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Agenda item

Review of the Council's Constitution

With the Chairman’s permission, Mrs Isabel McCord, Chairman of the Standards Committee and the Focus Group on the Review of the Constitution will present the outcome of the review of the Constitution previously requested by Council.

 

A report by the Monitoring officer which includes the recommendations of the Standards Committee, is attached.

 

 

Minutes:

Mrs Isabel McCord, Chairman of the Standards Committee and Focus Group on the Constitution introduced this item to Council. She gave a brief synopsis of the work undertaken to review the constitution and urged Councillors to adopt the constitution as revised. She also thanked the Focus Group and officers for all their hard work in reaching this stage.

 

The Chairman presented a report on the outcome of the review of the constitution. Council in previously adopting a constitution for Wiltshire Council did so on the basis that a review would be undertaken into its effectiveness in light of experience after six months of operation. The Standards Committee was requested to carry out the review which it did by establishing a Focus Group on the Constitution to carry out the detailed work required.

 

The Focus Group comprised a member from each political group on the Council and representatives from the Standards, Audit and Overview and Scrutiny Resources Select Committees. Members of the Focus Group commented that serving on the Focus Group had been a very positive experience and had been an extremely productive exercise.

 

The Focus Group had recommended a number of changes to the constitution as reflected in the revised draft constitution made available to all Councillors. The Standards Committee held a special meeting on 26 October 2010 to consider the conclusions and recommendations of the Focus Group. The Standards Committee was satisfied with the detailed work undertaken by the Focus Group and drew up a series of recommendations for Council’s consideration with a view to adopting a revised constitution. To assist Council, a summary of the main changes being recommended was also presented. 

 

The Chairman referred to the following three issues which remained outstanding:

 

  • Protocol 7 – Media Relations, the Focus Group had asked for this to be redrafted. It was also noted that this document would need to take account of the proposed new Local Authority Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity once in place.

 

  • Cabinet member response times – In light of the comments made by the Focus Group and Cabinet members, the Standards Committee had asked this Council to determine the issue believing that it would be useful to include an appropriate timescale for responses.

 

  • Guidance on amendments to motions – As requested by the Focus Group, the Monitoring Officer had produced this guidance for initial consideration by the Chairman of Council and Group Leaders, details of which were presented.

 

Cllr Stuart Wheeler, member of the Focus Group agreed to answer questions on the review and recommended changes. Cllr Wheeler confirmed that there had been cross party support for the changes proposed. He also explained that further reviews would be required as a result of emerging legislation including the Localism Bill in particular once enacted.

 

The Chairman circulated a motion which took on board the recommendations of the Standards Committee and the above mentioned outstanding issues and this was duly seconded by the Vice-Chairman and on being put to the vote, it was

 

 

 

Resolved:

 

That Council:

 

1.         Adopts the following recommendations of the Standards Committee dated 26 October 2010 (this excludes  recommendation (iii) relating to the Media Relations Protocol:  

 

(i)                 To approve the changes proposed to the constitution shown as tracked changes on the draft revised constitution for adoption by Council at its meeting on 9 November 2010.

 

(ii)               To approve for inclusion in the constitution the Protocol on Partnerships, the Protocol on Guidance to Councillors on Outside Bodies and the Protocol on Governance Reporting Arrangements.

 

(iii)             That Council determines the issue of whether or not provision should be made in the constitution in respect of response times by Cabinet members (see 4. below).

 

(iv)             To note the decision of Cabinet dated 19 October 2010 to defer consideration of the review of the Development Control Service until such time as the implications of any changes to the planning system as a result of the Decentralisation and Localism Bill are known.  Consequently, the Scheme of Delegation on Planning – Part 3C and the Planning Code of Good Practice for Members of Wiltshire Council – Protocol 4 remain unchanged in the meantime.

 

(v)               To designate the current Scrutiny Manager post as Wiltshire Council’s Scrutiny Officer to be responsible for the statutory functions as defined in Section 31 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.

 

(vi)             To authorise the Monitoring Officer to make such amendments as are necessary to give effect to decisions of Cabinet, Council or its committees and to ensure that the constitution is clearly presented and legally fit for the purpose of the Council.

 

(vii)           To thank the Focus Group, its Chairman Mrs Isabel McCord and other members of the Council who contributed to the review for all its valuable work in undertaking the detailed work required to carry out the review.

 

(viii)         To agree that the Focus Group remains in being to assist with

 

·         the ongoing review work on the constitution as and when required;

 

·         producing user friendly summaries of the relevant parts of the constitution for use by members of the public and members of the Council and

 

·         specifically to review the constitution in light of any changes in the legislation including the proposed Decentralisation and Localism legislation

 

and to amend its terms of reference to reflect the above.

 

2.         To ask the Monitoring Officer, after consultation with the Focus Group on the Review of the Constitution and the Service Director, Policy and Communications to prepare and approve a revised Media Relations Protocol, which takes account of the proposed new Local Authority Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity, due to come into effect on 1 January 2011.

 

3.   To ask the Monitoring Officer to approve the ‘Guidance on Amendments to Motions’ following consultation with the Focus Group on the Review of the Constitution for inclusion as an appendix to Part 4 of the Constitution – Rules of Procedure – Council.

 

4.         In relation to the issue of Cabinet Member response times, to include the following as a third bullet point under paragraph 6.8 of Part 12 – Role and Responsibilities of Councillors, applying the provision to all Councillors:

 

‘To acknowledge any enquiries normally within four working days of receipt, and provide a substantive response, where required, within ten working days, if possible.’

 

5.       To agree that the Constitution as revised should come into effect on 1 December 2010 in order to allow time for the document to be updated and formatted and for the changes to be communicated to all concerned.

Supporting documents: