Agenda item - Review of the Constitution - July 2019

Extract from the proceedings of the Policy, Resources & Growth Committee meeting held on the 11^th July 2019 (to follow); together with a report of the Executive Lead Officer for Strategy, Governance & Law (Monitoring Officer).

22.1    The Mayor noted that the following officer amendment had been received (changes in bold):

          13.      School Organisation Working Group – Terms of Reference

            5.       Membership of the Working Group will consist of 3 6

                        elected members, nominated by group leaders.

          15.      Cross-Party Youth Group – Terms of Reference

            4.       Governance and decision making

The Children, Young People and Skills Committee is the council Committee which is responsible for education, children’s health and social care services, public health for children and young people, including services to young people up to the age of 19 or in some cases the age of 25.

            7.       The Working Group meetings are to be held every 3         months for 1.5 hours and will generally start at 5.30pm or    as agreed.

22.2    Councillor Platts moved the report and said that Councillor Moonan (Chair of the Constitutional Working Group) would speak on it.

22.3    Councillor Moonan thanked the Members of the Constitution Working Group and officers for their work and highlighted some of the issues they had considered. With regard to Oral Questions, it would be preferable if they could be more specific as that would ensure the answer clearly addressed the issues raised. There had been a high number of Working Groups, and sometimes it wasn’t clear what they had been formed to consider. Now Working Groups would report back to the parent committee on a regular basis and would either be established as a ‘task and finish’ or as a permanent group.  The current Neighbourhoods, Inclusion, Communities and Equalities (NICE) Committee and the Tourism, Economic Development & Culture (TD&C) Committee would merger and a new committee called the Tourism, Equalities, Communities and Culture (TECC) Committee would be established.

22.4    Councillor Littman thanked his colleagues on the Constitutional Working Group and welcomed the report. However, whilst he agreed that the NICE Committee should end, and its delegations moved elsewhere, he was concerned that there may be too much work for the TECC Committee which could be unsustainable. He felt that the changes to the committees was being rushed and that the ground work had not been done fully enough and the possible negative impact on our third sector colleagues.

22.5    Councillor Yates said that one of the important changes was the reintroduction of Project Boards for some of the major projects in the city, which would allow Ward Councillors to be involved in schemes affecting their wards.

22.6    Councillor Moonan wanted to reassure the voluntary sector partners that changes to the NICE Committee would not mean that there was less emphasis or value to their input, and the functions of that committee would be continued in the new TECC Committee.

22.7       RESOLVED:

(1)       That the proposed changes to delegations to Planning Committee as set out in paragraphs 4.1 to 4.4 of the report be approved;

(2)       That the proposal to clarify the mechanism for responding to written questions from elected Members at Council Committees (and sub-committees) set out in paragraph 4.5-4.7 of the report be agreed;

(3)       That the review of Committee functions as set out at paragraphs 4.11 to 4.13 including the establishment of a new Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee and the discontinuation of the Orbis Joint Committee (as set out in paragraph 4.26) be agreed;

(4)       That the changes to Council Procedure Rules to reflect the approach to reporting by sub committees to parent committees as set out at paragraph 4.20 of the report be agreed;

(5)       That it be agreed to invite both East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and the Sussex Police and Crime Panel to present an Annual Report to Full Council as set out at paragraph 4.21 of the report;

(6)       That decisions to commit the Council to the principles or membership of alliances, charters and pledges should be reserved to Full Council and that this approach be kept under review and any impact on Council business assessed as set out at paragraph 4.22 of the report;

(7)       That the Council Procedure Rules be amended to ensure a consistent definition of “Council meeting” as set out at paragraph 4.23 of the report;

(8)       That the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer be authorised to take all steps necessary or incidental to the implementation of the changes agreed by the Policy, Resources & Growth Committee and by Full Council, and that the Monitoring Officer be authorised to amend and re-publish the Council’s constitutional documents to incorporate the changes; and

(9)       That the proposed changes come into force immediately following their adoption by Full Council.