Agenda and draft minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 29 July 2025.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 30 September 2025.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 29 July 2025 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2025 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive an update on recommendations and actions following the previous Committee meeting.

Members noted that there was repetition in Actions one, two and three.

Under Action four, Members asked if the Constitution could be produced as a single PDF rather than multiple PDFs. Officers responded that the Constitution would remain as is on the website and noted that an accessible PDF constitution, published through Modern.Gov, was available for the public and members to access. Officers to investigate whether the Constitution could be produced as a single PDF.

Action: Officers to investigate the PDF constitution being presented as a single document. 

Action: Officers to investigate amalgamating Actions one, two, and three on the Action Log.

Action: Action Log to be maintained for future meetings.

RESOLVED to note the Actions arising from the previous meeting.

To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any personal, disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest received.

Purpose: To consider the Forward Plan for the next 12 months.

The Committee considered the Governance Committee Forward Plan (Agenda Item 4).

Officers noted that the Scheme of Delegation would be brought to the Governance Committee by February/March 2026.

Action: The Constitution Review Task Group and Updates would be included as a standing item on the Forward Plan, to be reviewed every 6 months.

Action: The Work Programme would be renamed as ‘The Forward Plan’ to avoid confusion.

RESOLVED to note the report.

Purpose: To receive proposed constitution updates and, if acceptable, to recommend them to Council for Adoption.

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 4) concerning Constitutional Updates.

Nicola Thomas introduced the report, and highlighted the following points:

·       Two separate parts had been updated, Part 8 - Contract Rules and Part 13 – Codes and protocols, which reflected the introduction and implementation of the Procurement Act 2023.

·       Part 8 – Contract Rules, Paragraph 5.7 had been updated, and would be detailed onto the procurement team’s website, and would reflect the thresholds set by Central Government which stood at £179.904. This was an increase from £50,000. Officers highlighted that the threshold had not been increased in the last decade. The increased threshold would not be implemented until the next financial year on 1 April 2026. The Procurement Team, and Legal Team would undertake training with individual managers within the service areas, to ensure they were aware of their responsibilities regarding this update.

·       Part 13 – Codes and protocols had been updated, including the transfer of information from the Constitution, such as contact information, to the intranet.

Members asked a number of questions, and received the following responses:

·       On a question regarding the increase in threshold to £179,904, Officers noted that the changes would not impact the input of member oversight on key decisions, which would need to go through the governance process. The change was for individual service directors and executive directors making decision about contracts that fell within their own directorate without the need to seek approval through internal governance processes.

·       Regarding consents required for contracts over £2.5 Million, Officers highlighted that there was no change proposed to the scheme of delegation. Any contract over £2.5 Million would have to go through the governance process for approval by members.

·       Regarding a question on Appendix B, Item A, Officers noted that no change had been proposed, and that the requirement for at least one quote between £1,000 to £25,000 had not been amended. 

RESOLVED to adopt the Constitutional Updates.