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Agenda item

Recommendations from the Constitution Working Group

Purpose

To present Council with recommendations from arising from meetings of the Constitution Working Group held on 2 October 2024 and 7 November 2024.

 

Recommendation

That Council resolves to:

  1. Agree to remove the following provisions from paragraph 36 of Part 5C of the Constitution to ensure consistency with other parts of the Constitution in setting out which decisions are subject to call in (as shown in Annex A):

ii.     is taken by the Executive itself; or

iii.    is taken under powers delegated by the Executive to individual Executive Member(s); or

iv.    is taken under powers delegated by the Executive to a Committee or Sub-Committee.

  1. Agree to include the Chair of the Council in Part 4C and the Vice-Chair of the Council and the Director of Place in both Part 4C and Article 2 as being authorised to apply the common seal of the Council and sign documents (as shown in Annexes B and C).
  2. Agree to include in the responsibilities of the Development Control Committee at Part 3C responsibility for determining the Council’s response to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects within the District (as shown in Annex D).
  3. Agree to include in Part 4B additional delegations to the Head of the Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit relating to reactive enforcement functions (as shown in Annex E).
  4. Delegate authority to the Director of Governance, in consultation with the Chair of the Constitution Working Group (which is due to meet on 26 March 2025), to adopt the new Contract Procedure Rules which have been rewritten following the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023.

Minutes:

The purpose of the report was to present Council with recommendations arising from meetings of the Constitution Working Group (CWG).

 

Councillor Alaric Smith, the Chair of the CWG, introduced the item, highlighting the changes to the proposed changes to the Council’s Constitution:

  • To amend part 5C of the Constitution so that only key decisions would be subject to call-in by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, consistent with part 3A of the Constitution.
  • To amend part 4C of the Constitution so that it included the Chair of the Council as being authorised to apply the common seal of the Council, consistent with Article 2 of the Constitution. To further include the Vice-Chair of the Council and the Director of Place in this authorisation.
  • To amend part 3C to make it explicitly clear that the Development Control Committee is responsible for agreeing the Council’s responses to nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, as per the Council’s established customs and practice.
  • To amend part 4B of the Constitution to include delegations that would allow proactive enforcement work by the Head of the Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit.

 

Councillor Smith also stated that the CWG would be meeting on 26 March to consider an updated version of the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules. Council was asked to delegate authority to the Director of Governance and Regulatory Services to adopt this following consideration by the CWG and in consultation with the Chair of the CWG.

 

Councillor Alaric Smith proposed accepting the recommendations, and Councillor Rosie Pearson seconded this. The proposal was put to the vote and agreed by Council.

 

Council resolved to:

 

1)    Agree to remove the following provisions from paragraph 36 of Part 5C of the Constitution to ensure consistency with other parts of the Constitution in setting out which decisions are subject to call in (as shown in Annex A):

 ii. is taken by the Executive itself; or

 iii. is taken under powers delegated by the Executive to Page 59 Agenda Item 9 individual Executive Member(s); or

iv. is taken under powers delegated by the Executive to a Committee or Sub-Committee.

2)    Agree to include the Chair of the Council in Part 4C and the Vice Chair of the Council and the Director of Place in both Part 4C and Article 2 as being authorised to apply the common seal of the Council and sign documents (as shown in Annexes B and C).

3)    Agree to include in the responsibilities of the Development Control Committee at Part 3C responsibility for determining the Council’s response to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects within the District (as shown in Annex D).

4)    Agree to include in Part 4B additional delegations to the Head of the Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit relating to reactive enforcement functions (as shown in Annex E).

5)    Delegate authority to the Director of Governance, in consultation with the Chair of the Constitution Working Group (which is due to meet on 26 March 2025), to adopt the new Contract Procedure Rules which have been rewritten following the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023.

 

The recommendations were agreed unanimously.

 

Supporting documents:

 

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