Meeting documents

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 18 January 2017.

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Governance & Electoral Arrangements Committee held on 18 January 2017 were agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

A report on options for reviewing the current political management arrangements alongside the review of the Constitution was considered by the Committee at their meeting on 30 November and deferred to enable consultation and consideration of possible changes with political groups. Group Leaders reported back on the outcome of these consultations and confirmed that the options for change set out in the officer’s report were not supported.

With reference to the establishment of a Joint Personnel Committee with South Bucks District Council members expressed a preference for any residual HR functions relating to Chiltern staff to be delegated to a sub-committee of the Joint Personnel Committee comprising Chiltern members only, rather than to another existing Committee such as the Governance & Electoral Arrangements Committee.

It was therefore:       

RESOLVED

(i)                that no further action be taken on the following options:-

·          Whether to reduce the current committee cycle of meetings from 6 to 4

·         Whether to establish a single Overview Committee

·          Whether to agree the principle of establishing joint scrutiny functions with South Bucks District Council subject to in principle agreement by South Bucks

·          Whether the current PAG arrangements require any amendment

·          Whether to introduce individual cabinet members decision-making; and

(ii)             that the Head of Legal & Democratic Services be asked to bring  a report to a future meeting on the establishment of  a Joint Personnel Committee to include a sub-committee dealing with residual HR matters relating to Chiltern staff.

The report dealt with Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution covering Procedure Rules, with proposed revisions shown in track changes in Appendices 1 - 6. It was noted that the Financial and Contract Procedure Rules were not included in the report as they had already been updated through the Chiltern & South Bucks harmonisation process.

The Committee considered the proposed amendments to Part 4 of the Constitution in detail, including the following specific items:-

·         New Rule 4 - Changes in Membership of Committees and Sub-Committees. It was noted that this included the introduction of arrangements for substituting members on committees and sub-committees subject to certain restrictions and conditions. Having carefully considered the advantages and possible disadvantages of allowing substitutions, together with the proposed restrictions and conditions, the Committee agreed the new Rule subject to additional wording requiring the Group Leader, their deputies or nominated representatives to consult with the relevant Committee Chairmen before submitting a temporary change of membership to the Democratic & Electoral Services Manager.

·         Rule 14.4 - Content and Length of Speeches. A proposal to reduce the length of speeches at Full Council from 10 minutes to 5 minutes was discussed and having noted this Rule does not apply to speeches at committee, sub-committee or cabinet meetings and that the rule was relaxed by custom and practice for speeches given by the Leader and other Group Leaders on the annual budget and Council Tax setting, a reduction to 5 minutes was agreed.

·         Rules 16.4 - Recorded Vote. Members noted that currently any member of the Council can demand that a recorded vote is taken at a meeting and considered whether to insert a minimum number of members to trigger such a vote. Members agreed that the current Rule should continue unchanged.

·         Access to Information Procedure Rules- Definition of a Key Decision at paragraph 18. Members agreed to increase the financial threshold in the definition of a Key Decision from £30,000 to £50,000 in line with the position at South Bucks District Council.

 Subject to the above decisions and other minor changes to wording agreed at the meeting it was:

RESOLVED

That the proposed revisions to the Procedure Rules set out in Appendices 1 to 6 to the Report be approved.

The revised work programme was agreed.