Agenda item

To consider the report of the Head of Legal & Democratic Services (attached).

The Council received a report from the Governance Working Group on the matters it had discussed at its meeting on 1 July 2022.

The Working Group had reviewed and made a number of recommended changes to the Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rules. The changes principally concerned updating the Call-In Protocol. A number of minor amendments had also been proposed, including updating job titles.

The Working Group had also recommended that the Procedure Rules were changed to provide that, in the event that a Committee voted to remove its Chairman, it would have responsibility for appointing a new Chairman for the remainder of that municipal year. In addition, it was proposed to require two thirds of the Committee’s membership to vote in favour of this change. It was also suggested that the corresponding be made to the Committees, Sub Committees and Other Bodies Procedure Rules at Part 4, Section D or the Constitution.

The Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rules and the Committees, Sub Committees and Other Bodies Procedure Rules had been amended to state that, where a single party was acting as the administration, the Chairman of the Performance & Finance Committee and the Audit & Standards Committee would usually be chaired by a member of the opposition.

Members reviewed the amendments to the Roles of Different Councillors and, following discussion on the proposed changes to the Role of a Leader of an Opposition Group, agreed to amend paragraph 8.1 (a) by replacing ‘constructive opposition’ with ‘constructive challenge’.

It was moved by Councillor Alan McClafferty, seconded by Councillor Rodney Bates and

RESOLVED that

(i)     the Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rules at Part 4, Section C of the Constitution be amended, as set out at Annex A to the agenda report;

(ii)   paragraph 2 (xii) of Council Procedure Rules at Part 4, Section A of the Constitution be removed;

(iii)  paragraph 6 of the Committees, Sub Committees and Other Bodies Procedure Rules at Part 4, Section D of the Constitution be updated as follows: 

6.3    At any meeting of a committee, a councillor may propose that “the meeting has no confidence in the chairman.” The question will, after debate, be put and if carried by a majority of at least two thirds of the councillors present, the chairman will stand down and the remainder of the meeting will be chaired by the vice-chairman or, in his or her absence (or if he or she was the chairman subject to the vote) by a councillor elected for that purpose by the meeting.

6.4    Following a successful vote of no confidence in the chairman, he or she will not officiate at any subsequent meeting of the committee prior to the next meeting of the Council. At that meeting, the Council will consider whether to confirm the vote of no confidence. If by a simple majority the Council decides to confirm the vote, the office of chairman of the committee will be declared vacant and a new chairman will be elected by the Council. The first item on the agenda for the next meeting will be the election of a new chairman for the remainder of the municipal year.

6.5    No member of the Executive will chair any meeting of the Planning Applications Committee, the Licensing Committee or the Joint Staff Consultative Group or be the vice-chairman of that Group. Where a single party is acting as the administration, a member of the opposition shall normally chair the Audit & Standards Committee.

(iv)  the Role of Different Councillors at Part 3, Section D of Constitution be updated as set out at Annex B to the agenda report, with a further amendment to paragraph 8.1 (a) to replace ‘constructive opposition’ with ‘constructive challenge’.