Issue - meetings

To approve the recommended changes to the Constitution for referral onto Full Council following a review undertaken by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Governance through a Working Party constituted for this purpose.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

1.      RECOMMENDS TO COUNCIL:

(a)    that the Council’s Constitution be amended to reflect the proposed changes as set out in the Portfolio Holder’s report and the appendices attached hereto;

(b)    that the previously approved provisions (i) and (ii), as set out below, should be discontinued:-

(i)    Members who were following the proceedings of a meeting via the public ‘live stream’ should inform Officers that they were doing so via an email to democratic services or to the contact Officer listed on the agenda for that meeting and that they should send a second email when they have ceased to follow the proceedings; and

(ii)   in order for that attendance referred to in (i) above to ‘count’ such attendance must be for a minimum period of time e.g. 30 minutes.

(c)    that all changes come into effect on 28^th April 2021 i.e. the day after the Annual Meeting of the Council.

2.      RESOLVES that:

(a)    the Standards Committee be requested to examine whether a change to the Members’ Code of Conduct is required in relation to Members’ Declarations of Interest in virtual meetings and that, in the meantime, the Monitoring Officer be requested to issue a guidance note to Members to re-iterate that Members should adhere to Paragraph 9 of the Code and should withdraw from the meeting connection/link at the appropriate juncture; and

(b)    the views and wishes expressed by the Review of the Constitution Portfolio Holder Working Party in relation to Members’ training and development be endorsed and that the Head of Democratic Services & Elections be requested to take all necessary action to implement those wishes as soon as possible.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a detailed report of the Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder (A.5) which sought its approval for the recommended changes to the Constitution for referral onto Full Council following a review undertaken by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Governance through a Working Party constituted for this purpose.

It was reported that the main proposals covered a number of miscellaneous amendments to the Council Procedure Rules, Article 10 of the Constitution and the Property Dealing Procedure in order to ensure the Council’s Constitution remained effective, efficient and consistent at an operational level. The key changes to each of those documents were highlighted within the body of the Portfolio Holder’s report.

A summary of the proposed changes compared to the existing Parts of the Constitution was provided under each heading in the Current Position section of the report and in each case, the content had been revised to provide greater clarity, ensure effectiveness and efficient up to date working practices for both Members and Officers and also to ensure it was in accordance with legislation, where necessary.

Having considered the contents of the report and its appendices:-

It was moved by Councillor G V Guglielmi, seconded by Councillor McWilliams and:-

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

1.      RECOMMENDS TO COUNCIL:

(a)    that the Council’s Constitution be amended to reflect the proposed changes as set out in the Portfolio Holder’s report and the appendices attached hereto;

(b)    that the previously approved provisions (i) and (ii), as set out below, should be discontinued:-

(i)    Members who were following the proceedings of a meeting via the public ‘live stream’ should inform Officers that they were doing so via an email to democratic services or to the contact Officer listed on the agenda for that meeting and that they should send a second email when they have ceased to follow the proceedings; and

(ii)   in order for that attendance referred to in (i) above to ‘count’ such attendance must be for a minimum period of time e.g. 30 minutes.

(c)    that all changes come into effect on 28^th April 2021 i.e. the day after the Annual Meeting of the Council.

2.      RESOLVES that:

(a)    the Standards Committee be requested to examine whether a change to the Members’ Code of Conduct is required in relation to Members’ Declarations of Interest in virtual meetings and that, in the meantime, the Monitoring Officer be requested to issue a guidance note to Members to re-iterate that Members should adhere to Paragraph 9 of the Code and should withdraw from the meeting connection/link at the appropriate juncture; and

(b)    the views and wishes expressed by the Review of the Constitution Portfolio Holder Working Party in relation to Members’ training and development be endorsed and that the Head of Democratic Services & Elections be requested to take all necessary action to implement those wishes as soon as possible.