Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the meetings which took place on 30 November 2022 and 7 June 2023.

The Committee confirmed the minutes of the meetings held on the 30^th November 2022 and the 7^th of June 2023.

The Standards and General Purposes Committee has been asked to consider proposed amendments to the Council’s current constitution in relation to Scheme of Delegation to the Joint Executive Head of Development Management, Revised Planning Committee Procedure Rules, and Revised Councillors’ Planning Code of Good Practice and to agree to a consultation on matters to be included in a Memorandum of Understanding between planning officers and Councillors.   

Recommendation

The Standards & General Purposes Committee is asked to recommend that the Council approves:

1.         The proposed revised Scheme of Delegation to the Joint Executive Head of Planning Development, attached at Appendix 1A.

2.         The proposed revised Planning Committee Procedure Rules, attached at Appendix 2.

3.         The proposed revised Councillors’ Planning Code of Good Practice, attached at Appendix 3A.

4.         That a consultation with Councillors is undertaken to inform the content of a Memorandum of Understanding between planning officers and Councillors.    

Joint Executive Head of Planning, Claire Upton-Brown, addressed the Committee and introduced the recommendations set out in the report.

Cllr Goodridge raised a concern about paragraph 2.12 of the proposed Planning Procedure Rules and noted that questions and debate should be incorporated into this as the Chair will not be able to judge the general opinion of Committee regarding the officer’s recommendation. Members agreed to the suggested amendment. He further raised that there should be a procedure rule that ensures that Members are in attendance for the entire debate to be allowed to vote on it; they must take into consideration all information and points raised in the meeting. Members queried the decision to call in applications and expressed that they were keen to keep the Chair involved in this consultation with the Executive Head of Planning. The Executive Head of Planning and Chair would then discuss if the application has reasonable planning grounds to call the application into Committee. It was argued that this may help ensure transparency of decisions. Further, Cllr Ward noted that a Member representative within this decision process would also encourage better engagement with the Committee. Members were in agreement with this.

Members further suggested that Ward Councillors who call in an application should attend site visits and the Committee meeting. Some concern was raised about paragraph 22.3 of the proposed Planning Committee  Procedure Rules, which prohibit pre-prepared speeches and notes. The Chair suggested amending the wording of this to note that it is discouraged but not prohibited, so long as they are not pre-determined in their judgement. Paragraph 22.2 of the same prohibits Councillors from communicating or passing notes during the meeting; Members felt that this showed mistrust towards the integrity of Councillors and would be difficult to regulate with the possibilities of electronic communication via mobiles. It was further argued that it should be with the discretion of the Chair to stop disruptive behaviour if it were to take place. Members therefore agreed that the wording should be amended to discourage communication between Councillor’s but not prohibit it. The Chair also suggested that the wording is amended in paragraph 2.11 to note that Ward Councillors should move to the back row of the Chamber, rather than the public speaking area while an application in their ward is being considered.

Following the discuss, the Committee agreed to recommend the following amendments to the Proposed revisions to the Scheme of Delegation to Officers, the Planning Committee Procedure Rules and the Councillors' Planning Code of Good Conduct, with delegation to the Joint Executive Head of Planning to make the changes:

i.                 To include a clause that states that Ward Councillors are expected to be at Committee meetings and site visits if they have called in an application.

ii.                To amend Councillor’s Planning Code of Good Conduct 22.2 and 22.3 to note that these are discouraged, not prohibited

iii.               To amend proposed Scheme of Delegation to Officers Call-in Procedure to include “in consultation with the Chair of  ...  view the full minutes text for item SGP4/23

There is a statutory obligation upon every Local Authority to have a constitution and to both maintain and publish it. It is considered good practice to keep the constitution under constant review and for councillors to consider a more formal review on an annual basis.

This report asks the Standards & General Purposes Committee to establish, jointly in conjunction with Guildford Borough Council’s Corporate Governance & Standards Committee, a new Joint Constitutions Review Group (JCRG), with an overall objective of aligning key parts of the Councils’ respective constitutions, where appropriate to do so.

Recommendations to Committee

1.         That the Committee agrees to establish, jointly in conjunction with Guildford Borough Council’s Corporate Governance and Standards Committee, a new Joint Constitutions Review Group (JCRG).

2.         That the draft terms of reference of the Constitutions Review Group, as set out in Appendix  1 to this report, be approved. That the Committee note that the purpose of the Constitutions Review Group will be to review the Waverley Borough Council Constitution, alongside the Guildford Borough Council Constitution, and to report back with their recommendations to both the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee at Guildford and the Standards and General Purposes Committee at Waverley. This Committee will then have the opportunity to consider any recommendations from the Constitutions Review Group relating to the Waverley Borough Council constitution and may make appropriate recommendations to the Council.

3.         That the Committee appoints four councillors to the Constitutions Review Group and notes that Guildford Borough Council will also be invited to appoint four Councillors to the Group from their Corporate Governance and Standards Committee. That the Committee, from among those councillors they appoint, appoints a co-chairman of the Constitutions Review Group.

Joint Executive Head of Legal and Democratic Services, Susan Sale, addressed the Committee and explained the recommendations set out in the report. She further clarified that the proposals would work towards aligning key aspects of the Waverley Borough Council and Guildford Borough Council Constitutions in light of the collaboration; however both Council’s would retain their sovereignty and this exercise would not seek to merge the two Councils. She further emphasized that the Group would work on the review of Waverley Borough Council’s Constitution, and to do so in collaboration with partners from Guildford Borough Council, with an overall objective of aligning key parts thereof, where appropriate to do so. It is important to note that both Councils would both retain their own Constitutions and make recommendations back to this Committee, to then go forward to Full Council.

The Committee were in agreement that the political proportionality of the group should relatively reflect that of the Council. It was agreed to include 1 Exec Member, 1 Farnham Resident, 1 Conservative and 1 Liberal Democrat. It was also agreed upon that substitutes for Members of the Group should not have to be from the same political group as the absent Member.

The Committee resolved to;

1.1    Agree to establish, jointly in conjunction with Guildford Borough Council’s Corporate Governance and Standards Committee, a new Joint Constitutions Review Group (JCRG).

1.2    Approve the draft terms of reference of the Joint Constitutions Review Group, as set out in Appendix 1 to this report. The Committee agreed to note that the purpose of the Joint Constitutions Review Group would be to review the Waverley Borough Council Constitution, alongside the Guildford Borough Council Constitution, and to report back with their recommendations to both the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee at Guildford and the Standards and General Purposes Committee at Waverley. This Committee would then have the opportunity to consider any recommendations from the Joint Constitutions Review Group relating to the Waverley Borough Council constitution and may make appropriate recommendations to the Council.

1.3    Appoint the following Members to the proposed Joint Constitutional Review group;

-        Cllr Follows/ Substituted by another Member of the Executive

-        Cllr Andy Macleod

-        Cllr Michael Goodridge

-        Cllr Gemma Long

To consider the following recommendation on the motion of the Chairman:

Recommendation

That, pursuant to Procedure Rule 20 and in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during the item, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information (as defined by Section 100I of the Act) of the description specified at the meeting in the revised Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.