Agenda item

Councillor Pavlovic moved, and Cllr Fisher seconded:

A -  the following recommendation in the report received under the previous item:

To note the Monitoring Officer’s amendments to the Council’s Constitution.

and

B – the following recommendations contained in Minute 52 of the Audit & Governance Committee meeting held on 11 March 2020:

Review of the Council’s Constitution:

(i)      That the amendments set out in the tracked changed version of the Constitution at Appendix A to the report, as further amended by the changes set out below, be approved:¹

Section 2

Article 5, page 25 (Role and Function of the Lord Mayor)

Delete ‘4 year’ from the second sentence.

Article 16, page 64 (Review/Revision of the Constitution)

In 2.6, include a requirement for minor changes to the Constitution to be reported to the Chair of Audit & Governance Committee.

Section 3

3C, pages 103-104 (Responsibility for Functions)

In the final sentence under paragraph (c), after ‘the head of HR’, insert ‘in consultation with the Head of Paid Service, the Monitoring Officer or the S151 Officer’.

3D, page 122 (Powers of Officers)

To the end of (i), add: ‘in consultation with the appropriate Chair’.

Section 6

Members’ Scheme of Allowances, page 353

Remove the reference to Itrent.

(ii)      That the proposed amendments to the Terms of Reference for Audit & Governance Committee at Appendix 1A to the report be approved, as further amended by the additional changes to be agreed by Audit & Governance Committee via email.¹

(iii)     That the proposed changes to the Constitution be considered at the Annual Council meeting on 21 May 2020 and approval given to implement the amended Constitution immediately after that meeting.²

(iv)    That approval be given for the Director of Governance to liaise with the Corporate Management Team to ensure that each service area has in place a system to deliver the consistent compliance with the requirements in the Constitution that relate to delegated decisions taken and recorded by officers.³

(v)     That approval be given for the Director of Governance to undertake a review of the Protocols and Procedures that support the provisions of the Constitution and the council’s overall guidance framework to ensure they are comprehensive, accurate and up to date.⁴

(vi)    That approval be given for the Director of Governance to collate a central record of the Protocols and Procedures that support the provisions of the Constitution, which will be available electronically to all Members, officers and the public.⁵

(vii)    That approval be given for the Director of Governance, in consultation with Group Leaders and Corporate Management Team to provide training to Members and officers to improve the understanding across the council of the requirements set out in the Constitution.⁶

Reason:     To ensure that the Council’s Constitution is accurate and consistent and that there is compliance with the provisions set out therein.

A named vote was taken on the recommendations, with the following result:

The recommendations were declared CARRIED and it was

Resolved:  That the above recommendations be approved.^1-6