To consider the report of the Head of Democratic Services.
Minutes:
The Committee considered the report from the Head of Democratic Services [copy filed with the minutes].
1. Constitution
Members considered amendments to the following sections of the Constitution as set out in Appendices A to F to the report:
Section 4 – Full Council
Section 5 – The Cabinet
Section 7 – Scrutiny Committees
Section 9 – Regulatory Committees
Section 13 – Responsibility for Functions
Section 16 – Financial Procedure Rules.
The Committee considered the arrangements for recorded votes as the new congress system in County Hall had the facility to record votes. The Committee felt that votes taken at full Council and Cabinet meetings should always be recorded and published on the web and suggested that this be piloted for 12 months.
Members’ attention was drawn to the proposed amendment to require, wherever possible, questions on Cabinet reports to be provided in writing to the report author at least 24 hours before the start of the Cabinet meeting. The intention was to make best use of the Cabinet’s time and to ensure that Portfolio Holders were able to respond to questioners requiring specific information.
RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL |
Reason for recommendation |
To approve amendments to Sections 4, 5, 7, 9, 13 and 16 of the Constitution |
To update the Constitution. |
3.2 Family Responsibilities
The Committee were content to leave it to the Head of Democratic Services to stay in touch with County Councillor Bowker.
3.5 Future Size of Committees
The Head of Democratic Services reported that there had been general agreement amongst the political group leaders on the need to reduce the size of committees. A further meeting of group leaders was being arranged and it was hoped to bring in changes by 1st April 2016 to help meet budget savings targets.
4.1 Candidate information, Councillor Information Pack and Induction Programme
The Committee discussed the
information that should be made available for candidates standing
in the 2017 local government elections. The Member Development
Working Group was overseeing the information to be produced for
candidates. There was agreement that it was important that
candidates should be provided with a realistic picture of the
workload of a councillor. Members noted that the Modern.Gov system
provided details of Councillors’ attendance at main
Committees but was not currently showing their attendance at
working groups which was where a lot of work was undertaken.
Officers were asked to look at system so that attendance at working
groups was also shown.
Supporting documents: