AUDIT AND GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE	11 March 2026
Report of the Director of Governance

Report of the Monitoring Officer on Suggested Constitutional Changes – Revised Joint Standards Committee Procedures and Associated Amendments

Summary

1. To provide the revised Joint Standards Committee Procedures for the committee to note and endorse, and to highlight required associated constitutional amendments to the committee for consideration and discussion.

Code of Conduct Complaint Handling Procedures

2. Following a discussion at Joint Standards Committee, it was agreed that the Joint Standards Committee Procedures, contained in Appendix 29 of the Constitution, required revision.  Consequently, and at the request of the Joint Standards Committee, the Head of Legal Services undertook a comprehensive review of the procedures.

3. The revised Joint Standards Committee Procedures were considered by the Joint Standards Committee on 1 December 2025 , when initial feedback was provided, and it was agreed that the matter be deferred to the next meeting, to allow the Committee members to consider the document further.  The revised procedures were considered again at the Joint Standards Committee meeting on 22 January 2026, when the revised procedures were unanimously approved by the Committee.

4. On the basis of the Joint Standards Committee’s unanimous endorsement, they are presented to the Audit & Governance Committee for note and endorsement, prior to transmission to full Council for approval. 

5. For Members’ assistance, whilst it is noted at the 12 November 2025 Audit & Governance Committee that, when presenting constitutional amendments, ‘tracked changes’ versions of documents are preferred, given the comprehensive rewrite of the Joint Standards Committee Procedures, such a tracked changes version would be impractical; in due course, this will also be the case for the Public Participation Protocol.

Associated Constitutional Amendments

6. In conducting the review of the Joint Standards Committee Procedures, it is noted that the quorum for that committee (and the default quorum for all non-specified committees) set out in paragraph 13.1 of Article 7 of the Constitution is 4 members.

7. As has previously been noted, this creates a challenge for smaller meetings, sometimes leading to such meetings being inquorate and placing a greater burden on those Members who are able to attend shorter-notice meetings. In order to remedy this, it is recommended that all instances of “4” in paragraph 13.1 of Article 7 of the Constitution be changed to “3”.

Implications

Financial – None directly arising from this report.

Human Resources (HR) – None directly arising from this report.

Equalities – None directly arising from this report.

Legal – None directly arising from this report.

Crime and Disorder, Information Technology and Property – None directly arising from this report.

Recommendations

8. It is recommended that Members:

a. note the amended revised Joint Standards Committee Procedures;

b. consider and endorse the proposed associated constitutional amendments; and

c. remits the changes to the next ordinary meeting of Full Council for approval:

Reasons for the Recommendation

9. To allow Council to determine the proposed Constitutional changes.

Author and Chief Officer responsible for the report:	Bryn Roberts, Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer
	Report Approved	X	Date	2 March 2026
Wards Affected:  List wards or tick box to indicate all					All	X
For further information please contact the author of the report

Background Papers:

· None

Annexes:

· Annex 1 – Revised Joint Standards Committee Procedures