Agenda item

Councillor Reilly moved, and Councillor Scott seconded, the recommendations set out in the report.

The debate included consideration of the following matters:

·         The report set out a number of changes which broadly fell into two categories, firstly from the outcome of a ‘page-turn’ exercise which would help the Council operate more smoothly; the second were related to the disciplinary policy for senior statutory officers, which came about at a result of legislative changes.

·         All bar one of the recommendations were supported by the Constitution Review Working Party on 21 March 2019. Following further clarification, all recommendations were supported by the Audit and Governance Committee on 2 April 2019.

·         It was disappointing that such a bureaucratic process for disciplining a senior officer had been imposed by the legislation.

·         The Constitution Review Working Party had done an excellent job in preparing the recommendations.

·         The changes also allowed for electronic delivery of documents.

·         If approved the changes would take effect immediately and relevant documents would be updated in due course.

RESOLVED –

1.    That Part 2, Article 10 (Suspension, Interpretation and Publication of the Constitution), Paragraph 10.3 be amended so that the words: “The Monitoring Officer will give a printed copy of this Constitution to each member of the Council upon delivery to him of that individual’s declaration of acceptance of office on the member first being elected to the Council” be replaced with: “All members are referred to the up to date version of the Constitution, which is maintained online. The Monitoring Officer will give a printed copy of the Constitution to a member of the Council if that member requests a copy”;

2.    That Part 3, Section 7 (Audit and Governance Committee), Paragraph 7.1 be amended so that the words “5 independent members” be replaced with: “2 independent members”;

3.    That Part 3, Annex C (Officer Scheme of Delegations), Table 1 (General Delegations to All Chief Officers), Paragraph 13 be amended so that the words: “Monitoring Officer £250” be replaced with: “Monitoring Officer £500”;

4.    That Part 3, Annex C (Officer Scheme of Delegations), Table 2 (Delegations to the Chief Officers) be amended to add a new clause after paragraph 51 that reads: “To settle employment claims and other staff related payments in consultation with the Head of Paid Service and the Head of Human Resources, Customer Services and Culture, where it is in the best interests of the Council to do so.” and the subsequent paragraphs be renumbered as appropriate;

5.    That Part 3, Annex C (Officer Scheme of Delegations), Table 2 (Delegations to the Chief Officers), Paragraph 60 be amended so that the words: “exceeding £50,000” be replaced with: “between £50,000 and £250,000”;

6.    That Part 5, Annex 4 to the Code of Conduct (Code of Conduct for Employees) be amended to add a new clause after paragraph 11.4.2 that reads: “Any gift up to a de minimis equivalent financial value of £25, which can be accepted and does not need to be declared, up to a cumulative maximum of £100 in any one financial year.”

7.    That Part 3, Section 9 (Investigatory Committee) be amended as set out at Appendix A to the report;

8.    That an Independent Panel be established and the terms of reference as set out at Appendix B to the report be agreed. Said terms of reference to be added to Part 3 after section 10 and the subsequent sections be renumbered as appropriate; and

9.    That the minor amendments made under the Monitoring Officers delegated authority set out at Appendix C to the report be noted.