Issue - meetings

To endorse the draft chapters comprising part 2 of the Constitution.

Report of the Interim Monitoring officer attached.

The Interim Monitoring Officer presented a report and appendix seeking endorsement of the draft Chapters comprising Part 2 of the emerging new unitary Council’s Constitution.  The appendix contained a draft of Part 2 that provides an overview of the way in which the Council operates.  The Modular Constitution that had been adopted by most local authorities contained terminology and reference to local authority legislation and jargon that was not very user friendly.  It was intended to use plain English and refer to the different sections of Part 2 as chapters rather than articles as in the modular version.  However some of the legislation did make it difficult to express more positively the way in which the Council and Cabinet operate.

The Committee would receive further reports seeking endorsement of further information and substantive detail for the Constitution as they emerge for the new Unitary Authority.  Members sought clarification on engagement with partners that would be involved in Area/Neighbourhood working and indicated that Development Control maybe an area suitable for Area working. The subsequent Cheshire East Councillor election cycle was also considered.

It was proposed that in Chapter 3 - Page 28: the second bullet point should clarify that local Councillors may be contacted at “reasonable times” and in the fourth bullet point, the first reference to meetings should be deleted so that the point reads “ Attend all Council Meetings …”.   Under Citizens responsibilities the end of the first line should read “ … abusive or threatening to Councillors or officers…”.    In Chapter 13 - Page 53, it was noted that Paragraph 4.3 referred to a proposal for the definition of a key decision was that any expenditure or savings of £1m or more shall be significant for the purposes of that part of the definition. 

RESOLVED

To endorse the current draft content of Part 2 subject to the minor amendments set out above.