Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman of the Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Shirley Jones be elected Chairman of the Sub-Committee to serve for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests in any item on the agenda

No declarations of interest were made.

In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos.11 and 35 a total period of 10 minutes is allocated for members of the public to address the Committee on any matter relevant to the work of the Committee.

Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned where there are a number of speakers.

Members of the public should provide 3 clear working days notice, in writing, if they wish to ask a question at the meeting, in order for an informed answer to be given. It is not required to give notice of the intention to make use of public speaking provision, however, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours notice is encouraged.

In the absence of members of the public, the Sub-Committee proceeded to its next item of business.

The Sub-Committee is invited to consider the enclosed comprehensive report and to make recommendations, as appropriate, to the Constitution Committee.

The report (a) updates the Sub-Committee on matters which were dealt with by the former Task Group; (b) seeks resolution of issues associated with some appointments;  (c) invites the Sub-Committee to add Linden Bank Community Liaison Group and Maw Green Landfill Site Community Liaison Meeting to the list of outside organisations, making appropriate nominations; (d) gives details of the appointments process; (e) invites the Sub-Committee to adopt a programme of work leading up to appointments in May 2011;  and (f) provides background information on the appointments process.

The Sub-Committee considered a report which

-          updated Members on matters dealt with by the former Task Group;

-          sought resolution of issues associated with some appointments;

-          suggested additions to the approved list of outside organisations;

-          gave details of the appointments process adopted by the former Task Group;

-          invited the Sub-Committee to adopt a programme of work leading up to appointments in May 2011;

-          indicated, for information, a number of matters to be submitted to the next Cabinet meeting; and

-          provided background information on the appointments process.

The Sub-Committee noted that at its meeting held on 24 June 2010, the Constitution Committee had appointed an Outside Organisations Sub-Committee of six Members, in accordance with the rules of political proportionality (4:1:1) comprising the following membership:

Councillors D Brickhill, R Cartlidge, J P Findlow, S Jones, P Whiteley and

J Wray

The Sub-Committee, which replaced the former Task Group (Outside Organisations), had been appointed on the following basis:

(a)                     to serve for the remainder of the Municipal Year;

(b)                     to meet on an ad hoc basis;

(c)                     to oversee appointments to Category 2 outside organisations in general, and to address any issues which emerge in respect of those appointments;

(d)                     to continue with the review started by the former Task Group in respect of establishing the effectiveness and appropriateness of representation; and

(e)                     to report back to the Constitution Committee as and when it considers appropriate within the Municipal Year.

In considering the report, Members made the following comments:

·                Cheshire Landfill Tax Advisory Panel

            It had been understood that Councillor Brickhill had resigned from the Cheshire Landfill Tax Advisory Panel, and the nomination of Councillor S Wilkinson, as his replacement, had subsequently been received in Democratic Services. At the meeting, Councillor Brickhill confirmed that whilst he had resigned his place on a number of outside organisations, he had not resigned from this Advisory Panel. 

The Sub-Committee agreed to recommend that no changes in representation be made at this time, but that further enquiries of the organisation be undertaken to establish its current activities and if it still held meetings.

·                Programme of Work

            The proposed programme of work leading up to the appointments process in May 2011 required revision to the timing.  The elections would be held on 5 May 2011 and Committees/Sub-Committees could not be established until Annual Council on 18 May 2011.

Appointments to outside organisations would be considered at the first Sub-Committee meeting in the new Municipal Year, which was expected to be in mid-June 2011.   

?             List of organisations

The list of Support Officers for each outside organisation was incomplete, and required further information to identify how frequently, if at all, Support Officers attended meetings of the outside organisation they supported.

The list required further expansion (a) to include information where the appointment of Councillors attracted a financial remuneration paid direct to Members, by the organisation itself; and (b) to identify the individual workload of each Councillor appointed to an outside organisation(s).

RESOLVED -

1.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Sub-Committee is asked to agree a date for its next meeting. 

Members discussed arrangements for the next meeting of the Sub-Committee. It was expected that following an initial evaluation of the monitoring and feedback forms, it may be necessary for Members to meet in November.

RESOLVED:

That the Chairman, in consultation with Democratic Services, make arrangements for the next meeting of the Sub-Committee.