Agenda item

TO FOLLOW

The Governance Manager presented a report that outlined a review of the Council’s Constitution.  Members were asked to give consideration to proposals for review outlined in Appendix 1 to the report. 

(a)       Delegations Scheme

Members were asked to consider changes to the Delegations Scheme.  The Committee heard that from time to time, there were changes in legislation, Government guidance or other regulatory changes that impacted on Council policies.  Currently, all those changes were brought to Cabinet or Council for approval.  It was therefore proposed that the power to make amendments to policies be delegated to Directors and Heads of Service in the Delegation Scheme. 

The proposed wording of the delegation was:-

To make amendments to Council Policy, subject to consultation with the Monitoring Officer, in order to:

(i)      reflect changes in the law, government or regulators’ guidance, and other Council policies; or

(ii)     correct obvious, technical or clerical errors and to take account of those changes of any names or titles. 

            RESOLVED – That the proposal be approved and submitted to Council as part             of the Constitution Review in May 2020.

(b)        Questions and Motions

Members heard that the deadline for Questions and Motions was seven clear working days before the meeting, and that this left very little preparation time for those who had to answer questions or those who wanted to participate in the Motions debate.  Accordingly, the Committee was presented with three options – to keep the current deadline of seven clear days; to extend the deadline to 12 clear days; or to extend the deadline to 17 clear days. 

Members discussed the practicalities of the current deadline, and whether there had been any complaints from staff in regards to the limited time available to prepare answers.  The officers advised that whilst there had been no complaints, extending the deadline would reduce the pressure on staff and Members.    

The Committee agreed that the Council should be pro-active in its social media use, so that the public was informed of the deadline for public questions. 

Members received clarity on the process of asking questions to other Members, in particular, Portfolio Holders, and the Committee reiterated that it was important that all Councillors were kept informed of proceedings at the Council. 

RESOLVED –

(1)        The deadline for Questions and Motions be extended to 12 clear days.

(2)        That the proposal be approved and submitted to Council as part of the     Constitution Review in May 2020.     

(c)        Exemption Sessions at Cabinet/Executive

The Committee heard that the Council Procedure Rules made provision, at Rule 25.3 for Members who were not appointed to the relevant Committee or Sub-Committee to remain in a meeting of that Committee or Sub-Committee during the private session considering exempt items, unless the Committee or Sub-Committee asked them to leave. 

It was stated that this rule had been applied to Cabinet meetings, although technically this was not a Committee, therefore for the purpose of clarity, it was proposed that the term Cabinet be added to the wording of that rule. 

RESOLVED – That the proposal be approved and submitted to Council as part of the Constitution Review in May 2020. 

(d)        Reserves – Approval of Transformation Reserve

Members heard that expenditure from Reserves had always been agreed by Cabinet in a formal decision, however, for reasons unknown it had been removed from the Constitution. 

It was stated that there needed to be a decision route for expenditure from the Reserves – for openness and transparency reasons.  It was therefore suggested that this be placed back into the Constitution to make the position clearer. 

RESOLVED – That the proposal be approved and submitted to Council as part of the Constitution Review in May 2020. 

(e)        Small increases in expenditure and effect on the Council’s budget

The Governance Manager informed Members that any increase in the budget had to receive formal Member approval through Cabinet, even if it was a small increase in expenditure. 

The proposed change to the Constitution would authorise a small increase in individual budgets of up to £10,000 per budget on one occasion in any corporate year, subject to a delegated decision notice being produced.  The Section 151 Officer would also be delegated to cover small increases in budgets. 

RESOLVED – That the proposal be approved and submitted to Council as part of the Constitution Review in May 2020. 

(f)        Council Procedure Rules – Rule 8 Questions by the Public

The Committee heard that a review of neighbouring authorities had found that they would allow any member of the public to ask a question at Council so long that it met the question scope. 

Members noted that there had been concerns that some whom had a connection to the District may not qualify to ask a question under the current rules and consideration was given to whether this should be extended to include those who had a local connection to the District.  The Committee agreed that this was a positive change, and acknowledged that in line with Rule 8.4, the Monitoring Officer could still reject questions if it was not about a matter for which the Council had a responsibility for or which affected the District. 

The proposed wording of the amendment to Rule 8.1(a) was:- 

Members of the public who are on the Register of Electors for North East Derbyshire District Council, or who are Non Domestic Rate Payers to District, may ask questions of members of the Cabinet at ordinary meetings of the Council.

            RESOLVED – That the proposal be approved and submitted to Council             as part of Constitution Review in May 2020.