Issue - meetings

Report of the Constitution Working Group

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services introduced the report which had been circulated with the agenda.  He explained that there had been an aim across the four authorities in the GO project to agree a common set of financial rules which would be a cheaper and more effective approach.  He commended officers for the great job they had done in achieving this.  He highlighted the reference to the strategic cross party member working group in paragraph 4.4.  The consideration of the best way to scrutinise commissioning was now part of the scrutiny review and likewise the review of the overall commissioning plan was being carried out by the group leaders on a regular basis.  Therefore he considered the strategic cross party member working group had done its job and could now be disbanded. He indicated that Cabinet portfolios in appendix 2.2 were slightly out of date and these would be amended and all members made aware.

A member suggested that the designations of Cabinet Members should be listed in the appendix rather than naming individuals which would eliminate the need to change the Constitution every time the membership of the Cabinet changed. The Cabinet Member Corporate Services considered naming individuals was quite helpful and typically portfolios changed at the same time as individuals and therefore an update to the Constitution would still be necessary. He did not consider updating the Constitution was a big issue. In response to a question he acknowledged the omission of the risk of scores in the risk assessment and would ensure they were added.

The Mayor was very keen to open up the Council meeting to members of the public by enabling them to ask questions without the need for too many rules and regulations.  She indicated that she had brought this idea back from her visit to Göttingen in Germany and she had discussed it with the Chief Executive and had e-mailed Councillors Smith and Colin Hay asking them to consider it as members of the Constitution working group.

Councillor Jordan advised members that Gloucester City had been doing this for some time with a slot in their Council meeting for the public to ask questions without notification. He said there was a balance to be achieved as members may not be able to respond to unnotified questions and will only be able to supply a written response at a later date. The challenge with notified questions was to find the shortest possible time to allow for guaranteed answers to be prepared and set the deadline accordingly. This would be a reasonable matter for debate.

Another member suggested that the first challenge was to get more public attending the meeting and this could be achieved by more publicity and making the meeting more interesting.

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services agreed that the Constitution working group would consider these ideas as part of their review of the procedural rules. He was in favour of encouraging the public to attend but the council was bound by process  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10

Report of the Constitution working group

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services introduced the report as a member of the constitution working group. The report advised members on the proposed timescale for the review of the Constitution.  The review was commenced last year but was deferred pending the outcome of various matters which will have an impact upon the drafting of the Constitution, including the Council’s decision in December 2010 on strategic commissioning and the approval of a new management structure.  At that meeting the Council also approved amendments to the Constitution to address actions identified by the Council to respond to recommendations in the Public Interest Report.  Amendments to the Officer Delegation Scheme in Part 3H of the Constitution have also been made under authority delegated to the Borough Solicitor to ensure that the Scheme is consistent with the new management structure which was implemented in April 2011. 

He advised that the Constitution Working Group had now resumed its work and intends to complete the review by October 2011.  This timescale reflects the need for the Financial Rules to be amended in collaboration with the Council’s partner authorities in the GO project.

He referred to an e-mail he had written to members on 25 June 2011 suggesting that as there seemed to be a consensus from members on the need for change to the current scrutiny arrangements, a small working group be set up and proposals brought back to the October council meeting. This timetable would enable the constitution working group to consider the constitutional changes required for the new arrangements in the same timescales. The current timetable for the scrutiny review targeted the implementation of the new arrangements following the elections in May 2012 but he hoped that this could be brought forward once Council had agreed the new arrangements.

Resolved that the amendments that have been made to the Officer Scheme of Delegation be noted and the timescale for the comprehensive review of the Constitution be approved.