Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2015 be approved as a correct record.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

·         Councillor Melvin Cohen (who was substituted for by Councillor Anthony Finn); and

·         Councillor Joan Scannell who was substituted for by Councillor Sachin Rajput).

There were none.

There was none.

There were none.

Councillor Richard Cornelius introduced the Member’s item in his name which requested the committee to consider the matter set out in paragraph 1.1 of the report.  He advised the committee that he wished to amend his original recommendation as follows:

“No vacant posts at Assistant Director level or above shall be advertised or recruited to without prior Committee approval and all new posts at Assistant Director level or above shall be created by committee decision and not by delegated powers.”

The Committee discussed the proposal set out in the report. Councillor Cornelius advised the committee that the intention was that when senior posts became vacant or new posts were proposed these could be considered by General Functions Committee, Policy and Resources Committee or Urgency Committee.

RESOLVED that officers be instructed to draft proposed changes to the Constitution for Council consideration on 4 April 2016 to give effect that “No vacant posts at Assistant Director level or above shall be advertised or recruited to without prior Committee approval and all new posts at Assistant Director level or above shall be created by committee decision and not by delegated powers.”

The Monitoring Officer presented a report which asked the Committee to take the next steps in implementing the decision of Full Council on 8 December 2015 in relation to the appointment of a panel of Independent Persons.

The Monitoring Officer clarified that the proposals are for the recruitment of a pool, not a panel, of up to four independent persons, and confirmed that the first recommendation would be amended to reflect this.  The Committee were advised that independent persons would sit as a non-voting chairman of the Standards Committee or sit on a disciplinary panel in the event of the proposed dismissal of the Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer or Chief Finance Officer. 

The Committee noted that legislation enabled the council to extend the appointment of the existing Independent Members who had supported the former Group Leaders Panel.

In reviewing the Recruitment Pack attached at Appendix 1, the Committee agreed the following changes:

In the section titled ‘The role as an Independent Person requires someone who…’ amend:

·         Bullet point 5 to read “is able to make reasoned judgments based on evidence or information presented and explain reasons for their judgment”

·         Bullet point 6 to read “possesses good questioning skills”

·         Bullet point 7 “demonstrates assertiveness”

In the section titled ‘You cannot be an Independent Person if you are…’ amend: Bullet point 2 to add at the end of the sentence “…or held these positions within the last five years”.

RESOLVED that:

1.     A pool of up to four potential Independent Persons should be selected for recommendation to Council.

2.     The recruitment pack for advertisement, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report and as amended above, be approved.

3.     Advertising be approved as per Option 2, as set out in paragraph 1.5 of the report.

4.     The composition of the Interview Panel is comprised of the Monitoring Officer and one member from each party to be drawn from the membership of the Constitution Ethics and Probity Committee.

5.     The level of remuneration to recommend to Council to pay the Independent Person be approved as per Option 3 in paragraph 1.8 and the Members Scheme of Allowances be amended.

6.     The period of appointment for the Independent Person be as per Option 2 in paragraph 9.

7.     The Monitoring Officer be given delegated authority to finalise the recruitment pack and make the necessary arrangements to advertise the positions and schedule the interviews for the Independent Persons, in consultation with the Chairman of Constitution, Ethics and Probity Committee.

The Monitoring Officer introduced the report.

Councillor Barry Rawlings MOVED an amendment to make a change to Public Participation and Engagement, Rule 3.2 as follows: delete “…10am on the second clear working day prior to the meeting” and replace with “…10am on the third working day prior to the meeting”. The reason for the amendment being to make the wording consistent with that used in the public questions deadline to avoid causing confusion to the public.

Upon being put to the VOTE the amendment was declared carried.

Councillor Barry Rawlings MOVED as follows:

“Main Committees and Member Working Groups established by Committees:

1.    That CEP agrees to formalise member working groups established by Committees in the constitution so access to information rules apply to them.

2.    That the number of main committees are reduced, to help free up resources for this, from 8 to 4 as follows:

·         Merge Assets Regeneration and Growth, Housing & Environment Committees

·         Merge Adults & Safeguarding and Children Education Libraries and Safeguarding Committees

·         Merge Community Leadership & Policy and Resources Committees

3.    That Officers bring back proposals to enact this within the Constitution.”

Upon being put to the VOTE the motion was declared LOST. Votes were recorded as follows:

Councillor Richard Cornelius MOVED an amendment to Article 9 (Chief Officers), section 9.01 (c) (Statutory Officers).  It was proposed that the words “(works with Members and the Strategic Commissioning Board to deliver the council’s themes)” be deleted after the wording “Head of Paid Service” in the ‘Statutory Designation’ column of the table.

Upon being put to the VOTE the amendment was declared carried.

Following consideration of the report the Chairman moved to the vote on the remaining recommendations.

Councillor Barry Rawlings MOVED that proposal no. 2 from the Constitution Review report (relating to the referral of Area Committee Budget applications) be deleted.  Upon being put to the VOTE the motion was declared LOST. Votes were recorded as follows:

RESOLVED –

1.     That the Committee recommend to Council a change to Public Participation and Engagement, Rule 3.2: Public Comments to delete “10am on the second clear working day prior to the meeting” and replace with “10am on the third working day prior to the meeting”.

2.     That the Committee recommend to Council a change to Article 9 (Chief Officers), section 9.01 (c) (Statutory Officers) after ‘Head of Paid Service’ to delete the words “…(works with Members and the Strategic Commissioning Board to deliver the council’s themes)”

3.     That the Committee recommend to Council that the Constitution be amended to incorporate the changes set out in the table below and the track change versions attached at Appendix A to Appendix E.

The Monitoring Officer introduced the report which summarised the outcomes of the Committee System and Constitution Review.

RESOLVED that the committee note the outcomes of the review.

There were none.