Agenda item

3.35 pm

Report by Director of Law and Governance

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

1.     Note the progress of the Working Group made to date and the areas to be covered in the report to be delivered by 31 July 2022.

2.     Approve, in principle, the idea that the Working Group should continue its work after 31 July 2022.

The Audit & Governance Committee considered a report by the Director of Law and Governance recommending that the Committee –

1.     Note the progress of the Working Group made to date and the areas to be covered in the report to be delivered by 31 July 2022.

2.     Approve, in principle, the idea that the Working Group should continue its work after 31 July 2022.

Anita Bradley, Director of Law and Governance, presented the report. In so doing, she noted that it was a recommendation of the Working Group that, at the conclusion of the current review, the Council’s constitution should be kept under review as part of an ongoing process.

The Chair noted that, should Councillor Pressel be elected Chair of the Council, she would be stepping back from her role as Chair of the Constitutional Review Working Group, which had a further six meetings scheduled for the current municipal year.

The Chair asked, as Deputy Chair of the Constitutional Review Working Group, that the appreciation by Members of the Working Group for the time spent and commitment of officers in assisting the Working Group be recorded in the minutes.

The Chair agreed with the recommendations of the Monitoring Officer, Anita Bradley, that the work of the Working Group should, in future, be more focused and that there be a review of the work of the Working Group in the autumn. The Chair went on to say she anticipated there would be a final report by the Working Group to Council in July of this year.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Audit & Governance Committee would take place after the July meeting of Full Council. Therefore, the Chair asked if Members wished to have sight of a further report before the final report by the Working Group was submitted to Council.

In the subsequent discussion, the following points were made.

(a)  It was proposed that the Monitoring Officer, Anita Bradley, be given delegated authority to circulate the Constitution Review Working Group’s (the Group) conclusions and recommendations to Members of the Audit & Governance Committee ahead of the Group’s report to Council in July this year.

(b)  That it was preferable not to delay reporting to Full Council as officers were anxious to implement some of the proposed revisions to the Council’s Constitution, such as the Contract Procurement Rules.

(c)   The Chair proposed that, regarding the second Recommendation viz

“[To] Approve, in principle, the idea that the Working Group should continue its work after 31 July 2022”,

this be amended to read, as follows –

“Recommend to Full Council that –

1.     The Constitution Review Working Group (“the Working Group”) be reconstituted later in the year at a time to be determined by the Audit & Governance Committee;

2.     That the Working Group –

(a)  Be tasked by the Audit & Governance Committee to review specific sections of the Constitution; and

(b)  That the Working Group –

·       Report the findings of its review; and

·       Make appropriate recommendations,

 to a meeting of Full Council in 2023, the date of the Council meeting at which to report its findings and 70’s recommendations to be determined by the Working Group.

RESOLVED: To approve the report’s recommendations, as amended.