Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Angela McClements, Ian Preece, Shirley Reynolds and Bill Tomlinson.

None.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 12 July 2023 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

To receive an update report to approve recommended changes to the Constitution.

The Service Delivery Manager: Legal & Democracy presented the Constitution Update report outlining the ongoing work to review the Council’s Constitution and the recommendations for the revised Constitution to be adopted by Full Council.

Members were asked to refer to the copy of the draft Constitution contained within the report and to note the suggested changes which were highlighted in red. The first change had been implemented to clarify the powers of Full Council in respect of areas where Boundary Review Committee does not have delegated authority to act. Further changes had been made in respect of the numbering of the responsibility for functions section, the insertion of new flowchart to make the process for debating motions and amendments clearer and the removal of hyperlinks which are no longer required. Amendments have also been made throughout the Constitution to ensure that any reference to former Committees have been removed and replaced with the current Committee which now has authority in a particular area.

Upon being put to the vote it was, unanimously:

RESOLVED – RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL that the revised Constitution be adopted.

Standing item to consider any Standards Updates from the Monitoring Officer.

The Director: Policy & Governance presented a verbal update on matters relating to complaints received under the Councillor Code of Conduct arrangements since the last meeting.

Members were asked to note the activity that had been undertaken by the Council’s Monitoring Officer in respect of recent complaints which had been received in relation to Parish and Town Councillors, with one complaint progressing to independent investigation resulting in the resignation of the Councillor concerned.

Members were also provided an update on the process for the issuing of Government Section 114 notices and Section 5 report following recent incidents at neighbouring authorities as a result of poor governance arrangements.

To receive a verbal update on the progress of the Member Learning & Development Programme 2023 – 2027.

The Member Support Team presented a verbal update on the progress of the Member Learning and Development Programme following the conclusion of the first theme.

Members were asked to note the training sessions that had taken place so far as part of the first theme of the programme and the attendance statistics associated with those modules. Feedback captured through the use of Microsoft Forms had continued to show positive engagement from Members in the training offer available and feedback had been welcomed by the Team to support in the continual development and improvement of the programme.

The programme will be commencing the third theme from January which will see an introduction to the Council’s Online Interactive Learning Environment (Ollie), further training on Chairing Skills, Community Champions and Health and Wellbeing.

Members were also provided with an update in relation to the Named Support Officer offer following changes in the Democracy Team.

Following the success of the Member Learning and Development Programme, the Team are starting to commence work towards the attainment of the LGA Member Development Charter to recognise the strategies that have been implemented and to support the Council to continue to enrich its development programme. A further update on progress would be provided to the Committee at its next meeting.