Agenda item

The report presented to the committee on 29 September 2023 summarised the purpose and activities of the Future Council Governance. 

The Committee are RECOMMENDED to note the report.

The Chair welcomed Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak to the Committee as the chair of the Future Council Governance Group. The Director of Law and Governance, Anita Bradley, thanked all members of the Future Council Governance Group (FCGG) for their diligent work and made the Committee aware that the last meeting of the FCGG was on the 27^th November 2023.

Councillor Gawrysiak presented the findings of the FCGG and its recommendations to the Committee. He again praised the members of the group for their hard work and to Simon Harper, Head of Governance, for bringing the report together so quickly. Thanks were also noted for the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny for their advice and support during the work of the FCGG.

Thanks were given to Councillor Charlie Hicks for helping to set up meetings in Ljubljana, Slovenia and France to help the FCGG come to their conclusions.

Coming to the findings of the report, Councillor Gawrysiak explained how there was debate over changing the leadership system from a Leader with a Cabinet to a committee system, but that it was too late in the current term cycle but could take place in the aftermath of an election. It was noted that there was no appetite for changing the current model at present. 

Councillor Gawrysiak continued to inform the Committee about key issue of the need for increased scrutiny of young people and education. The recommendation from FCGG was for the establishment of an Education and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee. It was noted that there needed to be further discussions over the age range that the potential new committee would have overview of.

The Committee questioned whether the proposed Education and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee would have realised the extent of the ongoing SEND issues earlier. Councillor Gawrysiak indicated his personal view that it would have picked up the issues earlier but stressed that this was not the view of the Committee.

Furthermore, Committee Members noted that meetings and committees could cover many topics but did not dive in-depth into specific issues. Increased meetings could lead to greater scrutiny of topics. The Director of Law and Governance pointed out that the requirements of members should be accommodated when setting meetings as Councillors sit on other councils. The Vice-Chair of the Committee referenced the importance of increasing the number of meetings as essential to enable committees to carry out enhanced scrutiny and to be able to focus on specific areas and produce well-developed recommendations.

The Committee agreed with the recommendations for an extra Education and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee but believed that further consultation on the age range would be needed. The Director of Law and Governance outlined that the age range would be dependent on the different pieces of legislation and that Chairs would need to consider whether it is appropriate. The Chair also questioned how the transition between being a child and an adult needed to be reflected upon as it is one of the most challenging periods.

Issues rose relating to the increased costs of having more committees and the potential difficulties this could lead to for Committee Chairs. Moreover, it was pointed out by the Director of Law and Governance that it would not be beneficial if items were on the same agenda in separate committees. It was agreed that greater resources would be needed for greater scrutiny arrangements. Councillor Hannaby noted that greater liaison between the Chairs of committees would be helpful to avoid such issues.

Councillor Gawrysiak continued the discussion to highlight potential new roles of Deputy Cabinet Members. It was stressed that this was not a recommendation, but a suggestion for the Committee to consider. Councillor Gawrysiak proposed that certain Cabinet portfolios needed deputies to share out the workload, however, the Cabinet Advisory Group (CAG) could help to do this. The Chair stated that CAG was effective if they had a set goal at their outset. It was also pointed out that Deputy Cabinet Members could serve as a training path for future political careers, which would engage more people in the democratic process. It was re-iterated that the CAG was able to be set up by Councillors as part of the Constitution, but there were also financial constraints to manage.

The Committee was then informed about divided opinion that existed within the FCGG on citizen panels, which would increase engagement within the policy process through hearing the concerns of local citizens on certain issues once a year. However, it was noted that this could cause financial strain and thus, the recommendation to evaluate the costs and processes for a citizen’s panel in 2024/25 was put to the Committee, who noted it. The Committee agreed that political parties tend to politicise issues, so by raising issues in a participatory manner, there was more scope for constructiveness in working together to solve issues. Financial implications were again raised in the viability of using citizen panels as an effective way to improve the policy process.

The FCGG report highlighted how members valued the meetings which allowed them to meet with neighbouring divisions, council officers and constituents. Local stakeholders were invited to meetings at the discretion of the Chair, but it was felt that locality meetings were currently under-utilised. The recommendation from the FCGG was to reinvigorate locality meetings by inviting local stakeholders as necessary and undertake a wider review of locality working including the practicalities of some budgets being delegated. Members agreed that locality meetings were some of the best examples of productive working relationships to resolve issues with relevant stakeholders, stressing the non-political nature of meetings. One concern raised by members was the possible adverse impact of budgetary powers on locality meetings and whether it would detract from the cohesive nature of the decision-making process.

Lastly, Councillor Gawrysiak explained the process of embedding ‘futures planning’ across the Council, with the aim of it becoming an integral part of the decision-making process and scrutiny work plans. The Committee enthusiastically agreed with the proposal made by the FCGG, with the Vice-Chair stating how it needed to become the first point of consideration in policymaking.

The Director of Law and Governance then informed the Committee that it was their choice to accept all the recommendations, as well as noting that anything that impacted the Constitution would need to be approved by full Council. The Vice Chair and Councillor Elphinstone proposed that the full Council should be sent this full report to consider. The Director of Law and Governance (DLG) noted that some elements of the report could go to Council and others could go to the Cabinet, as budgetary matters sit within their purview. Furthermore, the DLG made the point that if another Scrutiny committee wished to be created, it would have to go to Council as the Cabinet does not have influence over scrutiny arrangements.

Councillor Leverton’s concern for the localities having budgetary powers was again noted. Discussion ensued over whether the full recommendations of the report should go to Council or to Cabinet. It was agreed that recommendation 2 of the report, namely the creation of an Education and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee, should be sent to Council as it would impact the Constitution. The rest of the recommendations could be sent to Cabinet for their consideration.

The Chair noted that the report had extensive discussion and thanked Councillor Gawrysiak, the Director of Law and Governance, the Head of Governance and all of those involved in the creation of the report for their superb piece of work and recommendations.

Resolved: that the Committee noted the work undertaken by the Future Council Governance Group.

Actions: that recommendation 2 of the Future Council Governance Group Final Report be considered at Council and recommendation 1, 3, 4 and 5 be considered at Cabinet.