Agenda item

Appointments to Outside Organisations - 2011-2012

The report invites the Sub-Committee to review a number of issues associated with appointments to outside organisations. Recommendations from this meeting will be taken into account at the Sub-Committee’s meeting to be held on 19 May 2011 and reported to the Constitution Committee on 2 June 2011.

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered a report and was invited to –

Review the list of outside organisations;
Note progress on the identification of Support Officers for each; and
Note the arrangements for making appointments to outside bodies from May 2011.

It was agreed that the following action be taken/recommended to the Constitution Committee, as appropriate, in respect of the identified outside bodies.

Ref	Organisation	Action
1-31	4 NW	Establish if 4NW is still operational
2-45	Amos Johnson Fund	Refer to the new Wilmslow Parish Council
4-101	Astbury Mere Trust	Congleton Town Council
2-46	Audlem Education Foundation	Currently shown as one vacancy only, but further enquiries required.
3-102	BAE Systems Woodford	Important to retain, notwithstanding that during the recent survey of Councillors it had been reported that it had ceased to exist.
1-5	Business Link NW	Further enquiries to be made to enquire if still operational.
2-59	Cheshire Landfill Tax Advisory Panel	Reported to be moribund; further enquiries to be made.
1-35	Cheshire Road Safety Partnership	Although difficulties had been experienced with this organisation, all efforts were being made to ensure its continuation.
4-105	Congleton Drill Hall Trust	Refer to Congleton Town Council for appointment.
2-63	Congleton Trust and Museum
4-108	Crewe & Nantwich Twinning Association	Enquiries to be made regarding the grant of £5,000 made annually. Other twinning groups in the borough did not receive funding. Subject to the outcome of enquiries, it may be appropriate to recommend discontinuation of the grant.
3-107	Crewe and Nantwich Sports Executive	Councillor Cartlidge undertook to make enquiries of the current representative to establish if this organisation still met. He would report the outcome to Democratic Services.
2-65	Dean Row Community Centre	Refer to Wilmslow Parish Council for appointment.
3-132	Evans Arts Trust	Refer to Wilmslow Parish Council for appointment.
2-62	Fence Trust	The results of the survey had indicated that the Councillor appointed did not receive information about meetings. Further enquiries to be made.
2-68	Friends for Leisure Advisory Committee	Suggested for deletion.
2-135	Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority	The current representative attended as an observer at the request of the portfolio holder. Appointments not required by the organisation itself; suggest deletion from the schedule.
2-70	King’s School, Macclesfield	Comments/questions made by Councillor J P Findlow as part of the survey, to be forwarded to the Head of Service requesting a response.
2-73	Macclesfield Borough Economic Alliance	To be deleted; ceased to exist.
4-115	Middlewich & District Community Association	Refer to Middlewich Town Council for appointment.
4-117	Middlewich Community and Youth Project	Refer to Middlewich Town Council for appointment.
2-88	St John’s Wood Millennium Community Centre	Refer to Knutsford Town Council for appointment.
2-93	Weaver Valley Partnership	Enquiries to be made regarding the re-constitution of this organisation.
4-128	Wilmslow Aid Trust	Refer to Wilmslow Parish Council for appointment.
2-95	Wilmslow Guild	Refer to Wilmslow Parish Council for appointment.
3-129	Wilmslow Trust	Refer to Wilmslow Parish Council for appointment.

Officer Support

The Corporate Management Team had been asked to assist in the identification of named Officers for outside organisations. This information was awaited.

A Member commented that it was essential for Support Officers to be identified, preferably in advance of Members taking up their appointments to outside bodies.

Appointments from May 2011

Appointments to be made from May 2011 were discussed, following which it was agreed that the Constitution Committee be recommended to make arrangements in whatever way it considered to be the most expedient.

Term of Office

The former Governance and Constitution Committee had agreed that wherever possible, the term of office for Members should be in accordance with the requirements of the organisations itself. This was to accommodate those organisations which had expressed a preference for Members to be appointed for longer than one year. It was suggested that appointments should be made for a 4-year period in the interests of continuity. Any casual vacancies would be addressed through the revised Casual Vacancies Procedure which the Constitution Committee had approved on 24 March 2011.

It was further suggested that the appointments which would take effect in the new municipal year should be made “until such time as representation is reviewed following the elections of the new Council in 2015”. This would avoid a hiaitus between the appointment of committees at Annual Council and the consideration of appointments to outside bodies by the Constitution Committee. Members would, therefore, continue to be representatives on outside bodies until the re-appointments process in 2015.

New Request – Fairtrade Steering Group

It was reported that the Fairtrade Steering Group had been established following a recent Notice of Motion submitted to Full Council. This Group included representation from the Council and various external partnership organisations. There was a requirement to appoint three elected Members to the group.

RESOLVED: (a) That the list, as amended at the meeting, be issued to Group Whips inviting nominations for places;

(b) That the Fairtrade Steering Group be added to the Category 2 list of outside organisations, with places for three elected Members;

(d) That the Constitution Committee be recommended to –

- make appointments to outside organisations from the new municipal year in the manner which it considered to be most expedient;

- make appointments until such time as representation is reviewed following the elections of the new Council in 2015.

Supporting documents: