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Agenda item

Recommendations from the Constitution Working Group

Purpose:

To present the recommendations of the Constitution Working Group meetings held on 23 June 2023 and 11 August 2023, including a recommendation to replace the three existing overview and scrutiny committees with a single new overview and scrutiny committee.

 

Recommendations:

That Council Resolves to:

 

  1. Agree to include in the Constitution that the Chair of an Overview and Scrutiny Committee must be an opposition member;

 

  1. Agree to replace the three current overview and scrutiny committees with a single Overview and Scrutiny Committee with 24 Members with effect from 5 October 2023, and in doing so:

 

a)    Agree to update Part 2: Articles and Part 3C: Committee Functions as shown in Annex A and Annex B respectively;

b)    Authorise the Director of Governance to make other consequential amendments to the Constitution (at parts 1A, 3A, 3D, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5F, 5G, 6E, and 6H);

c)    Delegate authority to the Director of Governance to appoint members to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee with effect from 5 October 2023 in accordance with political proportionality and the wishes of political groups;

d)    Agree that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee will meet monthly on the dates set out in paragraph 3.7, with the first meeting being held on Wednesday 8 November 2023 at 5.30pm;

e)    Request that the Council’s Independent Remuneration Panel considers whether the Vice-Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee should be paid a special responsibility allowance, and if so, at what level and any backdating to be applied, and report back to Council;

 

f)     Note that a programme of member briefings is being developed as an alternative to officers providing information to members through verbal updates and presentations at overview and scrutiny committee meetings.

 

 

  1. Agree to include in the Constitution (at Part 5A: Council Procedure Rules, paragraph 6.2) that the Monitoring Officer is authorised to cancel meetings and to reschedule meetings with reasons and in consultation with the Chief Executive and the relevant Chair of Council, a Committee or Sub-Committee, provided that the agenda for the meeting has not been published.

 

  1. Agree to include in the Constitution (at Part 3C: Committee Functions) how the parish areas within the Brize Norton and Shilton ward and the Hailey and Minster Lovell and Leafield ward are split between the Lowlands and Uplands areas.

 

  1. Agree to replace the requirement (at Part 3C: Committee Functions) that there are 13 seats on the Lowlands Sub-Committee and 11 seats on the Uplands Sub-Committee with a rule that the Lowlands and Uplands sub-committees must have a minimum of 11 members, with the Chair of the Development Control Committee being appointed to both sub-committees and all other members of the Development Control Committee being appointed to either the Uplands or Lowlands sub-committee, depending on the ward they represent. Where wards cross the Lowlands and Uplands boundary the ward member may be appointed to either sub-committee.

 

  1. Note that the Constitution Working Group agreed for the Director of Governance to address a number of items on the Constitution Working Group’s work plan under delegated authority, as set out in paragraph 7.1.

 

  1. Note that future versions of the Constitution will be published to the website using the Modern.gov system in order to improve transparency, ease of updating and version control.

Minutes:

The Chair advised Members that there would be three separate votes in consideration of the agenda item, whereby Recommendation 1, Recommendations 2a to 2f, and Recommendations 3-7 would be taken as individual votes.

Councillor Mathew Parkinson, Chair of the Constitution Working Group, introduced and gave an overview of the report, which presented the recommendations of the Council’s Constitution Working Group, made to Council from its meetings held on 23 June 2023 and 11 August 2023. The report also included a recommendation to replace the three existing Overview and Scrutiny Committees with a single, new Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

In debate, Members highlighted that the proposals would be of benefit to the Council’s accountability process, would be a more effective use of Council time and holding the Executive and Council to account.

Multiple members thanked the work of the Constitution Working Group in this area and thanked the work of Officers involved in bringing the recommendations to Council.

Members also highlighted that it was reasonable to have a an opposition member be Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Members also highlighted the importance of the views of those who would not sit on Committee should still be considered, and that this would further add to the effective scrutiny process. Members also stated that streamlining the process would give greater accountability where there was perceived lack of accountability in the past.

Reference was made to the work of the proposed Committee, and reassurance was given by Officers that there would be a formal work plan, thus helping to provide the Committee with timely reports and allowing for effective time to be taken to provide scrutiny to work in the correct manner.

Members questioned whether the quorum for  the Council’s Planning Sub-Committees should be reviewed in view of the change to the size requirements of the sub-committees. Reassurance was given whereby the quorum is calculated as being 25% of the Committee membership in attendance at a meeting for it to be convened and allow decisions to be made.

The Chair paid tribute to the Chairs of the Council’s three individual Overview and Scrutiny Committees for their work, stewardship, and support to the Council in their times as Chairs of the Committees.

Councillor Mathew Parkinson proposed that Council agreed Recommendation 1 as detailed within the original report. This was seconded by Councillor Joy Aitman and was put to a vote. There were 36 votes in favour, 3 votes against and no abstentions. The vote carried.

Council Resolved to:

  1. Agree to include in the Constitution that the Chair of an Overview and Scrutiny Committee must be an opposition member.

Councillor Mathew Parkinson proposed that Council agree Recommendations 2a to 2f as detailed within the original report. This was seconded by Councillor Joy Aitman and was put to a vote. There were 36 votes in favour, 3 votes against and no abstentions. The vote carried.

Council Resolved to:

  1. Agree to replace the three current overview and scrutiny committees with a single Overview and Scrutiny Committee with 24 Members with effect from 5 October 2023, and in doing so:

a)    Agree to update Part 2: Articles and Part 3C: Committee Functions as shown in Annex A and Annex B respectively;

b)    Authorise the Director of Governance to make other consequential amendments to the Constitution (at parts 1A, 3A, 3D, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5F, 5G, 6E, and 6H);

c)    Delegate authority to the Director of Governance to appoint members to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee with effect from 5 October 2023 in accordance with political proportionality and the wishes of political groups;

d)    Agree that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee will meet monthly on the dates set out in paragraph 3.7, with the first meeting being held on Wednesday 8 November 2023 at 5.30pm;

e)    Request that the Council’s Independent Remuneration Panel considers whether the Vice-Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee should be paid a special responsibility allowance, and if so, at what level and any backdating to be applied, and report back to Council;

f)     Note that a programme of member briefings is being developed as an alternative to officers providing information to members through verbal updates and presentations at overview and scrutiny committee meetings.

Councillor Mathew Parkinson proposed that Council agree Recommendations 3 to 7 as detailed within the original report. This was seconded by Councillor Joy Aitman and was put to a vote. There were 37 votes in favour, 1 vote against and 1 abstention. The vote carried.

Council Resolved to:

  1. Agree to include in the Constitution (at Part 5A: Council Procedure Rules, paragraph 6.2) that the Monitoring Officer is authorised to cancel meetings and to reschedule meetings with reasons and in consultation with the Chief Executive and the relevant Chair of Council, a Committee or Sub-Committee, provided that the agenda for the meeting has not been published;
  2. Agree to include in the Constitution (at Part 3C: Committee Functions) how the parish areas within the Brize Norton and Shilton ward and the Hailey and Minster Lovell and Leafield ward are split between the Lowlands and Uplands areas;
  3. Agree to replace the requirement (at Part 3C: Committee Functions) that there are 13 seats on the Lowlands Sub-Committee and 11 seats on the Uplands Sub-Committee with a rule that the Lowlands and Uplands sub-committees must have a minimum of 11 members, with the Chair of the Development Control Committee being appointed to both sub-committees and all other members of the Development Control Committee being appointed to either the Uplands or Lowlands sub-committee, depending on the ward they represent. Where wards cross the Lowlands and Uplands boundary the ward member may be appointed to either sub-committee;
  4. Note that the Constitution Working Group agreed for the Director of Governance to address a number of items on the Constitution Working Group’s work plan under delegated authority, as set out in paragraph 7.1;
  5. Note that future versions of the Constitution will be published to the website using the Modern.gov system in order to improve transparency, ease of updating and version control.

Supporting documents:

 

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