ITEM CC7(b)
COUNTY COUNCIL – 1 APRIL 2008
POLITICAL BALANCE ON COMMITTEES AND APPOINTMENTS
Report by the Assistant Head of Legal & Democratic Services
Introduction
1. The Council is required by the Local Government & Housing Act 1989 annually to appoint "at least one scrutiny committee, a Standards Committee and such other committees as the Council considers appropriate", to review the political balance on committees and to appoint members to the committees. This should be done at its annual meeting or "as soon as practicable" after that meeting. The note at Annex 1 (download as .doc file) summarises how the rules on political balance on committees operate.
Review
2. A schedule is attached at Annex 2 (download as .doc file) which shows the composition of the Council’s current committees which was agreed by the Council at the meeting on 2 April 2007 (subject to subsequent amendments) and which currently applies. The base figures in the schedule are the arithmetical product of the political balance formula for the number of seats on each committee; these are annotated with the adjustments agreed by the Council last year in order to comply with the over-riding requirements as to balance across the committees and the preservation of a majority on each individual committee for the majority group.
3. The initial formula calculations were based on a standard scrutiny committee size of 10. The larger committee size shown in Annex 2 for the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committees was agreed in June 2006 as part of the adjustments referred to above.
4. The schedule at Annex 3 (download as .doc file) shows the effect of the political balance formula based on the sizes of the four groups following the by-elections on 13 March 2008 (which resulted in the election of one Liberal Democrat member and one Independent member) and the resignation of Councillor Mrs Hastings on 6 March 2008. Again, the base figures show the arithmetical product of the formula. The impact of the change in political balance is limited, but the following effects are drawn to the Council’s attention:
(a) To obtain balance across the scrutiny committees and overall, the Conservative Group must lose one seat and the Green Group must lose two seats. The three ‘unfilled’ seats must be offered to the Independent members. This is similar to the position last year when the Green Group chose the Community Safety and Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committees on which to make the necessary adjustments.
(b) To obtain balance across the other committees of the Council and overall, the Labour Group must lose one place and this ‘unfilled’ seat along with another ‘unfilled’ seat must be offered to the Independent members. Last year the Labour Group gave up a seat on the Democracy & Organisation Committee.
Options
5. The issues for decision therefore revolve around the need for an adjustment offering ‘unfilled’ seats to the Independent Members (4(a) and (b) above). For three of these seats, it would make sense to continue the arrangement agreed last year for the Green Group to give up its seat on the Community Safety and Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committees and for the Labour Group to give up its seat on the Democracy & Organisation Committee.
6. This still leaves the Conservative Group needing to identify a scrutiny committee on which to give up a seat, and an unfilled seat on the Pension Fund Committee, both of which must be offered to the Independent Members.
Appointments
7. A schedule showing the committees to which appointments are to be made, with nominations where these are already known, will be circulated at the Council meeting. The pattern of seats shown on the committees will reflect the comments above and the recommendations that follow.
8. Subject to the decisions on those issues the Council must give effect to the Groups’ wishes in appointing individual members to the available seats.
RECOMMENDATIONS
9. The Council is RECOMMENDED to:
(a) confirm continuation for the 2008/9 Council Year of the existing scrutiny committees, Standards Committee and other committees listed in Annex 2; and
(b) agree the political balance on committees shown in Annex 3 to the report, subject to the following adjustments (or such other adjustments as the Council may determine):
(1) retention of the existing "10-councillor" option for the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee with the Conservative Group allocation (and accordingly the total number of councillor seats) augmented by three;
(2) an adjustment whereby the Conservative Group gives up a seat on a scrutiny committee as the Council may agree;
(3) a further adjustment whereby the Green Group gives up a seat on two scrutiny committees as the Council may agree;
(4) allocation of the Conservative Group and Green Group seats at (2) and (3) above to the Independent Members; and
(5) a further adjustment whereby the Labour Group give up a seat on such other committee as the Council may agree, and this is offered to the Independent Members; and
(6) allocation of the ‘unfilled’ seat on the Pension Fund Committee as the Council may agree;
(c) appoint to committees the councillors and co-opted members shown in Annex 2, subject to any further nominations made by the date of the meeting.
TONY CLOKE Assistant Head of Legal & Democratic Services
Background Papers: Nil
Contact Officer: Tony Cloke, Assistant Head of Legal & Democratic Services Tel: (01865) 815314
March 2008
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