CHESHIRE AND WARRINGTON JOINT COMMITTEE
TERMS OF REFERENCE
1.
Cheshire East Council, Cheshire West and Chester
Council and Warrington Council have established an Executive Joint
Committee known as the Cheshire and Warrington Joint Committee
(‘the Committee”) for the purpose of discharging the
functions mentioned in Annex A. The Councils are enabled to set up
Joint Committees under Part VI of the Local Government Act 1972 and
Part I Chapter 2 of the Local Government Act 2000.
2.
Each Council is entitled to appoint one voting
member in respect of the business to be carried out in Part One of
Appendix A (Subscriber Members), and one further voting member in
respect of the business to be carried out in Part Two of Appendix A
(Joint Committee Members). In the event
of a voting member of the Committee ceasing to be a member of the
Council which appointed him/her, the Council shall forthwith
appoint another voting member in his/her place. Only a voting member is entitled to be
elected as Chair or Vice-Chair of the Committee.
3.
Each Council may appoint members as substitute for
the members appointed under (i) above to attend meetings of the
Committee in the absence for any reason of the members appointed
under (i) above, in accordance with their own constitutional
requirements. The substitute members shall be treated in all
respects if they were appointed under (i) above.
4.
The Chair of the Business Advisory Board
(BAB’) shall be an ex officio member of the Committee and may
speak at meetings of the Committee but not vote. The Chair of the
Business Advisory Board may present reports to the Committee from
the BAB.
5.
The Committee shall maintain a two-year rolling
Chair and Vice-Chair from among the Subscriber Members. The Chair will rotate every two years in the
following order CWaC (until May 2025), CEC (until May 2027) WBC
(until May 2029) and shall continue in that rotation. The
Vice-Chair shall be from CEC (until May 2025) and to shall rotate
in the same order as the chairmanship every two years.
6.
Three voting members of the Committee shall
constitute a quorum for the business set out in Part One of
Appendix A. Four voting members shall
constitute a quorum for the business set out in Part Two of
Appendix A. Except as otherwise
provided by statute, all questions shall be decided by a majority
of the votes of the voting members present, the Chair having the
casting vote in addition to his/her vote as a member of the
Committee.
7.
The Committee shall meet as agreed at its AGM and at
least three times each year. However, a
meeting of the Committee may be convened at any time by the
Committee Clerk in consultation with the Chair. A meeting of the Committee must also be convened
by the Chair within 28 days of the receipt of a requisition of any
two Subscriber Members of the Committee addressed to the Committee
Clerk. The Chair of the Board may
request a meeting of the Committee by notice in writing addressed
to the Committee Clerk, but may not requisition one. All requisitions shall be in writing and no
business other than that specified in the requisition shall be
transacted at such a meeting.
8.
The Committee shall adopt the standing orders of
Cheshire East Council but it may agree to vary these and from time
to time make such standing orders for the carrying on of the
business of the Committee as the Committee shall deem necessary and
or desirable.
9.
For the avoidance of doubt and subject to there
being no changes to the law on this issue, where a Council is
operating executive arrangements pursuant to the Local Government
Act 2000 (and any regulations made under it), it will be a matter
for the Executive of the Council to appoint any voting member, or
substitute member of the Committee as long as that member is a
member of the appointing Councils Cabinet. Where a Council is operating committee system
arrangements pursuant to the Local Government Act 2000, it will be
a matter for the Council to appoint any voting member and
substitute member to the Joint Committee.
10.The Committee
shall from time to time appoint such sub-committees to consider and
deal with any of the functions of the Committee as may be thought
desirable.
11.The Committee
Clerk and such other officers as may be deemed necessary for the
due conduct of the business of the Committee shall be provided by
Cheshire East Council and the costs of this shall be met by the
Council-owned company (Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington
– NB: name subject to Member approval).
12.The first meeting
of the Committee shall be held at Cheshire East Council and the
venue shall then rotate between the Councils in alphabetical order,
unless otherwise directed by the Committee.
13.As and when
required by an Overview and Scrutiny Committee or other Committee
or an Audit Committee of any of the Councils, the Subscriber Member for the Council whose
Overview and Scrutiny Committee or Committee or Audit Committee has
instigated an investigation shall take the lead responsibility for
accounting for the activities of the Committee to the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee or Committee or Audit Committee and shall attend
such meetings of those committees of its Council as necessary, and
no other member of the Committee shall be required to
attend.
14.The Committee
Clerk shall:
- Be responsible for
preparing the agenda and submitting reports prepared by either the
Councils or other bodies to the Committee and minutes of the
Committee.
- Be responsible for
making arrangements for publishing in accordance with Access to
Information requirements all meetings, agenda, agenda items and
minutes as appropriate.
15.The relevant
Standing Orders for the Committee are those of Cheshire East
Council.
16.In the event that
an urgent decision is needed for the discharge of any of the
functions of this Committee, other than those functions which by
law can be discharged only by the Councils or a specific Committee,
then the Growth Director of each Council is entitled to act on
behalf of the Committee. A decision
will be urgent where any delay would seriously prejudice the legal
or financial position of the Councils or the interests of
residents. This delegation is subject
to the conditions that any urgent action:-
a.
Should be reported to the Committee;
b.
Shall take the advice of the Monitoring Officer and
S151 officer of each Council;
c.
Shall be exercised in consultation with the three
Subscriber members of the Committee;
d.
Shall be exercised within each Councils own
financial and other constitutional requirements.
Part One - Shareholder Functions of the Committee
1.
To approve the business plan and budget of
LEPCo/Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington (ECW)[1] and any required
variations.
2.
Ensuring that LEPCo/ ECW deliver against their
business plan and budget, holding them to account for such delivery
and directing the LEPCO/ECW Board to take remedial action where
necessary.
3.
To appoint directors to the LEPCo/ECW
Board.
4.
To approve any capital expenditure to be made in
excess of £100k unless agreed under the business
plan.
5.
To approve the entering into of any lease or licence
for the occupation of land or premises.
6.
To approve the appointment of members of LEPCo/ECW
management team.
7.
To approve the entering into of any contract in
excess of £100k unless agreed under the Business
Plan.
8.
To approve the entering into or giving of
any loan, guarantee, surety or indemnity by LEPCo/ECW
other than the giving of grant by LEPCo/ECW as part of its business
plan.
9.
To approve the opening or closing of any bank
account by the Company.
10.To approve any
changes to the Articles of Association of the Company.
11.To approve any
staffing or other material policy changes or new policies to be
implemented.
Part Two - Other Functions of the Committee
1. To receive reports from the
Business Advisory Board, any Sub Committee of the Joint Committee
and the Growth Directors (management) Group.
2. Any time review and agree
proposed changes to the Functions of the Committee and seek
approval of the same from the three Councils.
3. To agree and approve any
proposed governance and or reporting structure that the Committee
sees fit.
4. To act as a sub-regional
strategic body; setting and reviewing objectives and approving
expenditure on revenue and capital projects for strategic economic
development across Cheshire and Warrington, including;
a.
Providing a coherent single position on major strategic
issues;
b.
Agreeing major economic priorities across Cheshire and
Warrington;
c.
Considering recommendations made by any Sub Committee, the
Business
Advisory Board or Growth Directors (management)
Group;
d.
Agreeing Lead and/or Accountable Body status for LEPCo/ECW and any
projects undertaken;
e.
Influencing and aligning government investment in order to boost
economic growth across Cheshire & Warrington;
f.
Having regard to the duty to cooperate and the Joint
Committee’s overall function as set out above;
g.
To ensure alignment between decision making on areas of policy such
as land use, transportation, economic development and wider
regeneration;
h.
Co-ordinating and aligning decision making on transport across
Cheshire and Warrington ensuring that business views are taken on
board and that the Councils’ adopted plans are reflected in
strategic priorities;
i.
Deciding on capital expenditure programmes which are delivered
across Cheshire & Warrington and ensuring policy and programmes
are delivered effectively through LEPCo/ECW
j.
Providing strategic direction and oversight across potential
devolution for Cheshire and Warrington.