Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Committee’s remit can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5:00 pm on Friday 16^th March 2012.

At this point in the meeting, members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

Members considered a report which followed on from a report brought to the previous meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee. It sought to address some matters discussed in relation to the abolition of Cabinet Member Decision Sessions. The report also referred to proposals for amending the terms of reference for Ward Committees which the Cabinet is recommending to Council. The report also provided an update on the proposed abolition of Cabinet Working Groups.

Cabinet Member Decision Sessions

The Audit and Governance Committee had indicated its support for the general principle of ceasing the current practice of routinely holding formal meetings for individual Cabinet Member decisions at its last meeting. However, it was recognised that some of these meetings such as the City Strategy Decision Session, attract public interest. Members had asked the Assistant Director for Governance and ICT to give consideration to some arrangements which might allow for members of the public to require a public meeting to be held.

Following consultation with the Leader of the Council, the Assistant Director advised that the recommendation remains that the decision about holding public decision sessions should remain with the Cabinet Members and the Leader, as any potential options would do little to reduce the work load involved in organising the meetings.

Members made the following comments:

·        It was disappointing that no options for a potential process to enable members of the public to require a decision to be made at a public meeting had been included in the report, as Members of the Committee had specifically asked for this to be presented to them.

·        City of York Council had a history of exceeding the minimum requirement for public participation and some Members were disappointed to see the suggested abolition of the Decision Sessions and commented that it was a move towards minimum level public participation.

·        Whilst some Members recognised that it was not cost effective to have all decisions made in public, concern was  expressed that the decision to have a public meeting or not would be made by the Cabinet Member and the Leader, with the Leader being able to over rule the Cabinet Member.

·        Some Members felt that it would be beneficial for the Audit and Governance Committee to have a yearly report back on the cabinet member decisions being taken in private and in public to enable the Committee to monitor the new system.

It was moved and seconded to remove references to Cabinet Member decision sessions from the Constitution. When put to the vote, Councillors Brooks, Cuthbertson and Steward voted against the recommendation.

Abolition of Cabinet Working Groups

At the last Audit and Governance meeting the Committee voted against the cessation of the Mansion House and Mayoralty Advisory Group. As reported previously, the use of Working Groups is a matter for the Cabinet and does not require a decision by the Audit and Governance Committee. Further to the last meeting, the Leader has confirmed that he is happy to seek and receive advice informally from former  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.