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Question from: County Councillor Jake Berriman Subject: New process in respect of motions and amendments to Council
Question:
On Thursday 23rd of September Council passed, without amendment, the following resolution:
“That all notices of motion, or any amendment to a motion, presented to this council for consideration, must be accompanied by a costed analysis of the financial and resource implications that motion, or amendment to a motion, would have on this council, should it be approved”.
Can the Portfolio holder for Corporate Governance please advise:
1. On the process, with timescales, for producing a costed analysis of the financial and resource implications of a motion which a member wishes to place before Council and or an amendment to such a motion arising in advance of, or during a meeting of the Council. 2. On the process for signing-off, approving or rejecting motions with or without “sufficiently robust” analysis of a draft motion’s financial analysis. 3. On the resource implications, time and money, of this resolution on officers of Powys Council. 4. On whether other checks are also required, legal for instance, given that this motion, we were advised after the decision was taken to approve it, involved a de-facto alteration to the Constitution bypassing the Democratic Services Committee. 5. Why the motion was allowed to proceed to Council, rather than the Democratic Services Committee, and why members were not consequently notified in advance that, by approving it, they would be changing the Constitution “on the fly”.
Minutes: Response by the Portfolio Holder:
Thank you for your question and I apologise for the delay in this response which has been due to pressure of work.
I can advise you that the Democratic Services Committee (“DSC”) considered this matter at its meeting on Friday 3rd December when they agreed to recommend the following timeline to Council at its meeting on Thursday.
You will see that the DSC recommend that Motion should be submitted at least 3 weeks before a Council meeting, by which time the proposer should have had confidential discussions with the S 151 officer as to any financial and/or resource implications of a motion. Before 23rd September 2021 the constitution required Motions to be lodged 2 weeks (10 clear days) before a Council meeting and the extra time that is recommended by DSC is to allow for any financial and/or resource implications of any amendment to a motion to be considered.
Members putting forward motions and amendments will need to consider at an early stage whether their proposals will have any financial and/or resource implications and to commit their views on this issue in writing and to forward them to S 151 Officer with their proposal.
In accordance with Rule 4.39 of the Constitution, the Chair and Monitoring Officer will decide if a Motion or Amendment is to be rejected (upon advice from the S 151 Officer) on the basis that an insufficiently costed analysis of the financial and resource implications has been provided. At its meeting on 3rd December 2021, the DSC approved an amendment to Rule 4.39 to be considered by Council to reflect the decision taken of Council on 23rd September 2021.
I am informed by the Monitoring officer that it is appropriate for Council to consider a motion that has been properly lodged in accordance with the Constitution, and for Council to debate and decide on the issue raised in the motion, even if the decision means that the Constitution has to be subsequently amended to reflect the will of Council. The wording of any subsequent amendments that are required will be considered by DSC for ... view the full minutes text for item 1. |