Issue - meetings

Report of the Leader

The Leader was happy to bring some further changes to the Constitution, allowing everyone to understand the various roles held by councillors.  At the request of the Constitution Working Group (CWG), the role profiles for councillors have been refined, which is not only encouraged by the Local Government Association but will also be useful during the induction process and for Members considering new roles.

She said the change to the appointment to outside bodies will give greater clarity around the requirements, value and skills of council representatives.   Responses were reviewed by the CWG, who requested that the document be amended to identify which bodies require a council appointment under their constitution. The review and amended Constitution Part 5G was approved by CWG in February.

She thanked the CWG and Monitoring Officer for their work.

A Member suggested that the heads of charity listed at paragraph 5.2 are out of date and need to be redrafted – this will be done.

Members raised the following issues:

-       the deadline for questions currently closes before papers are published, and should be reconsidered. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that this is on the work plan and will be looked at by CWG after the election;

-       the status of some appointments to West Cheltenham Partnership (formerly Hester’s Way Partnership) and Pates Foundation needs to be clarified – this was noted and will be taken off line;

-       the Twinning Association is now known as The Cheltenham International Partnerships Association.

In response to a Member’s question about how and when the list of outside bodies was first created and how new ones can be added, another Member said he was not aware of any changes to the list in his many years as councillor, but suggested that Members could suggest groups for consideration.  It was agreed that this would be considered separately.

A Member concluded by saying how great it is that the council supports outside bodies as it does, and long may it continue.

RESOLVED THAT:   

1.    the revised Part 5G - Guidance for Councillors Appointed to Represent the Council on Outside Bodies at Appendix 1 is approved;

2.    the Councillor Role Profiles at Appendix 3 for inclusion in the Constitution is approved;

3.    authority is delegated to the Monitoring Officer to make the necessary changes to the Constitution to reflect these decisions.