Agenda item

The Monitoring Officer to submit a report which seeks approval for a set of documents which will form part of the new Constitution

 

In a report prepared by the Director for Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer the Council was asked to approve a set of documents which would form part of the Council’s new Constitution as well as a delegation to the Director for Law and Governance to make appropriate amendments.

 

The report was presented by the Leader and he stated that

 

(a)  last year the Council took a huge step to move to a Cabinet and Scrutiny model from May this year.  This would make a big difference as the Council looked to become a more commercial and agile organisation and address some of the governance challenges identified by the Local Government Association (LGA) and recognised by all at the Council;

 

(b)  since that time the Director for Law and Governance and colleagues had been working on writing a brand new, streamlined and more effective Constitution.  In February, Members approved the first set of documents which would ultimately form the new Constitution from May;

 

(c)  during the process, the Governance Development Group had provided feedback.  In addition, all documents were shared with all Members enabling wider comments to be fed in through email, organised drop in sessions and meetings.  Members’ Bulletin articles also reminded Members to provide feedback.  He was pleased that some Members had used this opportunity to provide some useful feedback.  In addition, on 27 March the Governance Committee considered the final set of documents and provided feedback;

 

(d)  the proposed delegation scheme would provide officers with the authority to take decisions to implement Members’ policy direction in a way that supported the Council’s commercial ambitions. The delegation scheme would be supported by greater transparency obligations than the Council had been used to within the Committee system.  He looked forward to decisions being made in a more streamlined, open and transparent way and Members being given more opportunity to scrutinise important decisions.  There was no doubt that the new governance arrangements and the documents before Members at the meeting would make the Council more Member led;

 

(e)  in terms of greater transparency, for Cabinet Key Decisions (those decisions over £50,000 or which had a significant impact on upon the Borough) it was a statutory requirement to publish a Forward Plan of when they would be made.  In accordance with this, all Members would be sent all proposed Key Decisions which were due to be taken by Officers, Portfolio Holders or Cabinet 28 days in advance of them being made.  This would allow Members to provide their views to the relevant Portfolio Holder prior to the decision being made; 

 

(f)   once Key Decisions had been made there was a requirement to publish a Record of Decision, once again these would be sent to all Member so that they were aware what decision had been made and so that Members who wished to call in decisions to the Scrutiny Committee may do so;

 

(g)  also where non-Key Decisions were made and they were significant, a Record of Decision would be made and sent to all Members and published on the Council’s website.  This would add greater transparency and accountability for those persons who were making decisions;

 

(h)  it should also provide some assurance to Members that they would still be aware of decisions that would be made by officers;

 

(i)    this document had limited some of the delegations currently in place such as write offs of debt over £2,500 to ensure that Members had greater scrutiny over important issues that affected the Council;

 

(j)    the Council was focussing on improving the Planning Service.  He was grateful to the Planning Committee Members for their input into the drafting of the new procedure rules;

 

(k)  Members would note the proposed Financial Procedure Rules provided greater flexibility for financial decisions to be made in an efficient way whilst still maintaining financial control;

 

(l)    with the above in mind, he proposed recommendations 2.1 and 2.2 of the report.

 

Councillor Cumbers stated that the Leader had said what Councillors needed to know and that the Council must have a Constitution in place for 3 May, the day after the Borough Elections, and another Council meeting would be required if the documents were not approved at this meeting.  It had been an enormous task for the Monitoring Officer and her colleagues to bring this new Constitution to the Council.  She added that almost nothing was set in stone and there was little legal requirement therefore after the Borough elections Members could take stock and review any areas of concern.  With regard to typos etc, this type of amendment could be corrected easily and should advised to the Monitoring Officer.  She reminded the Council that it was run by the Members and the Constitution must be how they wanted it to be apart from any legal requirements.  She seconded the motion.

 

Concern was expressed by a Councillor at the move to the Cabinet and Scrutiny model and from their experience they felt that all decisions would be made by those on the Cabinet and other Councillors would take part in scrutiny and regulatory matters only and  have no influence on the policy decisions.  The Councillor felt that the Council needed to be aware of the pitfalls of the new arrangements as they made it easier for officers to control Members as they only had to deal with those on the Cabinet rather than all 28 Councillors. The Councillor referred to not only smaller Councils suiting the Committee system but also others such as Nottinghamshire County Council having recently moved from the Cabinet model to the Committee system.

 

Two other Councillors agreed with the previous Councillor’s view and one was also concerned at the new Constitution.  The Councillor felt the Constitution did not suit Melton and had been lifted from other Councils’ Constitutions.  This Councillor felt that the document should be further reviewed early in the new Council term and was also concerned at the new governance arrangements.  The other Councillor asked if the decision to move to the Cabinet and Scrutiny model could be reversed by the new Council.

 

The Chief Executive reminded the Council that the report presented at the meeting was to formalise the second part of the Constitution and advised that the decision to move to a Cabinet model was taken last November and could not be reversed for 5 years.  The Director for Law and Governance added that this timeframe was a legal requirement and not a choice and that this had been made clear both verbally and within the body of the report.

 

Another Councillor spoke in support of the new arrangements and stated their  disappointment that uncertainty was raised at this late stage and felt any misgivings on the Cabinet model should have been aired earlier.  The Councillor explained that the Constitution had been to the Governance Committee and some areas had already been approved by the Council. 

 

Other concerns were expressed by a Member which they felt could be addressed by the first review and particularly relating to clarifying the appointment of Deputy Leader (Appendix A12, 5.2 referred).

 

The Chief Executive explained that the Constitution was a living document and there was opportunity for the Audit and Standards Committee to review and refresh any areas of concern  in the new Civic year.   He mentioned that officers were aware that there were issues to further consider and were supportive to fulfil Members’ wishes and therefore the document would remain under review throughout the next Council.  He added that the comments made at this meeting would be noted and appropriate consideration and response presented to the Audit and Standards Committee.

 

There was mention of the transfer of delegation from the Chief Executive and the Councillor felt this should be to the Deputy Chief Executive rather than a Director (Appendix A3, 9.1 referred). 

 

Clarity between Customer Services and Councillor queries was sought due to a recent article in the Corporate Messenger.  The Councillor felt that Members should be able to go direct to the lead officer rather than to Customer Services in the first instance and would like this to be addressed.   

 

The Leader closed the debate and confirmed that the Chief Executive would note Members’ comments and ensure these were addressed by the new Council.  He added that he was in favour of the Cabinet model due to it being the way forward to facilitate decisions to meet the Council’s commercial ambitions.   He added that the Council could not go back on decisions already made and in support of the Cabinet model he referred to Newark and Sherwood District Council which had moved from Cabinet to Committees recently and was already looking to go back to the Cabinet model.  He reminded the Council that they were there to vote on the recommendations before them which would ensure they had a Constitution in place for after the Borough elections and not to decide on the Council’s previously determined governance arrangements. 

 

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

 

RESOLVED that

 

(1)  the following be approved for adoption, as listed at Appendix A and appended thereto, effective from the Annual Meeting in May 2019 :-

 

Appendix A1    Council Functions and Procedure Rules

Appendix A2    Cabinet Functions and Procedure Rules

Appendix A3    Officer Scheme of Delegation

Appendix A4    Audit and Standards Committee Functions and Procedure Rules

Appendix A5    Employment Committee Functions and Procedure Rules

Appendix A6    Licensing Committee Functions and Procedure Rules

Appendix A7    Planning Committee Functions and Procedure Rules

Appendix A8    Scrutiny Committee Functions and Procedure  Rules

Appendix A9    Meetings Procedure Rules

Appendix A10 Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules

Appendix A11 Financial Procedure Rules

Appendix A12 Member Roles

Appendix A13 Petitions Scheme

Appendix A14 Proper Officer Designations

Appendix A15 Contract Procedure Rules

 

(2)   delegated authority be given to the Director for Law and Governance for:

 

(a)    amendments to the constitution as a result of comments received by Members;

 

(b)    changes to the structure and layout of the constitution;

 

(c)    minor amendments (as and when required) that in her opinion do not substantially alter the content of the constitution; and/or

 

(d)    any changes to the Constitution as required by the law.