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ITEM EX15

EXECUTIVE – 1 OCTOBER 2002

DELEGATION ARRANGEMENTS

Report by Assistant Chief Executive, Director of Environmental Services and Acting Chief Education Officer

1. The Executive has indicated that it would wish to pursue arrangements for delegation in respect of certain operational matters in order to concentrate more on its strategic priorities. This report sets out proposals for bringing this about in the areas identified by the Executive as suitable for such delegation, ie:

• individual highway and traffic schemes;
• bus subsidy decisions;
• early years proposals.

2. The Constitution allows the Executive to arrange for the discharge of any of its functions by:

1. a committee of the Executive;
2. an individual member of the Executive; or
3. an officer.

3. In relation to B, however, the Executive has adopted a convention that in general, and with the exception of Community Safety, responsibility for matters within each Executive portfolio will be exercised jointly by the Executive "pair" which includes that portfolio. It is not believed to be legally possible for there to be formal delegation to two (or more) individual members unless constituted as a committee. However, either of the following would be legitimate alternatives:

1. a member of the Executive following consultation with the other member of the "pair";
2. an officer following consultation with one or both members of the "pair".

4. Options C and E are already widely used, both in the standing delegations set out in Section L of the Constitution and in one-off delegations where, for example, a need is identified for some subsequent action following initial consideration and decision by the full Executive.

Choosing between Options

5. Which of these options should be employed in particular situations is a matter of choice for the Executive. However, there are a number of factors that are likely to affect that choice. For example, for those issues where there will be a direct effect on individuals or a local community, there will be a particular need for transparency and public access in the procedure for the authority’s consideration of people's views. Option A – the committee - clearly satisfies this requirement.
6. The committee option can only operate through the formal meeting procedure, with full compliance with "access to information" requirements. All the other options offer more flexibility, with the opportunity to address issues as they arise. On the other hand, where the exercise of discretion is involved, none of the options dispenses with the need to document and publish the decision and the reasons for it properly, including the relevant background material that informed the decision*. It is also important to ensure that any option adopted is seen to be open to the formal scrutiny process – which applies to any decision taken by a committee or individual member of the Executive and also to any "key decision" taken by an officer.

Proposals

7. The table below shows the specific actions which it is suggested might be the subject of specific delegations within the framework already identified by the Executive, set against related existing officer delegations (see Section L of the Constitution for a more detailed list of delegated powers).

Individual Highway and Traffic Schemes
The Director of Environmental Services may at present promote and implement traffic management and road safety proposals subject, in the case of permanent measures, to any County Council expenditure being within budget/programme and to "any objections or other material representations ... being reported to the Executive for determination".	New delegation would be aimed at taking on responsibility for considering these "objections or other material representations". A high level of public interest and concern may be involved. It could also usefully cover other detailed highway and traffic authority matters which may fall outside the terms of the existing delegation, such as stopping up and diversion proposals and minor capital scheme implementation issues.
Bus Subsidy Decisions
At present the Director has power only to agree temporary subsidy to maintain commercial services which would otherwise be withdrawn, pending decision on possible "permanent" subsidy.	New delegation could extend to all subsidy decisions. Extensive local consultation is involved, and sometimes local controversy. Consideration normally needs to be in private to avoid prejudice to the tender process.
Early Years Proposals
This relates to specific proposals such as the development of early years units or incorporation of nursery classes in schools. Proposals have not been frequent and there is no specific delegation at present.	New delegation could assign responsibility for deciding individual proposals, including the consideration of the outcome of consultation and authorisation of formal processes and implementation.

8. The creation of a committee of the Executive to deal with individual highway and traffic schemes would clearly relieve the full Executive of a substantial amount of non-strategic business – although at the expense of an additional burden on the members concerned. This business would be likely to justify scheduling meetings at a frequency sufficient to avoid undue delay in processing individual proposals. On the basis of the number of schemes which have hitherto come before the Executive, this could involve meetings on a four or six week cycle.
9. The obvious membership of such a committee would be the Executive Members for Transport and Strategic Planning & Waste Management, whose remit also includes bus subsidy matters. These normally involve multiple decisions, for example on a review of services for a particular area of the County, and it is suggested that the same committee's terms of reference should extend to this area also. It would certainly appear sensible to avoid setting up a further series of meetings for dealing with subsidy matters. (This proposal, if agreed, would be likely to affect the programming of the committee’s meetings as subsidy decisions are normally time-critical.)
10. Any exercise of delegated powers by a committee is as much subject to the provisions of the Constitution as action by the Executive itself, in respect of, for example, rights of access and address for both interested members of the public (including the press) and councillors. This is explicit in the Executive Procedure Rules in the Constitution. It is not therefore thought necessary to create separate procedure rules, but it is suggested that certain basic rules and convention should be applied:

• delegation would be subject to compliance with the Council's and the Executive's policies, budget and programme;
• with a committee of only two, a meeting should be quorate only if both members are present;
• it will be necessary for certain procedural purposes for one of the members to agree to act as standing Chair/Chairman/Chairwoman;
• the relevant local member should be informed of any matter to be considered at a meeting of the committee;
• the Leader of the Council and Deputy Leader of the Council would have the right to attend and speak, and to act as substitutes for either or both of the "main" members as the need may arise;
• there should be a right on the part of either or both members of the committee to refer any matter up to the full Executive for determination.

11. The arguments for creation of a committee of the Executive to deal with early years proposals are less clear. They are likely to arise much less frequently and then as individual "one-off" issues. Whilst they may sometimes give rise to some controversy, it is expected that they will more often achieve a large measure of consensus. The Executive may therefore like to consider an arrangement whereby the appropriate officers would decide individual proposals in consultation with the relevant Executive Members (in this context, Children & Young People and Schools would seem appropriate) and local members. Care would need to be taken to document the decisions, and the views expressed by the members, in a structured way; and it is suggested that either of the Executive Members could require the delegation to be remitted to the full Executive in any case where he/she felt this was warranted on the basis of concerns expressed by consultees.

Financial and Staff Implications

12. Any financial implications of the procedures outlined in this report will be marginal and can be absorbed within existing budgets. The staffing effects for the reporting directorates should in theory be neutral compared with the existing arrangements. Servicing an additional committee will have some impact on Democratic Services; members are already aware of the pressure on that part of the organisation and the Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee have been asked by the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Group to consider this issue.

Scrutiny Views

13. Members of the Executive were keen to obtain the views of the Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee. The Committee was due to consider this report on 19 September – after the report had to be finalised for printing. Any comments on the Committee’s part will therefore be circulated separately.

    RECOMMENDATION

14. The Executive is RECOMMENDED, subject to consideration of any comments on the part of the Scrutiny Committee, to:

1. create a Transport Implementation Committee, comprising the Executive Members for Transport and Strategic Planning & Waste Management, to consider and determine:

1. individual local highway, traffic and parking matters, including the promotion and implementation of schemes within the ambit of the transport capital programme and the consideration of responses to consultation; and
2. support for individual public transport services, including the conduct of area reviews and the authorisation of the making, variation or termination of service subsidy agreements;

1. adopt the rules and conventions set out in the report for the operation of the Committee;
2. confirm the powers of the Director of Environmental Services to take action in relation to highway, traffic and parking matters where there are no material objections or representations which fall to be considered in relation to that matter;
3. authorise the Acting Chief Education Officer (or Director for Education when appointed), in consultation with the Executive Members for Children & Young People and Schools, to consider and determine individual proposals for the making or alteration of early years provision, including the promotion and implementation of schemes within the ambit of the relevant programmes and the consideration of responses to consultation, subject to:

1. positive notification to the local member(s) for each division directly affected by the schemes to be considered under this procedure to enable them to make their views known to both officers and Executive Members; and
2. a right on the part of either Executive Member to require the delegation to be remitted to the full Executive in any case where he/she feels this to be warranted on the basis of concerns expressed by consultees.

d. review these arrangements after 12 months of operation, or earlier if appearing to the Executive Members concerned to be expedient to do so.