Decision details

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Orson, referred to the previously circulated report and explained that

 

(a)  the first report established the direction of the Council and this report was about how the Council was most effectively to get there.  The Peer Challenge recognised the Council had some issues in how it made decisions and the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Governance Review carried out in March 2018 set these out in more detail and made some recommendations for how the Council could improve.  The LGA’s report was received by the Governance Committee on 27 March 2018 and following that an informal Governance Development Group of Members and Officers was convened which explored these more fully.  The group met twice and looked at a range of areas including the Committee structure, policy development, the role of Leader, Chairs and Vice Chairs and representatives on outside bodies;

 

(b)  the Governance Development Group had made an extensive range of recommendations which the Group believed would help improve the Council’s governance processes; remove duplication and streamline decision-making.  At a time when local government finances were under such pressure it was imperative that the Council increased not only the efficiency of its services but also the way in which the democratic function operated and key recommendations within the report included :-

 

·         Rationalisation to three more autonomous  policy committees; Corporate, People and Place, removing overlap and duplication and creating a better alignment between the corporate priorities and corporate management structures

·         A commitment to build a new Town and Place Partnership with a broader appeal and influence to  help the council raise the profile of the Borough and encourage investment

·         Removal of a range of sub-structures, working groups and boards and replacement with a much clearer route to policy development through a new policy forum

·         These along with a range of other improvements listed within the report would not only improve how the Council carried out its business, they would also deliver a financial and productivity saving to the Council

 

(c)  the group’s proposals were considered by an Ad Hoc Governance Committee on 30  April 2018 and the questions and comments received from that meeting had been circulated to Councillors.  He was grateful for the contributions made at that meeting and believed that these proposals represented a very positive step in the right direction for this Council.  It was important to note however that this report represented the first phase of improvements and that further work was planned for the Governance Development Group.  This was in line with the LGA recommendations which advised the Council should review its scheme of delegation and Constitution more fully and also look at the merits of alternative governance arrangements.  He added that he looked forward to welcoming the new Director for Legal and Democratic Services who would play a key role in supporting this work and then proposed the recommendations at paragraphs 2.1 to 2.27 of the report and that the vote on the recommendations be taken ‘en bloc’.

 

The Deputy Leader, Councillor Higgins, seconded the motion and reserved his right to speak.

 

It was pointed out that there had been an oversight in the proposed amendments to the Constitution at Appendix E where there was reference to the Melton Economic and Environmental Affairs Committee and this should refer to the Place Committee.  The Councillor supported the report and the simplification of the structure and was pleased that at this stage the Council had not moved to a Cabinet/Scrutiny model.  The Councillor felt that in a small Council such as Melton, the Committee model gave the opportunity for all Members to contribute.  However the Councillor would not oppose an alternative structure in the future. 

 

It was requested that the vote not be taken ‘en bloc’ as a Member did not agree with recommendations 2.13 and 2.14 relating to the membership of the policy and regulatory forums.  

 

The Mayor advised that the Leader had included in his motion that the vote be taken ‘en bloc’ therefore it was the Leader’s decision as to whether he accepted this change in voting arrangements. 

 

The Leader responded that the motion remain as put, ie. ‘en bloc’. 

 

There was a discussion on the role of the Policy Forum and there was a view that it should include the opposition.  However it was felt that it was usual for the ruling group to set the policy of the Council. 

 

It was suggested that the concerned Councillor may wish to put an amendment to give all Councillors the opportunity to consider the opposing view.

 

The Mayor asked if the Councillor would like to put an amendment and therefore adjourned the meeting at 6.55 p.m. for the Councillor to consider this.  The meeting reconvened at 7.09 p.m.

 

Councillor Blase put an amendment which requested that the Council take a vote on recommendations 2.1-2.12 ‘en bloc’, and recommendations 2.15 to 2.27 ‘en bloc’ and amend 2.13 and 2.14 to add the following wording after the last word of each recommendation as follows :-

 

2.13 …‘along with a representative of other groups or parties.’

2.14 …‘along with a representative of other groups or parties.’

 

Councillor Holmes seconded the amendment. 

 

Clarification was requested as to whether the amendment meant a representative of all other parties or just one representative.  Councillor Blase confirmed it would be one representative.  The Solicitor to the Council gave further clarification that it was one representative out of the other groups.  Councillor Holmes also clarified that it was one representative from a minority group. 

 

It was then asked how it would be determined which group would provide the representative particularly in the current circumstances.  It was also questioned whether it was legal to have a Member representing independents. 

 

The Chief Executive clarified that these were informal groups not subject to political balance and were not decision-making.  It was requested that a single representative be appointed to represent the non-ruling group. 

 

Councillor Greenow raised a point of clarification that a group was a constituted body and could not be constituted by a different group.  He added that to have a non-ruling group representative would be a matter for the non-ruling groups to determine how it was allocated.  The Chief Executive explained that the other Members should make that decision and this was not a decision-making body.  .

 

The Leader stated that he opposed the amendment and was grateful that the  difficulties of this representation had been outlined.  He felt the report was positive and would help to stop duplication and urged Members to not support the amendment. 

 

Other Members felt the amendment brought potentially another layer of democracy  and once the electorate had decided the balance of power, the ruling group should be able to have informal discussions such as in these forums. Others felt the amendment was not clear in its wording and could have been raised earlier at the briefing.  It was felt that the original motion was forward thinking and  would help to future proof the Council. 

 

On the amendment being put to the vote, the amendment was lost.  

 

The Deputy Leader referred to his reserved right to speak and stated that it had been good to debate the well put paper.  He added that the approving the recommendations would modernise the Council and urged Councillors not to vote against the motion and support the ‘en bloc’ vote.

 

The Leader referred to the late amendment and that it may have been helpful for advice to have been sought before the meeting.  He asked the Council to accept his motion to take an ‘en bloc’ vote on all the recommendations.

 

On being put to the vote, the original motion was carried.

 

RESOLVED that

 

(1)       the comments of the Ad hoc Governance Committee held on 30 April 2018 on the proposed new Governance arrangements  be noted;

 

(2)       the new Committee structure as set out at Appendix A be approved and this come into effect from the Annual Meeting on 15 May 2018;

 

(3)       it be approved that a new policy committee be created called ‘Corporate Committee’ and this replace the existing Policy, Finance and Administration Committee in name and the terms of reference for this committee be as set out at Appendix A and the new committee come into effect from the Annual Meeting on 15 May 2018;

 

(4)       it be approved that a new policy committee be created called ‘People Committee’ and this replace the existing Community and Social Affairs Committee in name and the terms of reference for this committee be as set out at Appendix A and the new committee come into effect from the Annual Meeting on 15 May 2018;

 

(5)       it be approved that a new policy committee be created called ‘Place Committee’ and this replace the existing Rural, Economic and Environmental Committee in name and the terms of reference for this committee be as set out at Appendix A and the new committee come into effect from the Annual Meeting on 15 May 2018;

 

(6)       a new delegation to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the Council be approved to authorise one-off supplementary expenditure, required as a consequence of decisions made from the policy committees, up to a cumulative maximum of £100,000 in any one year;

 

(7)       it be approved that the Town Area Committee be disestablished and removed from the Council’s decision-making structure with effect from the Annual Meeting on 15 May 2018;

 

(8)       it be approved that special expenses be the responsibility of the Place Committee and any outstanding business for the Town Area Committee be transferred to the appropriate committee with effect from the Annual Meeting on 15 May 2018;

 

(9)       it be approved that the Council work with partners and support the development of a new town and place partnership involving local stakeholders and businesses, the terms of reference for which to be determined once the membership is established.  An informal steering group of representatives from key stakeholders; including the Chair and Vice Chair of the Place Committee be convened to develop the approach;

 

(10)    the revised terms of reference of the Governance Committee be approved with effect from the Annual Meeting on 15 May 2018;

 

(11)    the revised terms of reference of the Planning Committee be approved with effect from the Annual Meeting on 15 May 2018;

 

(12)    the revised terms of reference of the Licensing and Regulatory  Committee be approved with effect from the Annual Meeting on 15 May 2018;

 

(13)    it be approved that an informal Policy Forum be developed to replace the existing Conservative Chairs group and the membership of this group be the Leader, Deputy Leader,  Chairs and Vice Chairs of the People and Place Committees and senior officers as determined by the Chief Executive;

 

(14)    it be approved that an informal Regulatory Forum be developed and the membership of this group be the Chairs and Vice Chairs of the Regulatory Committees and senior officers as determined by the Chief Executive; 

 

(15)    it be approved that the following working groups be disbanded with effect from the Annual Meeting on 15 May 2018 :-

 

·           Budget and Strategic Planning Working Group

·           Cattle Market Working Group

·           Economy Board

·           Planning Enforcement Working Group

·           Sports, Leisure and Culture Working Group

·           Tenant Consultative Working Group

 

(16)    it be approved that Lead Members be removed from the Constitution and no longer be part of the governance arrangements with effect from the Annual Meeting on 15 May 2018.  The same applies to the term ‘Champions’, that these no longer form part of the Council’s governance arrangements;

 

(17)    it be approved that representatives on Outside Organisations and Partnerships be the Leader or relevant Committee Chair as the default position except where there is a business reason for a different Member.  The Leader or Committee Chair may nominate their Deputy or Vice chair as required;

 

(18)    it be approved that committee minutes no longer be included on the Full Council agenda under the item ‘Questions from Members’.  Members will still be able to submit questions to the Leader and Committee Chairs as they do currently;

 

(19)    it be approved that Committees will not typically receive information only items, rather Members will be kept informed of new initiatives and policy development through an improved Members’ Bulletin and wider briefings as necessary; as well as more directly through the Chairs and Leader themselves; 

 

(20)    it be approved that taking into account the views of the Chairman of the Welland Independent Remuneration Panel the Special Responsibility Allowances (SRA) for the Leader,  Deputy Leader, Chair and Vice Chair roles of the three existing policy committees transfer to the three new policy committee roles as set out at para 3.12 of this report and the Member Allowances Scheme be updated accordingly with effect from 16 May 2018;

 

(21)    it be approved that the SRA for the Chair and Vice Chair of the Town Area Committee be deleted from the Member Allowance Scheme and the scheme be updated accordingly with effect from 16 May 2018;

 

(22)    it be approved that a short interim review of any impact on Special Responsibility Allowances as a result of these changes should take place in January 2019 once the new arrangements have had a chance to embed.  This would be subject to any wider governance changes being proposed;

 

(23)    the principle be approved that the Calendar of Meetings for 2018 19 remain as previously drafted and considered by the Governance Committee on 27 March 2018 subject to removal of the Town Area Committee dates and the three existing policy committees be replaced by the three new policy committee names ie. Corporate (PFA), People (CSA), Place (MEEA).   The Calendar of Meetings to be considered for approval at the Annual Meeting of the Council on 15 May 2018;

 

(24)    the deferred items for adoption in the Constitution that were previously presented to the Governance Committee held on 27 March 2018 and to the Ad hoc Governance Committee held on 30 April 2018 as set out at Appendix E be approved;

 

(25)    it be approved that the Constitution be updated in respect of all matters listed and subsequently approved above where appropriate;

 

(26)    it be approved that the Governance Development Group be retained in its current format and membership and continue to review the Council’s governance arrangements including a review of the scheme of delegation to officers to offer more flexibility and consider the merits of alternative governance models and report to the Governance Committee and subsequently the Full Council in due course;

 

(27)    it be noted that as a result of the new Governance arrangements, transitional arrangements need to be in force until work is completed on their implementation including a review of the Council’s Constitution including the Financial Procedure Rules and the Policy Framework following the prioritisation exercise and the realignment of budgets into the new committee structure and responsibilities which will commence when the budgets are set for 2019/20 with budget monitoring under the new arrangements not implemented fully under the 2019/20 financial year.