Agenda item

Purpose: To update Council regarding the work undertaken by the Constitution Review Task Group and to propose the approval of the proposed Constitutional updates detailed in the report.

The completion of the Constitution review is an important part of the overall good governance of the Council and has been highlighted as an area to complete in the Annual Governance Statement. 

Council considered a report (agenda item 17) regarding the work undertaken by the Constitution Review Task Group and to propose the approval of the proposed Constitutional updates detailed within the report.

MOTION: Proposed by Councillor Tom Marino and seconded by Councillor Graham Bridgman;

That the Council:

(a)  approves the Budget and Policy Framework, which is attached at Appendix A to this Report;

(b)          approves the Financial Rules, which are attached at Appendix B to this Report;

(c)          approves the Contract Rules, which are attached at Appendix C to this Report;

(d)          notes that the above Rules will replace current Parts of the Constitution, namely:

• Part 9 – Budget and Policy Framework Rules of Procedure
• Part 10 – Financial Rules of Procedure
• Part 11 – Contract Rules of Procedure

(e)  approves the Glossary that is attached at Appendix D to this Report, and delegates authority to the Monitoring Officer to keep the Glossary updated;

(f)   approves a requirement that upon receipt of a requisition for an extraordinary meeting of Council, the Chairman of Council will call the meeting within the statutory timeframe and the meeting will normally be held within 30 clear working days;

(g)  notes the final version of the Parts of the Constitution that were previously agreed by Council in October 2022, which are attached at Appendix E to this Report;

(h) agrees that the changes to the Constitution detailed in this report, take effect from 30th April 2023;

(i)     delegates to the Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Chairman of the Constitution Review Task Group the power to update Parts 1 and 2 of the Constitution to ensure that this reflects the new rules, and to make any minor additional corrections to the parts of the Constitution to ensure consistency in terminology and presentation;

(j)    delegates to the Monitoring Officer the power to make corrections to the Constitution to reflect organisational restructures.”

Councillor Marino stated that the report provided an update and recommendations from the Constitution Review Task Group. The Task Group had done a thorough review and re-draft of sections of the Constitution and these updates formed part of the recommendations. They had also made proposed changes to the Glossary such as having consistency in phrases throughout the Constitution. The Glossary would continue to be updated as required. He thanked members of the Task Group and supporting officers for all their hard work.

Councillor James Cole said that she had sat on a number of the Task Group meetings and appreciated the hard work they put in, especially Councillor Bridgman and officers. The Joint Public Protection Committee had asked that he mention some changes that were required, these were the quorum being two councillors and not four, it should be able to receive reports on joint arrangements and receive members’ questions as well as respond to petitions.  He asked if the Public Protection Manager could review the relevant part of the Constitution.  

Councillor Jeff Brooks explained that he joined the Task Group after its initial set up but had come to appreciate the hard work that they put into it. There had been good cross party working and they had always agreed on proposed changes without having to resort to votes. The Constitution would remain a living document and there would be further changes post-election, whoever was in power. He also thanked officers for their support.

Councillor Bridgman said he recommended that officers review the Joint Public Protection Committee as per the recommendation from Councillor James Cole. He thanked councillors for their comments and members of the Governance and Ethics Committee who had considered the documents. He also thanked officers for their work. He agreed that this was a living document that needed to be kept under constant review.

Councillor Jeff Beck said that he had been a member of the Task Group and he gave thanks to Councillor Bridgman who had led the review as well as other members and officers. This had been an excellent cross party working group.

Councillor Marino concluded the debate and ask the Chairman to move to the vote.

The Motion was put to the meeting and duly RESOLVED.