Agenda item

As previously reported to the Committee, a cross party working group has now been established and had its first meeting on 6^th October 2021.  The cross party working group proposes to meet on a weekly basis (subject to Member availability) in order to assist the Committee on the review of the Constitution. Once satisfied with the amendments to the Constitution, the Audit & Governance Committee will make a recommendation that the draft Constitution be referred to a future meeting of Full Council for approval and immediate implementation.  As the Committee is aware, the amendments undertaken by Audit & Governance Committee on 11^th March 2020, and subsequently approved by Full Council in October 2020, have been incorporated into this revision.

The Committee confirmed it would consider several articles at the meeting which included Articles 5, 6, 9, and 11 from the proposed constitution. Members were also updated on the work of the cross party working group the Committee had requested be set up to consider several parts of the proposed constitution It was confirmed that proposed changes made by the cross party working group would come back to a meeting of this Committee for consideration prior to being considered by a meeting of Full Council.

Article 5 related to The Lord Mayor of York, the Sheriff of York And Chairing the Council. Members discussed the position carried over from the current constitution of the Deputy Sheriff. Members noted the concerns about the need for the role by the group of former sheriffs, it was also confirmed that it had been included originally due to the unavailability of a previous named sheriff which meant a interim or deputy had been named until that individual was available. The Committee agreed that the ability to name a deputy sheriff could be a value function to provide additional resilience to the Civic Party but requested that the article be worded to note that it would only be used if circumstances required.

Members also highlighted the impact of gendering roles such as Lord Mayor which could be held by people of any or no gender. It was noted that studies showed that women were less likely to pursue a role that was gendered for a man. The Committee recognised that they could not change the title of Lord Mayor so requested that clarification be linked to whenever roles which did not need to be gendered but were appeared within the document. Accessibility was raised to being able to read the document online and officers noted that work would be undertaken to ensure accessibility, it was also confirmed that officers would look to provide hyperlinks where possible to the appendices for easier reading.

Article 6 related to The Leader of the Council and the Executive. The Committee enquired to the role of an Executive Member without portfolio and whether this role needed to be specified in the article. It was confirmed that this came as part of the Leaders powers to name up to 10 Executive Members who didn’t require a specific portfolio, it was also confirmed that this was common practice in some Councils. 5.2 was raised and members requested that clarification be made that an Executive Member could only be disqualified from being a Councillor if they didn’t attend a Council meeting for 6 months not simply a meeting of the Executive.

Article 9 related to The Audit and Governance Committee. The Committee discussed the inclusion of and the role of an independent member, Members were in agreement of the benefits of independent members but recognised that there were certain meetings an independent could not participate in. Officers outlined the options of subcommittee meetings to break up the Committees workload which should make it easier for an independent member to participate in relevant and appropriate Committee meetings.

Members enquired about 1.3 which had added that the Sheriff of York Could no longer be a Member of Audit and Governance. It was discussed whether this was necessary due to the role of the Sheriff in the Civic Party, it was noted that this had come at the request of a political group and outlined that a preserved issue that the public could see the role as a conflict had been provided as the reason for this inclusion.

The Committee voted 5 in favour and 1 against, in maintaining the wording of 1.3 as ‘The Membership of the Audit and Governance Committee will not include in its Membership any Member of the Executive or the Lord Mayor or the Sheriff.’ Councillor Mason did not vote as he had declared an interest at item 33 of the minutes, as the current Sheriff of York.

Members also discussed whether the convention that certain committees such as Audit and Governance should be chaired by a opposition councillor should be written into the Constitution. However, it was confirmed that conventions were just that and therefore, could not be included.

Article 11 related to Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee. Members discussed the role of Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee in staffing conditions and how this was reported. It was confirmed that those areas outlined in 3.6 would be reported to this Committee in an annual report before being reported to Full Council as part of this Committees annual report.

Members enquired about proportionality on Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee and whether the committee was currently proportionate. Officers confirmed that while it was difficult to break down four places the committee did meet proportionality and that this could be more visible if Council choose to include more members on the committee. Members asked whether a breakdown of proportionality could be included in the Constitution, officers recommended that it be made available on the Council’s website and could be linked to the Constitution that way.

Finally Members enquired about how the Constitution would be kept up to date and it was confirmed that 6 monthly reviews would be undertaken and an annual fitness for purpose test would also be carried out. Enquiries were also made to how a new committee could be proposed, officers confirmed this could be proposed now and would require Full Council approval.

Resolved:

                      i.         That the Committee voted in favour of maintaining the wording ‘The Membership of the Audit and Governance Committee will not include in its Membership any Member of the Executive or the Lord Mayor or the Sheriff.’

                     ii.         That Article 5 2.1 in the proposed Constitution be amended to read ‘The Sheriff of York will be elected by the Council at its Annual Meeting. The Sheriff may if circumstances require appoint a Deputy. The Sheriff of York will have the following responsibilities, acting as an ambassador for the City locally, nationally and internationally, supporting its elected First Citizen, the Lord Mayor.’;

                    iii.        That links in the proposed Constitution be added to provide clarification to titles where they were unnecessarily gendered;

                   iv.        That Article 6 5.2 be amended to clarify that a Executive Member could only be disqualified from being a Councillor if they didn’t attend a Council meeting for 6 months not simply a meeting of the Executive;

                     v.        That the proportionality of the Council be published on the Councils website and linked to the Council’s new Constitution when/if it is approved by Full Council;

                   vi.        Noted the work of the cross party working group and the role of the review of the Constitution to the Action Plan.

Reason:     To ensure that the Council Constitution is accurate and is fit for purpose to effectively support the service delivery and decision making responsibilities of the Council in a lawful and financially compliant manner. Also to ensure that the Council is working towards the delivery of the Action Plan in response to the Public Interest Report.