Agenda and draft minutes

To appoint the Chair of the Constitution sub-committee for the Local Government year 2023/24

Councillor Sarah Nelmes nominated Councillor Giles-Medhurst for the Chair of the Sub-Committee. Councillor Chris Lloyd seconded the nomination.

As there were no other nominations, Councillor Giles-Medhurst was duly elected Chair of the Sub-Committee for the Local Government Year 2023/24.

To appoint the Vice-Chair of the Constitution sub-committee for the Local Government year 2023/24

The Chair nominated Councillor Sarah Nelmes for Vice Chair of the Sub-Committee. Councillor Chris Lloyd seconded the nomination.

As there were no other nominations, Councillor Nelmes was duly elected Vice Chair of the Sub-Committee for the Local Government Year 2023/24.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Debbie Morris who was substituted by Councillor Philip Hearn.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the Constitution sub-committee meeting held on 7 March 2023.

The Minutes of the meeting of 7 March 2023 were approved and the Chair authorised to sign them as a correct record.

Items of other business notified under Council Procedure Rule 30 to be announced, together with special circumstances that justify their consideration as a matter of urgency.  The Chair to rule on the admission of such items.

Sarah Haythorpe, Principal Committee Manager, notified the Sub-Committee that an additional document had been circulated after publication of the agenda. The document was an addendum to Appendix 5: Part 4 – Rules of Procedure, and related to the Standards Complaints Procedure.

The Chair stated that, as the addendum formed part of the Procedure Rules that were under consideration at this evening’s meeting, he would AGREE to the Sub-Committee considering the late item as an urgent item.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no Declarations of Interest.

The Chair stated that Ms Miranda Carruthers-Watt, Consultant, on behalf of the Council, had been working on changes to the Council’s constitution. Accordingly, he proposed that she introduce the overarching report and the reasons for the review before the Sub-Committee considered the various appendices that were before the Sub-Committee for consideration.

Ms Carruthers-Watt introduced the report, noting that this was the final version of the amended constitution for the Sub-Committee’s consideration. In preparing the document, the Leader, Deputy Leader, Chief Executive, and the Council’s previous and current Monitoring Officer had been consulted.

As well as stylistic changes that had been made, Ms Carruthers-Watt stated that there had been some changes to the Scheme of Delegation to reflect the restructuring of the Council’s Senior Leadership Team which had been approved at the meeting of Annual Council in May 2023. There had also been some changes to the Rules of Procedure in relation to meetings to bring them in line with “Best Practice”; more detailed definitions of the roles of Committee Chairs and Lead Members; and changes to the Standards framework to bring it in line with the Local Government Association’s guidance on Best Practice. In addition, a section entitled “General Principles on Delegation to Officers” had been included to cover sub-delegations by senior officers.

Regarding the Rules of Procedure, the proposed changes had been made to reflect “Best Practice” and the efficient and effective running of meetings, including amendments which had been made with the intention of striking a better balance between the time allowed for Questions and the time allowed for Substantive Business, including the use of time limits.

Part 2 of the Constitution, set out the roles of Full Council, Committees, and Lead Members. Where, an authority, like Three Rivers District Council, operated a Committee system, it was not possible to delegate matters to individual Members. However, Three Rivers District Council designated certain responsibilities to Lead Members. Therefore, Articles 6 and 7 of the Constitution had been redrafted to make clear the respective roles of Committees, Chairs, and Lead Members, and how decisions were made.

Article 9 of Part 2 was a new framework for handling complaints against Members which was in accordance with the Local Government Association (LGA) guidelines, and which gave the Monitoring Officer a greater deal of autonomy in dealing with matters at an early stage while maintaining a Panel of Members who would make a final determination on any possible breach of the Council’s Code of Conduct.

It was proposed that the Sub-Committee consider the new Constitution with a view to recommending that the revised Constitution be referred to the Policy and Resources Committee for consideration prior to adoption by Full Council.

The Chair then invited Mr Stephen Rix, as the Monitoring Officer, for any comments he might wish to make on Ms Carruthers-Watt’s presentation. Mr Rix stated that the only thing he wished to draw to the attention of the Sub-Committee was in relation to the Standards Framework, noting that Part 2, Article 9  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.