Agenda item

To consider the report and recommendations of the Governance Working Group (attached).

The Council received a report from the Governance Working Groupwhich had met on 17 February and 31 March 2017.  The Working Group had considered a number of issues and made recommendations for consideration by the Council.

The Council did not currently have a Protocol for Member training. As a result, there was not a clear policy against which any individual requests from Members for training could be considered.  As a result the Working Group had recommended the adoption of a Member Training Policy Statement which set out a framework for providing training which supported ongoing Member development and assisted councillors with conducting their roles, whilst balancing these needs against a restricted budget.

The Working Group had reviewed the Council’s Public Speaking Scheme for the Planning Applications Committee. The Working Group had recommended that the length of time allocated to each speaker be a maximum of 4 minutes. The Working Group also considered the arrangements for the circulation of material at meetings of the Planning Applications Committee and recommended an amendment.

In considering the arrangements for public speaking at meetings of the Planning Applications Committee, the Working Group had received information in relation to the number of applications called in by Members over the previous 12 months.  It had been noted that on some occasions there had been a relatively high number of applications called-in by Members.

The Working Group had considered that it should only be the prerogative of ward councillors to call-in applications in their ward and had recommended that the ability to call-in an application should be limited to relevant ward councillors, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Planning Applications Committee.  The Working Group had also recommended that the “calling-in” Member should be required to provide broad planning reasons for the call-in.

In reviewing the Planning Code of Practice for Councillors and Officers, the Working Group had recommended that, in accordance with the Probity in Planning Guidelines, all references to planning decisions being “quasi-judicial” decisions be removed and that the wording be replaced with wording from the Guidelines.

In addition the Working Group had recommended that at meetings of the Planning Applications Committee, the time restrictions within Council Procedure Rules be applied to non-committee members speaking on an application, namely that the first non-committee members could speak for up to 8 minutes, with subsequent non-committee members able to address the committee for up to 5 minutes.  

In relation to the Planning Notification of an Approach form the Working Group had recommended that this requirement should be removed as it was recognised that Members routinely declared any such approaches at the meeting.

The Working Group had reviewed the wording of Paragraph 2.1 of Part 4 – Section C of the Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rules and had recommended an amendment to clarify the process for the appointment of Councillors to Scrutiny Committees.

The Working Group had also reviewed the Council Procedure Rules in relation to Rule 11 – Questions by Members.  The Working Group had recommended that, in order to allow the Councillor submitting the question sufficient time to consider the response prior to the meeting, all councillors should be notified of the written question and the response by no later than 2.00pm on the day of the Council meeting.

In relation to Rule 11A- Portfolio Holder Question Time, the Working Group was of the view that the scrutiny of Portfolio Holders was covered effectively by the Performance and Finance Scrutiny Committee.  The Working Group had therefore recommended that the Portfolio Holder Question Time be changed to the Leader’s Question Time.

Resolved that

(i)              the Member Training Policy Statement, as attached at Annex A to the agenda report, be adopted;

(ii)            the Public Speaking Procedural Rules at Part 4, Section E of the Constitution, insofar as they refer to Public Speaking at Planning Applications Committee, be amended as set out at Annex B to the agenda report;

(iii)          the Scheme of Delegation of Functions to Officers at Part 3, Section B of the Constitution be amended as follows;

Executive Head of Regulatory – Development Management

(Applications which are reserved for decision by the Planning Applications Committee)

“F 3 (b) any planning application, where within 28 days of the publication of the weekly list of planning applications, the Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Planning Applications Committee or a relevant ward councillor makes a request, supported by broad planning reasons, asking the Executive Head of Regulatory to refer an application to the next appropriate meeting of the Planning Applications Committee for determination.”

(iv)          the Planning Code of Practice for Councillors and Officers at Part 5 - Section D of the Constitution, be amended as set out at Annex C to the agenda report;

(v)            the Committees, Sub Committees and Others Procedural Rules at Part 4 - Section D of the Constitution, insofar as it relates to the Planning Applications Committee, be amended as follows:

“18.2.2       Any councillor in attendance may speak at the meeting in relation to an item.  In circumstances where members are not members of the Planning Applications Committee, the first councillor may speak for up to 8 minutes, with any subsequent councillors for up to 5 minutes.” 

(vi)          Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rules at Paragraph 2.1 of Part 4, Section C of the Constitution be amended as follows:

“2.1 Only members, who are not members of the Executive, may be appointed to one or more scrutiny committee by the Council in accordance with the political proportionality requirements of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.  However, no member may scrutinise a decision which she/he has been directly involved in.”

(vii)        The Council Procedural Rules, at Rule 11.3, Part 4, Section A of the Constitution be amended as follows;

“The question will be put and answered without discussion. An answer given may be given:

(a)             orally;

(b)           by reference to published material of the Council or that which is readily available to the members; or

(c)              in writing.

The question and the written response will be circulated to Councillors by no later than 2.00pm on the day of the Council meeting.”

(viii)       The Council Procedural Rules, at Rule 11A, Part 4, Section A of the Constitution be amended so as to remove all references to Portfolio Holder Question Time and replaced with the Leader’s Question.