Agenda item

A report from the Monitoring Officer.

The Chairman invited Cllr Richard Clewer who had responsibility for Corporate Services to present the report on the proposed changes to the constitution. The report could be found at pages 165 - 172 of the agenda. The proposed changes to Part 3B were at Pages 185-192, the revised Protocol 2 was at Pages 209 – 228, and the revised Part 15 at Pages 237 – 246.

There following elements were highlighted:

·       Changes to the terms of reference for the Electoral Review Committee. Within that were also some policy framework changes. It was explained that there was some ambiguity in the wording of two of the paragraphs, specifically paragraphs 1.1 – 1.2 of Part 3B of the constitution, so it was recommended that this go back to the Constitution Focus Group for further consideration.

·       Pensions and how the pension fund worked, dealt with in protocol 2 of the constitution.

·       Staff policy behaviour, which had been through the Constitution Focus group, Staffing Policy Committee and Standards Committee.

Cllr Clewer proposed a motion to:

1.    To approve the proposed changes to Part 3B of the Constitution as detailed in Appendix 2, with the exception of sections at paragraphs 1.1-1.2 to be referred to the Constitution Focus Group for further consideration.

2.    To approve the proposed changes to Protocol 2 of the Constitution as detailed in Appendix 4.

3.    To approve the proposed changes to Part 15 of the Constitution as detailed in Appendix 6.

This was seconded by Cllr Philip Whitehead.

A statement had been received from Chris Caswill regarding his concerns relating to the changes to part 3B of the constitution. The statement was read out by the Democratic Services Officer. It was stated that the proposed wording appeared to remove the requirement that certain decisions be made at Full Council. Cllr Clewer had already responded during his proposal, stating that the paragraphs in question would be referred back to the Constitution Focus Group to address any ambiguity on wording, however it was not the intention that Full Council involvement in the planning policy be removed.

Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, requested confirmation that the paragraphs being referred back to the Constitution Focus Group (1.1-1.2 of Part 3B of the constitution) did relate to the issues raised by Chris Caswill in his statement and would not be adopted today.

Cllr Ernie Clark, Leader of the Independent Group echoed the concerns raised by Chris Caswill.

Cllr Ricky Rogers, Leader of the Labour Group stated that as the ambiguous paragraphs were being referred back to the Constitution Focus Group, he was happy to support the proposals.

The Chairman then opened the debate.

Councillors clarification that it was not the intention to remove Full Council’s right to debate on these important planning policies and documents.

Cllr Gordon King noted that important strategies such as the Child Poverty Strategy were close to needing review.

Cllr Richard Clewer responded that there was no intention that any of the planning documents or policies mentioned would not be brought to Full Council. The aim was to try and simplify a list that had a number of out of date items on it.

At the conclusion of the debate it was

Resolved:

1.    To Approve the proposed changes to Part 3B of the Constitution as detailed in Appendix 2, with the exception of sections at paragraphs 1.1-1.2 to be referred to the Constitution Focus Group for further consideration

2.    To approve the proposed changes to Protocol 2 of the Constitution as detailed in Appendix 4.

3.    To approve the proposed changes to Part 15 of the Constitution as detailed in Appendix 6.