Issue - meetings

To give consideration to the recommendations of the Corporate Policy Committee.

Consideration was given to the recommendations of Corporate Policy Committee on 30 November 2023 in relation to the Review of the Committee System and Medium-Term Financial Strategy savings.

The recommendations were proposed and seconded.  The Mayor announced that he intended to take the vote on recommendations 1-3 and 5-6 together, with a separate vote on recommendation 4.

Recommendations 1-3 and 5-6 were put to the vote and declared carried.

During the debate on recommendation 4 an amendment was proposed and seconded.

Amendment 1

“That recommendation 4 be amended to read “the functions of the Scrutiny Committee, Audit and Governance Committee and any other committee, sub-committee, panel or working group are reviewed to consider opportunities for streamlining and efficacy of delivery.  The outcome of the review is presented to an all-member briefing in February 2024 and presented to Council as set out in recommendation 5.”

The proposer and seconder of the recommendations from the Corporate Policy Committee to Council agreed to accept the amendment and therefore the amendment became the substantive motion.

During debate on the substantive motion an amendment was proposed and seconded.

Amendment 2

“It is proposed that the following recommendations are adopted, subject to due process, to be overseen by the Corporate Policy Committee; 

Committees will be either removed, modified or amalgamated and their functions re-distributed to alternative committees in a logical extension of the related functions of those alternative receiving committees. 

A1) Cared for Children and Care Leavers Committee: to be amalgamated into the Children and Families Committee.

A.2.) Governor Nomination Panel: to be amalgamated into the Children’s and Families Committee

A.3.) General Appeals Sub-Committee: The roles and responsibilities of this Sub Committee (as identified below), will be disaggregated and allocated to be heard by the relevant service committees as and when required:

• hearing and determining appeals lodged under the various Marriage and Civil Partnership Acts;

CORPORATE POLICY COMMITTEE

• hearing and determining any appeals lodged with the Council for determination, as authorised under all relevant education legislation, excluding those duties falling to the Independent Appeals Panel (school admissions and exclusions).

CHILDREN & FAMILIES COMMITTEE

• hearing and determining any appeals lodged with the Council in respect of school transport or school organisation;

CHILDREN & FAMILIES COMMITTEE

• hearing and determining appeals from bus contractors in accordance with contract procedures;

HIGHWAYS & TRANSPORT COMMITTEE

• hearing and determining any appeals lodged with the Council as Social Services Authority, and as authorised under all relevant social services legislation;

ADULTS & HEALTH COMMITTEE

• hearing and determining any other appeals (other than staffing matters). 

COMMITTEE TO BE DETERMINED BY THE MONITORING OFFICER AS APPROPRIATE.

A.4.) General Licensing Sub-Committee and Licensing Act Sub-Committee:

These will be amalgamated into a single Committee reflecting the intermittent nature of their requirements.

In addition, the new “General Licensing and Licensing Act Sub-Committee” will be scheduled either before or after the Licensing Committee wherever possible.

This will maximise best use of officer and member time and reduce the chronic difficulties currently experienced in terms of member availability from the recruitment ’pool’.

A.5.) Where  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57

To consider proposed improvements to the committee system.

The Committee considered a report on proposed changes to the committee system to achieve financial savings of £135,000 identified in the MTFS.

A previously deferred proposal to reduce the number of planning committees from three to two was due to be considered by Council on 13^th December 2023.

The Committee was asked to consider a number of additional proposals:

§  Reducing the number of Place service committees from three to two.

§  Merging the functions of the Corporate Policy Committee and Finance Sub-Committee to create a Corporate Policy and Resources Committee.

§  Incorporating the functions of the Scrutiny Committee into the relevant service committees.

Officers advised that the Council would need to remove two main committees from the committee structure to achieve the required savings. Reducing the number of meetings instead would not achieve the savings, and reducing the frequency of planning committee meetings would be problematic.

In general, there was no support among members for a reduction in the number of Place service committees.

There was also wide agreement that the Finance Sub-Committee should be retained, particularly in the present financial climate, given its pivotal role in overseeing the Council’s budget.

With regard to the functions of the Scrutiny Committee, members felt that these might be better placed with the Audit and Governance Committee rather than a service committee. Officers saw no issue with this in principle but advised that future meetings of the Audit and Governance Committee would need to be structured in such a way as to enable scrutiny functions and audit-related functions to be dealt with at separate times during the meeting. It was also recognised that different skill-sets were required for audit and scrutiny functions.

In addition to the options identified in the report, members asked that consideration be given to incorporating the functions of the Licensing Committee into the Environment and Communities Committee or the Audit and Governance Committee. Officers advised that a distinction was usually drawn between regulatory committees and service committees. However, they undertook to consider the feasibility of the proposal.

Members also suggested that in future, visiting members, non-core officers and members of the public wishing to speak at committee meetings could be encouraged to attend meetings remotely rather than in person. Officers undertook to consider the implications of the suggestion.

Officers undertook to provide members with a briefing paper on the various options identified and suggestions made during the debate, in time for the Council meeting on 13^th December.

RESOLVED

That the Committee recommends to Council that

1.   Council note its agreed MTFS saving of £135,000 to reduce the costs of democracy;

2.   the Finance Sub-Committee be retained as a Sub-Committee of the Corporate Policy Committee;

3.   the three Place service committees be retained;

4.   the functions of the Scrutiny Committee be transferred to the Audit and Governance Committee;

5.    a further annual review of the committee system be undertaken and a report on its findings be presented to the first scheduled meeting held after the Council AGM  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53