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Items
No. Item

39.

Apologies

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors, Gina Bloomfield, Rachel Coxcoon, David Cunningham, Andrew Doherty, Jenny Forde, Stephen Hirst, Nikki Ind, Julia Judd, Richard Keeling, Andrew Maclean, Richard Norris, Nigel Robins, Ray Theodoulou.

 

Councillor Spivey had advised that she would be arriving late.

40.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest from Members and Officers, relating to

items to be considered at the meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no Declarations of Interest from Members

 

There were no Declarations of Interest from Officers

41.

Constitution of the Council pdf icon PDF 78 KB

Purpose

Modernising the Constitution

 

Recommendation(s)

• To note the Constitution.

• To authorise that the Monitoring Officer: to publish a final clean version of the Constitution (correct any numbering, editing or formatting errors).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The purpose of the report and Extraordinary Council Meeting was to review the Constitution of the Council and the table of changes to the Constitution since May 2019 in Annex A.

 

The Chair suggested that the usual rules of debate, limiting Members to speak only once, would be relaxed to enable Members to speak on any item.  This was welcomed by Members.  The Chair drew Council’s attention to an addendum to the report listing formatting and spelling corrections that had already been identified and corrected, and a list of items that had already been referred to the Constitution Working Group for consideration.

 

The Leader of the Council introduced the report and thanked Members for their time spent reviewing the Constitution and attending the meeting to consider the proposed updates.  The Constitution was considered the foundation and bedrock of the Council, and it was important that it was up to date and accurately reflected the fundamental principles and precedents by which the Council was governed.

 

The Director for Governance provided an overview of the Constitution and explained that Members would be reminded of the changes that had been recommended, followed by a comprehensive section by section review.

 

Part A – Summary and Explanation of the Constitution

 

No comments from Council

 

Part B – Articles of the Constitution

 

3.1c     Councillor Call For Action

Council requested link/reference to be added to enable readers to refer to related information elsewhere in the document, and it is referred to the Constitution Working Group for consideration

           

6.1       The Council currently has a leader and eight Councillors in its Cabinet. 

Council requested this sentence was removed and ‘The Cabinet has a minimum of three and a maximum of ten Members.’ was added.

 

7.8       Whipping (paragraph)

Council requested this paragraph was considered by Constitution Working Group along with other ‘Whipping’ paragraphs within the Constitution

 

9.2       The Planning and Licensing Committee shall comprise of fifteen Members…

Council requested this is corrected to, ‘The Planning and Licensing Committee shall comprise of eleven Members…’, or this is removed as part of a wider removal of time limiting entries

 

Part C – Responsibility of Functions, Scheme of Delegation, Key Decisions and Forward Plan

 

2.10     Council Functions

The functions which may only be exercisable by Council… e.g. Promote or oppose local or personal bills.

Council requested that the statutory act that empowers this and all similar functions is referenced (e.g. Local Government Act 2000)

 

3.0       Licensing Sub Committee (Licensing Act 2003) and Licensing Sub Committee (Taxi Private Hire and Street Trading)

Council requested the addition of minimum and maximum numbers of members that enable meetings to be quorate

 

5.10.1  Decisions By Individual Cabinet Members

Council requested the Constitution Working Group should consider the addition of clear details indicating when decisions should be referred to Cabinet Members, Chief Executives or Council Officers that could be understood by lay people.

 

7.0       Roles and Responsibilities of Councillors

Council requested the addition of a reference to the Code of Conduct.

 

7.3       Functions relating to Housing, Public Health,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.