Agenda item

The Chairman drew Councillors’ attention to the reports of the Solicitor to the Council and Monitoring Officer which invited Council to:

 

• appoint the various committees of the Council and review the allocation of seats on those committees to political groups according to their respective political strengths on the Council;

 

• make appointments to committees in accordance with such a review taking into account the wishes of the political group leaders;

 

• appoint chairmen and vice-chairmen of committees excluding the Standards and Select Committees which would be asked to make such appointments at their respective first meetings;

 

• agree to extend the terms of office of the current chairman and vice-chairman of all Area Boards to the first meeting of those Area Boards following this Annual Meeting of Council to enable them to oversee, where appropriate the election of chairman and vice-chairman for 2011/12; 

 

• to agree to extend the term of office of Mrs Isabel McCord as an independent member on the Standards Committee;

 

• appoint nine Wiltshire Council members to serve on the Combined Fire Authority for the ensuing year.

 

The Chairman explained that Group Leaders had been consulted on the principles of what was being proposed.

 

The Leader proposed a motion which encompassed all of the above, details of which were circulated and this was duly seconded.

 

A discussion ensued on whether chairmen and vice-chairmen of committees should be appointed by Council at this meeting or left to the committees themselves to determine at their first round of meetings following this meeting.

An amendment was proposed by Cllr Francis Morland and seconded by Cllr Jon Hubbard to the effect that the appointment of committee chairmen and vice-chairmen should not be taken today but left to the committees to determine and that the current chairmen and vice-chairman stay in situ until their successors were appointed.

 

On being put to the vote, the amendment was LOST.

 

A further amendment was proposed by Cllr Jon Hubbard and seconded by Cllr Peter Colmer which gave an alternative list of vice-chairmen of committees to that which was proposed in the Leader’s motion.  On being put to the vote, the amendment was LOST.

 

The Chairman then put the Leader’s motion to the vote which was CARRIED and it was

Resolved:

 

To note the reports and the legal requirements.

(a)       To appoint the following committees with the terms of reference as set out in the Constitution:-

                                    Strategic Planning

                                    Area Planning – East, North, South and West

                                    Licensing

                                    Standards

Organisation and Resources Select

                                    Children’s Services Select

                                    Health and Adult Social Care Select

                                    Environment Select

                                    Audit

                                    Appeals

                                    Staffing Policy

                                    Officer Appointments

                                    Pension Fund

Joint Committee for Appointment to Wiltshire Police Authority

 

(b)       To approve the aggregate number of committee places available to members of the Council being 169 and the number on each committee as follows:-

Committee	Total Number of Places for Elected Members	Conservative Group Allocation   (61 seats)	Liberal Democrat Group Allocation (24 seats)	Labour Group Allocation     (2 seats)	Independent Group Allocation   (8 seats)	Devizes Guardians Group Allocation (3 seats)
Strategic Planning	13	9	3	-	1	-
Area Planning Committees   North South East West	10  11           9 11	7            6            6            6	3 3 1 3	- 1 - -	- 1 1 2	- - 1 -
Licensing	12	8	3	-	1	-
Organisation and Resources Select	13	7	3	1	1	1
Children’s Services Select	13	9	3	-	1
Health & Adult Social Care Select	13	8	3	-	1	1
Environment Select	13	7	3	1	1	1
Audit	13	8	3	-	1	1
Appeals	9	6	3	-	-	-
Staffing Policy	9	6	2	-	1	-
Officer Appointments	5	3	1	-	1	-
Pension Fund	5	3	2	-	-	-
Joint Police Appointing Committee	7	4	2	-	1	-
Great Western Ambulance Joint Scrutiny Committee	3	2	-	1	-	-
TOTALS:	169	105	41	4	14	5

 

(c)                                      To appoint Area Boards, constituted as area committees as set out in paragraphs 12 to 14 of the report and within the Constitution, and to appoint those members representing electoral divisions to their respective area boards as set out in Appendix 1 attached to this motion.

(d)   To agree to continue the proposed arrangements for any future                appointments of councillors to Health Scrutiny Joint Committees                  as set out in paragraph 18 of the report.                                                                                                                     

(e)    To approve the nominations of Group Leaders, as set out in the    attached Appendix 2, for the appointment of councillors and substitutes, to serve on committees in accordance with the agreed scheme of committee places, until the next occasion membership is reviewed under the provisions of the Local Government & Housing Act 1989.

(f)      To appoint the Standards Committee with the terms of reference as set out in the Constitution and to appoint the following Council members to serve until the next Annual Council meeting in 2012:-

         Mr Fuller, Mr Johnson, Mr Marshall, Mr McLennan, Mr Clark, Mr Carter

 

(g)       To agree to extend the term of office of Mrs Isabel McCord, independent member on the Standards Committee until the next annual meeting of the Council or the end of the present standards regime, whichever is the earlier.

 

(h)   To appoint the following non-elected members to the Children’s Services Select Committee:-

 

Non-Elected Voting Members	Representing
Vacancy (Reserve/substitute:  Mr C Shepperd)	Church of England
Dr M Thompson (Reserve/substitute:  Canon L. O’Driscoll)	Clifton Diocese Roman Catholic Church
Mr N Owen	Parent Governor (Secondary)
Mrs A Kemp	Parent Governor (Special Educational Needs)
Mrs R Ryan	Parent Governor (Primary)
Non-Elected Non-Voting Members (Up to Five)	School, Children and Young People representatives
Mrs D Dale	Further Education Representative
Mr C Dark	Secondary Schools Headteacher Representative
Mrs J Finney	Primary School Headteachers Representative
Mr J Hawkins	School Teacher Representative
Mr C King	Children & Young People's Representative

 

(i)   To appoint the following councillors to serve on the Combined        Fire Authority for 2011/12 :-

 

            Conservative (6)                 Liberal Democrat (2)          Independent (1)

 

            Mr Peter Davis                     Mr Marshall                          Mr Newbury

            Mr Payne                              Mr Osborn

            Mrs Groom

            Mr Devine

            Brigadier Hall

            Mrs Wayman

 

(j)     To appoint following Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen:-

 

Committee                                                Chairman                  Vice Chairman           

                    

Area Planning Committee – Eastern     C Howard                    R Gamble

Area Planning Committee – Northern   T Trotman                    A Hill

Area Planning Committee – Southern                            F Westmoreland       J Green

Area Planning Committee – Western   P Fuller                         R While

Audit Committee                                       R While                         S Parker

Licensing Committee                               J Seed                           N Phillips

Officer Appointments Committee           J Scott                           JThomson

Pension Fund Committee                       T Deane                        C Howard

Staffing Policy Committee                       A Bucknell                   M Hewitt

Strategic Planning Committee               A Davis                         C Crisp

 

(k)     To agree to extend the term of office of the current chairmen and vice chairmen of all area boards to the first meeting of those area boards following the annual meeting of council, to enable them to oversee, where appropriate, the election of chair and vice chair for 2011/12. 

 

(l)    To note that in accordance with the Constitution the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the Standards Committee and Select Committees will be elected at the first meetings of those committees.