Agenda and minutes

Rescheduled Meeting, Constitution, Ethics and Probity Committee - Monday 24th March, 2014 7.00 pm

Venue: Hendon Town Hall, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BQ. View directions

Contact: Chidilim Agada 020 8359 2037 Email: chidilim.agada@barnet.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes of last meeting

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2014 be approved as a correct record.

2.

Absence of Members (If any)

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Melvin Cohen for whom Councillor Quigley Turner substituted.  Councillor Scannell as Vice Chairman was in the role of Chair for the meeting.

3.

Declaration of Members' Disclosable Pecuniary interests and Non Pecuniary interests (If any)

Minutes:

There were none.

4.

Public Question Time (If any)

Minutes:

There were none.

5.

Members' Items (If any)

Minutes:

There were none.

6.

Constitution Development pdf icon PDF 232 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Governance introduced the report. 

 

RESOLVED

 

(1)   The Committee having considered the proposed changes to the Constitution as set out in the report, agreed that the below changes be recommended to full Council for adoption:

 

(2)   That Officers be instructed make the required amendments to the proposed Constitution for inclusion in the papers for Full Council to consider and approve on 8 April 2014.

 

 

No

Section

Reference (papers submitted to  Committee)

Changes contained within Document

Recommendation to Full Council

1

Responsibility for Functions

Appendix A Pages 25 to 56

1) Policy and Resources Committee (P&R)

 

a) Internal Transformation:

P&R has responsibility for internal transformation programmes.  Consideration has been given to the involvement of thematic committees prior to P&R decision as most projects arising out of transformation programmes are likely to have specific themes (e.g. Parking Policy, Early Years Review). 

 

It is therefore suggested that an addition is made to the Terms of Reference for each theme committee to recognise their role:

– “Discussion of transformation schemes not in service plans but not outside the Council’s budget or policy framework”

 

Treasury Management:

Amend table under heading (2) to say ‘Treasury Management Strategy’ as ‘activity’ will be included within reports to Performance and Contract Management Committee

 

Procurement:

Add ‘Corporate Procurement (including agreement of the Procurement Forward Plan and agreeing exceptions to CPRs)’, as this is a Resources issue rather than one relating to the performance of existing contracts.

 

Barnet Group:

Delete (6) and move the following: ‘approve Annual Report of the Barnet Group Ltd’ as this sits better with Performance and Contract Management, relating to the activities of an external Delivery Unit. Approval of the budget and business plan remains with P&R.

 

NOTE: There is an additional recommended addition to the terms of reference contained within the report elsewhere on this agenda in respect of the Joint Venture agreement.

 

Performance & Contract Management

 

  1. Item (2) in the terms of reference only covers external delivery units.  It should also include internal delivery units (Adults & Communities; Children’s, Education & Skills; Street Scene; Public Health; Commissioning Group; Assurance).  Recommended amendments to the ToR are as follows:

“Monitoring of performance against targets by Delivery Units and Support Groups including: Customer Support Group; Re; The Barnet Group Ltd (including Barnet Homes and Your Choice Barnet); HB Public Law; NSL; Adults & Communities; Family Services; Education & Skills; Street Scene; Public Health; Commissioning Group; and Assurance”

 

  1. Subject to the approval of the amendment to Item (2) above, Item (3) will need to be amended to refer to external delivery units only

 

  1. Item (5) – Thematic committees will be able to agree resources subject to these being approved within the budget and MTFS, and should have responsibility for approving contract extensions, variations etc. as long as they are within budget and compliant with the rules around extensions, variations etc. as set out in the CPRs. This has been incorporated within the Contract Procedure Rules. P&R will be required to approve a waiver of CPRs for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Joint Venture Board and Constitutional Additions pdf icon PDF 149 KB

Minutes:

The Commercial and Customer Services Director introduced the report. 

 

RESOLVED

 

(1)     That the below proposals contained within the report be included in the drafting of the Constitution:

 

As Cabinet will no longer exist under the new governance arrangements post 2nd June 2014, for the List of Reserved Matters from the Joint Venture Agreement that require consent, the consent to agree any reserved matter except for item 8.1.31 (agreement not to pursue a bid) be added to the Policy and Resources Committee Terms of Reference as item 10 of the specific responsibilities.

 

            Under certain circumstances, Clauses 18.3 and 18.4 of the Joint Venture  agreement (Appendix B), the Council is obliged to give agreement to the JVCo not to bid as soon as reasonably possible and in any event within 5 business days.  Due to this contractual timescale, that this specific task is delegated to the Strategic Director for Growth and Environment in consultation with the Chairman of  Policy & Resources Committee and a summary of such decisions be presented to the next  Policy and Resources Committee for information.

 

(2)     That Officers be instructed make the required additions to the Constitution for recommendation to Full Council.

 

8.

Any other item(s) that the Chairman decides are urgent

Minutes:

There were none.

9.

Vote of Thanks

Minutes:

It being the last meeting of the municipal year 2013/2014, Councillor Joan Scannell as Acting Chairman, thanked all members of the Committee and the Officers for their hard work in carrying out the work of the Committee.

 

Councillor Richard Cornelius on behalf of the Committee thanked the Chairman, Councillor Melvin Cohen, for the effective way he had conducted the meetings of the Committee in 2013/2014 and also thanked the Vice Chairman, Councillor Joan Scannell.