Agenda item

To consider the appointment and allocation of seats on Committees for the next Municipal Year in accordance with the duty under Section 15 of the Local Government Housing Act 1989 and to agree the Council’s Policy Framework for 2022/2023 as set out in paragraph 5.20 of the report.

The Council considered a report (Agenda Item 9) concerning the appointment and allocation of seats on Committees for the next Municipal Year in accordance with the duty under section 15 of the Local Government Housing Act, and which sought to agree the Council’s Policy Framework for 2022/2023 as set out in paragraph 5.20 of the report. An amended version of the report had been circulated on 5 May 2022 with changes made to paragraphs 2.11 and 5.27 to confirm the Independent Persons appointed for 2022/2023. Appendices A and B for the report had been originally marked as to follow and were circulated on 9 May 2022.

MOTION: Proposed by Councillor Lynne Doherty and seconded by Councillor Lee Dillon:

“That the Council:

(1) notes that under paragraph 8 of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, notice has been received that the Members set out in paragraph 5.1 of the report are to be regarded as Members of the Conservative,  Liberal Democrat and Green Party Groups respectively.

(2) agrees to the appointment of the various Committees and to the number of places on each as set out in paragraph 5.4 of the report (Table A).

(3) agrees to the allocation of seats to the Political Groups in accordance with section 15(5) of the Local Government Act 1989 as set out in paragraph 5.12 of the report (Table B).

(4) agrees that the number of substitutes on Committees and Commissions be as set out in paragraph 5.15 of the report (Table C).

(5) in respect of the District and Area Planning Committees, agrees that the substitute Members are all drawn from Members representing wards within the Committee’s area who are not appointed to the Committee. Where substitutes attend the District Planning meeting they need to be drawn from the same Area Planning meeting as the Member they are substituting for.

(6) approves the appointment of Members to the Committees as set out in Appendix A and notes the appointments set out in Appendix B which are in accordance with the wishes of the Political Groups.

(7) in accordance with the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) Regulations 2000 as amended, agrees that the Council’s Policy Framework for 2022/23 be as set out in paragraph 5.20 of the report, and that any necessary amendments be made to the Council’s Constitution.

(8) notes that other plans, policies and strategies requiring approval which are not included in the approved Policy Framework and which are not otherwise reserved by law to Council, will be the responsibility of the Council’s Executive in accordance with the Local Government Act 2000.

(9) notes that Paragraph 2.6.5 of Article 6 will be amended to reflect any changes made to the Executive by the Leader of the Council at the Annual Council meeting.

(10)  agrees the appointment of two non-voting co-opted Parish/Town Councillors to the Governance and Ethics Committee as detailed in Appendix A to the report.

(11)  appoints three Independent Persons (standards) namely Lindsey Appleton, Alan Penrith and Mike Wall and to appoint an Independent Person (Audit) to focus on the risk and audit functions of the Governance and Ethics Committee.

(12)  notes the membership of the Health and Wellbeing Board as set out in Appendix A to the report.

(13)  delegates authority to the Monitoring Officer to make any changes required to the Constitution as a result of the changes to the number of Members of the Council and following the appointments to Committees.”

Councillor Doherty commented that a minor amendment was needed in respect of Appendix A to reflect that Councillor Lee Dillon would become a substitute member for the Overview and Scrutiny Management Commission and that Councillor Adrian Abbs would replace him as a full member. Councillor Doherty thanked Members for their contributions and work on the various Committees.

Councillor Lee Dillon in seconding the report echoed the Leader’s comments. He concluded with a plea for Opposition representation on the Joint Public Protection Committee.

The Motion was put to the meeting and duly RESOLVED.