Meeting documents

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 30 November 2016.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Governance & Electoral Arrangements Committee held on 30 November 2016 were agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Councillor I A Darby entered the meeting at 6.35pm.

Members’ attention was drawn to the revised work programme and in particular the additional meeting proposed  on Wednesday 7 March 2017 due to the considerable amount of business to be considered as part of the review of the Constitution.

RESOLVED:

i)     That the revised work programme was agreed; and

ii)   That the additional meeting date of Tuesday 7 March 2017 was noted.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services reminded members that a review of the Council’s Constitution was necessary to ensure it was fit for purpose and more user-friendly for members, staff and the public, as well as introducing harmonised procedures with South Bucks District Council where this facilitated more effective running of shared services and to ensure the Council met its statutory duty of publishing an up to date Constitution.

The report dealt with Part 3 of the Constitution covering Roles and Responsibilities and Terms of Reference for Council Committees with proposed revisions shown in track changes at Appendices 1 and 2.

This included role descriptions for council members and the different responsibilities of the cabinet and full council, details of joint arrangements and the terms of reference for the various committees and cabinet.  These reflect provisions in the Local Government Act 2000 (as amended) and the Functions and Responsibilities Regulations 2000 which specify which functions are carried out by the executive (cabinet) and which are reserved to full Council.

Councillor H M Wallace entered the meeting at 6.45pm.

Members considered the content and proposed amendments to Part 3 in detail and minor changes to wording were noted  for amendment in the final document, with the following key areas noted as requiring further consideration my members at a later stage in the review process:

·       Section D - Delegations to Cabinet Portfolio Holders

·       Section G - Licensing & Regulation Committee; Licensing Sub-Committee and Taxi and Private Hire Sub-Committee

·       Section G - Planning Committee membership numbers and quorum; and whether substitutes should be considered in the future

·       Section G - Personnel Committee - a joint Personnel Committee with amendments to Joint Arrangements and Implementation Committee to reflect increased joint working and harmonised conditions between Chiltern and South Bucks District Councils

The amendments to the documents were agreed and would be reflected in the final draft Constitution presented for consideration by the Committee as outlined in the Committee’s Work Programme.

RESOLVED:

i)    That the proposed revisions to Roles and Responsibilities in Part 3 of the Constitution at Appendix 1 were agreed; and

ii)   That the proposed revisions to Terms of Reference of Committees in Part 3 of the Constitution at Appendix 2 were agreed.