governance working group for recommendation to Council.

Update, 21 January 2022:

As referenced in Appendix 1 – Constitution change tracker, page 129 of the agenda reports pack, the planning code and guidance documents have been combined to create one document.  Please now find ‘The Planning Rules and Code’ attached as both clean and tracked change versions for consideration by the committee.

The committee considered a report on the suggested amendments to the council’s constitution proposed by the re-thinking governance working group for recommendation to Council; ‘The Planning Rules and Code’ were issued in supplement 1 to the agenda.

On behalf of the committee, the chairperson thanked the re-thinking governance working group for the work that had been undertaken and explained that a workshop had been held for committee members on the amendments.

The director of governance and law introduced the report, the principal points included: in 2019, Council had resolved to review its governance arrangements and had subsequently resolved to retain and improve the cabinet model of governance; the guiding principles were outlined and it was confirmed that these had been applied throughout the process; the key changes were outlined, including the introduction of a new scrutiny management board, an annual effectiveness review of committees, and revisions to the public questions procedure; the audit and governance committee functions were being examined in view of new guidance and would be presented to a future meeting; the planning rules and code had been combined; adjustments had been made to the employment panel functions; and various other changes had been made, as shown in the tracked changes documents appended to the report.

The interim head of legal services provided an overview of the changes that had been made following the workshop, including in relation to: the composition of each committee; the responsibilities of the scrutiny management board; the role of a scrutiny committee; joint arrangements; scrutiny committee and management board remits; the audit and governance committee functions; the glossary that was being developed; the retention of the wording as drafted for ‘who may sit in a scrutiny committee?’; the planning rules and code; and the employment rules.

The director of governance and law also outlined a number of operational changes that were planned to take place, including revisions to the council’s forward plan, scrutiny web pages, and key decision consultation process.

The main points made during the discussion included:

i.             Individual officers and individual members were thanked for their considerable efforts in support of this project.

ii.            It was commented that all political groups should be engaged in the ongoing work.

iii.          In response to a question about the ability of a chairperson to reject a supplementary question (paragraph 5.8.23, agenda page 294), the director of governance and law said that the wording ‘on any of the grounds detailed in the section above’ could be reinstated.

iv.          It was suggested that the audit and governance committee functions could be considered at a special meeting of the committee in February 2022.  The director of governance and law confirmed that the section was a standalone document; therefore, the documents presented at this committee meeting could be recommended to full Council for adoption.

v.           The chairperson expressed concerns about the resourcing of the new committees, commented on the need for sufficient project management, and suggested that further consideration be given to the resourcing to ensure that the new arrangements could start in a positive, proactive and successful way.  The director of governance and law said that it was planned that there would be dedicated resource to support this work.

Resolved:       That

a)           having regard to the work undertaken by the re-thinking governance working group, the revised constitution as set out at appendices 1 to 27 of the agenda pack, plus the Planning Rules and Code included in supplement 1 to the agenda and subject to the reinstatement of the words ‘on any of the grounds detailed in the section above’ in constitution paragraph 5.8.23 (as shown on agenda page 294), be recommended to full Council for adoption, with implementation with effect from 20 May 2022; and

b)          authority be delegated to the director of governance and law to make technical amendments (grammatical, formatting, and consistency) necessary to finalise the revised constitution.