Agenda item

Purpose: At the Annual Meeting of Council which took place on the 25^th May 2023, Council considered and approved a report detailing the allocation and appointment of seats on Committees.

The Council has a duty under section 15 of the Local Government Housing Act 1989, to review the allocation of seats as soon as practicable following any change to the groups.  Following the formation of a new political group, known as the Minority Group, this report proposes a number of changes to the allocation of seats and appointments to Committees.

The Council considered a report (Agenda Item 5) concerning the Council’s duty, under section 15 of the Local Government Housing Act 1989, to review the allocation of seats as soon as practicable following any change to the groups. Following the formation of a new political group, known as the Minority Group, the report proposed a number of changes to the allocation of seats and appointments to Committees.

MOTION: Proposed by Councillor Lee Dillon and seconded by Councillor Jeff Brooks:

That the Council:

“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 5.2 are to be regarded as Members of the Liberal Democrat, Conservative, and Minority Groups respectively.

Approves the allocation of seats to the Political Groups in accordance with section 15(5) of the Local Government Act 1989, as set out in Table A at paragraph 5.8 of the report.

Approves the changes to the membership of Committees detailed in Appendix A to this report.”

Councillor Dillon explained that the report was brought to this meeting of Council to give the Minority Group the opportunity to make amendments to their allocation of seats on Committees. This was the earliest opportunity to do so following discussion at the last Council meeting.

The amendments were detailed in Appendix A and included Councillor Adrian Abbs becoming a Member of District Planning Committee and the Western Area Planning Committee, with Councillor Carolyne Culver’s role changing to that of Substitute for both Committees.

At the last meeting of Western Area Planning Committee, Councillor Culver explained that she had decided to cease being a full Member of the Committee in order to give full focus to her role as Chairman of the Scrutiny Commission. She received a warm send off from fellow Western Area Members for her work to date.

Councillor Abbs, till recently Chairman of the Western Area Planning Committee, added his thanks to Councillor Culver for all her hard work on the Committee. He looked forward to returning to the Committee.

He noted that Councillor Patrick Clark was elected the new Chairman of Western Area Planning Committee at the special meeting held earlier in the evening. He congratulated Councillor Clark on his election. Councillor Abbs did however question the need to hold the special meeting when the membership was due for change.

Councillor Culver stated that she was very sorry to be stepping down from the Planning Committee. In her four and a half years on the Committee she had not missed a single meeting. She had learned much from her time on the Committee and enjoyed being a part of it. She thanked her fellow Committee Members and gave thanks to officers for all their hard work in what was a difficult area. However, she wanted to give full focus to her role as Scrutiny Chairman in order to perform it to the best of her ability.

Councillor Brooks had nothing to add as seconder to the Motion. It was a procedural report.

Councillor Dillon responded to the point raised about the Extraordinary Western Area Planning Committee. It was important to call this meeting as soon as possible in order to appoint a new Chairman. The election of Councillor Clark meant he was able to perform such tasks as chairing site visits, receiving officer briefings and approving call-in notices. It was expedient and efficient to hold this meeting in advance of Council.

The Motion was put to the meeting and duly RESOLVED.

In closing the meeting the Chairman took the opportunity to wish all present the best of the Season and a Happy New Year.