Issue - meetings

The Standards and General Purposes Committee recommend that Council resolve to approve the recommendations set out at agenda item 12.

Chairman of Standards and General Purposes Committee.

115.1   The Mayor asked the Chair of the Standards and General Purpose Committee to introduce the recommendation.

115.2   Cllr Macleod proposed that the Council adopt the new Council Procedure Rules set out. It was outlined that the new rules were part of a major work programme carried out by the Strategic Director of Legal and Democratic Services and her team to update the Constitution and procedures and align them where possible with Guildford Borough Council’s constitution. He thanked the members of the Guildford and Waverley Joint Constitution Review Group for their hard work and dedication in looking at these matters. Guildford’s Council considered these proposals and agreed them.

115.3   The Leader advised that on behalf of the Executive they fully support this and thank everyone involved for the massive amount of work done.

115.4   Cllr Martin advised that in the detailed constitution talks about the annual budget meeting it said the Leader had an unlimited amount of time to propose his budget and the leader of the opposition had 10 minutes. The rules as we have them at the moment sweep that away which raised concern that a time limit would not give time for such a sufficient and important process. With that outlined Cllr Martin advised he was happy to support the motion.

115.5   Cllr Ken Reed commended procedure rule 11.4.

115.6   Cllr Ward advised that he welcomed rule 11 on page 379 as questions often take a large amount of time to read out. He questioned item 9 quorum and the last paragraph stating business deferred from that meeting will be discussed at the next meeting be that ordinary, extraordinary or special. Cllr Ward advised that this was raised at the Standards and General Purpose meeting as business that was not listed as things we could discuss at extraordinary and special meetings.

115.7   The Mayor thanked Cllr Ward for raising the point and advised that paragraph 1.8 of the report did actually highlight the three amendments that were supported by the Standards Committee and the recommendation was that these rules are adopted with those three amendments as proposed in the report.

115.8 Cllr Macleod thanked members for their input.

The Mayor moved to the vote and Council voted unanimously

RESOLVED:

Council approves to adopt the new Council Procedure Rules, as set out in Appendix 2 of the report, into the Constitution.

Standards and General Purposes Committee to receive the recommendation from the Joint Constitutions Review Group.

(Report to follow)

The Committee received a report which recommended a new proposed set of Council Procedure Rules to be adopted into the Waverley Borough Council and Guildford Borough Council Constitutions.

The Committee discussed the proposed Council Procedure Rules at Appendix 1 and proposed the following amendments:

a)    Procedure Rule 2.3 – The Committee voiced apprehension about the Monitoring Officer presiding over the election of the new mayor for the reason that meetings of the Council should always be chaired by a Councillor. The Committee suggested adding wording from Rule 8 to ensure a non-Executive Councillor will preside at the election of the Mayor. The Democratic Services Manager noted the proposed amendment.

b)    Procedure Rule 2.4.1 – The Committee suggested that ‘Wishes of the Political Parties’ is amended to ‘group leaders’ to ensure that such decisions are taken by the leader of the political group, on behalf of the group. It was clarified by the DSM in response to Members that the wishes of political groups could only be expressed through the group leader in accordance with regulations, and no additional wording was necessary. The Committee were satisfied with the response.

c)     Procedure Rule 4.2 – The Committee noted that the list of business does not include business deferred from previous meetings and proposed that wording should be added to clause (vi) to refer back to 3.2(x) i.e. to dispose of any remaining business from the previous Council meeting.

d)    Clause 15.6 – Cllr John Ward commented on the clause and suggested that the Mayor should be allowed to use his discretion to allow a Member to speak again if it would be useful. A clause to allow the discretion of the Mayor should be incorporated. The DSM explained that the Monitoring Officer has advised that there are plenty of opportunities for Members to speak adequately and the point behind this clause is to encourage Members to speak once. The Committee were satisfied with the response.
Clause 15.13 – Cllr Michael Goodridge referred to the clause and noted that the papers considered at the JCRG included a clause 15.12 & 15.13 (Closure Motions). The clauses have not been included in the papers sent to this Committee. The DSM noted this point and agreed to consult with the Monitoring Officer about the inclusion of Closure Motions in the Council Procedure Rules.

e)    Procedure Rule 25.4 – Some Members raised concerns about the proposal for the Leader to be able to attend and speak at any Committee meeting. Cllr Michael Goodridge noted concerns about this prospect at Overview and Scrutiny meetings, as it opens up the possibility of extensive debate or pressure on the Chair. The Committee understood that the Leader should be able to attend and speak for clarification and informative purposes, but requested that the word ‘once’ be added to clause to limit speaking time.

Proposed amendments to the Council Procedure Rules;

a) rule 2.3 – adding words from rule 8 to ensure a non-executive Councillor will preside at the election of the Mayor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17