Issue - meetings

To consider a response to a request from Macclesfield local members for changes to be made to the terms of reference of the Macclesfield Local Service Delivery Committee.

The Committee considered a request that changes be made to the terms of reference of the Macclesfield Local Service Delivery Committee.

The Committee on 24^th January 2013 had considered an informal request from members representing the unparished area of Macclesfield that a consultative body should be established to represent the views of the residents of the Town in respect of decisions which may be made by the Council and which would affect them. In response to the request, the Committee resolved that it should receive a further report, reviewing the terms of reference of the Macclesfield Local Service Delivery Committee, following informal consultation with members of that Committee.

A number of local Macclesfield members had since formulated proposed terms of reference which they would like to see as a replacement for those which currently applied to the Local Service Delivery Committee. The proposed terms of reference had been appended to the report.

The proposed terms of reference, if agreed, would significantly expand the role of the Local Service Delivery Committee, which had been set up by Council to review and make recommendations on the delivery of services and transfer of assets in the unparished area of Macclesfield in accordance with Council policy. They also appeared to afford the Local Service Delivery Committee the status of a parish council, although the Council had no legal powers to recognise a body that lacked the legal status of a parish council. The proposed terms of reference went further in seeking to give the Local Service Delivery Committee the right to involve itself in the preparations for the devolution of services and transfer of assets in the event that the creation of a parish council was the outcome of the Macclesfield community governance review. This was the responsibility of the Community Governance Review Sub-Committee.

The Committee was mindful of the existence of the Macclesfield Local Members’ Briefing: an informal briefing mechanism for the Members of the unparished area of Macclesfield, and for those of the surrounding Borough Wards.

It was acknowledged that the Macclesfield Local Service Delivery Committee was not currently meeting on a regular basis or receiving the necessary officer support to enable it to carry out its responsibilities.

RESOLVED

That

(1)  no further action be taken in respect of the proposed changes to the Macclesfield Local Service Delivery Committee’s terms of reference, pending the outcome of the planned Community Governance Review for Macclesfield, thereby leaving the existing terms of reference of the Committee unchanged; and

(2)  the officers take steps to ensure that the Macclesfield Local Service Delivery Committee receives the necessary officer support to enable it to meet regularly and carry out its responsibilities.