Agenda item

Recommendation

The Standards Committee is asked to consider the proposals set out in Section 4 (below) and the annexes attached, and recommend to Council that

1)    Two Overview and Scrutiny Committees be established with immediate effect:

Policy and Services.  Each committee will comprise 11 Members and meet a minimum of 5 times a year.

2)    Subject to recommendation 1 above, Article 6 of the Constitution and the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules be amended as set out in Annexe 2.

3)    A Landlord Services Advisory Board be established under the Executive Working Group Protocol with Terms of Reference as set out in Annexe 3.

4)    That the terms of reference of the Standards Committee be amended as set out in Annexe 4 and that the name of the Committee be amended to the Standards and General Purposes Committee.

5)    That the Executive Procedure Rules be amended as set out in paragraph 4.26 below and the Executive Working Group Protocol as set out in Annexe 5 be adopted.

6)    That the Council Procedure Rules be amended as set out in paragraph 4.27 to remove the requirement to stand to address the Mayor at meetings of the Council

7)    That authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer to make the necessary changes to the Constitution arising from recommendations 1-6 above, and

8)    That the Committee consider any other proposals it wishes to make, including whether the Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinating Board will still be required

The Head of Policy & Governance introduced the report setting out proposals for the implementation of Council’s decisions on 20 April 2021 in relation to: overview and scrutiny committees; a new Housing Landlord Service Board; the Standards Committee remit; and, Executive Working Groups.

Before the Committee members considered the proposals, the Chairman advised that he would be proposing that the Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinating Board be abolished as it was no longer needed with there being only two committees going forward.

The following councillors had registered to speak on this agenda item:

Cllr Peter Martin reiterated his unhappiness at the Council decision to reduce the number of overview and scrutiny committees from four to two. However, he was pleased that the proposals recommended in the report in relation to the overview and scrutiny committees reflected most of those put forward by the O&S Co-ordinating Board. He did have concerns regarding the balance of the workload between the two committees, based on the split between the Service Areas as shown in the report, and he asked that this be reviewed in order to achieve a better balance between the committees. Cllr Martin also expressed concerns about the remit of the Landlord Services Board, and how this related to the overview and scrutiny function.

Cllr Martin noted the intention to present the recommendations to Council on 19 October and asked that the appointment of members to the new overview and scrutiny committees be delayed to the December Council meeting to allow time for the Groups to select their members and for an orderly transition from the current arrangements.

Cllr Richard Seaborne also asked for careful consideration to be given to the transition between the current overview and scrutiny arrangements and the new structure, and for this not to be rushed. There was only a month between the date of the Council meeting and the next cycle of overview and scrutiny committee meetings, which would not allow much time for the new committees to prepare.

Cllr Jerry Hyman advised that he was generally supportive of the proposal to introduce some flexibility around the requirement for councillors to stand when speaking at meetings of Council, but was concerned about how a councillor would make a Point or Order or Point of Personal Explanation and ensure that they were heard by the Mayor.

With regard to the overview and scrutiny committees, Cllr Hyman noted that the review of the Corporate Performance Report by each committee took a great deal of time and suggested that this report could be dealt with in a different way to make better use of committee time. Cllr Hyman emphasised the role of scrutiny to ask questions and contribute to making improvements in council services, but this relied upon being given full and honest answers to questions.

The Chairman thanked the Overview & Scrutiny Board for their report and recommendations, and noted the concerns raised by Cllr Martin and Cllr Seaborne relating to the transition to the new arrangements, and the balance of the workload between the committees. He welcomed the Co-ordinating Board’s proposal for a Scrutiny/Executive Protocol to define and improve the relationship between these two arms of the Council.

The Committee discussed the proposals for overview and scrutiny and generally welcomed the proposals, although there were concerns from individual councillors regarding the transition to the new arrangements, the proposed titles of the committees, and the lack of clarity around the role of the Audit Committee in the overall scrutiny of the council’s business.

The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that:

1.    Two Overview and Scrutiny Committees be established with immediate effect: Policy and Services. Each committee will comprise 11 Members and meet a minimum of 5 times a year; and,

2.    Subject to approval of Recommendation 1, Article 6 of the Constitution and the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules be amended as set out in Annexe 2 of the report.

The Chairman invited comments on the proposed Landlord Services Advisory Board, which would be established as an Executive Working Group. He noted that there had been some discussion about whether this Board should be decision-making, and agreed with the proposed approach for the Board to be advisory to the Portfolio Holder and Executive in the first place. The Chairman also welcomed the separation of the governance and scrutiny of the Housing Landlord Service, which had previously been combined within the Housing Overview & Scrutiny Committee. This would avoid any conflict arising from councillors scrutinising policies they had helped to develop.

The Committee was broadly supportive of the proposal for a Landlord Services Advisory Board, which would include representatives of tenants and residents. There remained some concern about the relationship between this Board and the scrutiny function, which would continue to have a remit for scrutinising Executive decisions in relation to the Housing Service.

The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that:

3.    A Landlord Services Advisory Board be established under the Executive Working Group Protocol with Terms of Reference as set out in Annexe 3 to the report.

With regard to the proposal to expand the remit of the Standards Committee, it was noted that more detail would be added to the description of the ‘General Purposes’ as part of the wider consideration of the responsibility for functions as part of the Constitution Review.

It was proposed by Cllr Gray, duly seconded, and agreed that the description of the ‘General Purposes’ be amended so that the second paragraph would read:

“To consider any issues which in the opinion of the Leader of the Council, Chief Executive or Chief Officers, should be referred to the Committee …”

The Chairman proposed, and it was duly seconded, that the Committee membership should include substitutes in order to ensure that the proceedings of the committee benefited from a good level of attendance.

The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that:

4.    That the Terms of Reference of the Standards Committee be amended to amend the name of the Committee to the Standards and General Purposes Committee; that substitute members be added to the membership of the committee; and the ‘General Purposes’ (as amended) be added, as set out in Annexe 4 to the report.

The Committee was in support of the proposals to establish Executive Working Groups, and RESOLVED to recommend to Council that:

5.    The Executive Procedure Rules be amended to add the following:

“1.12   The Executive may at the suggestion of the relevant Portfolio Holder establish an Executive Working Group to assist with the development of policy, in-depth examination of specific service proposals, or to progress major projects. Executive Working Groups have an advisory role only and cannot themselves take decisions. Executive Working Groups will be established and operate in accordance with the Executive Working Groups Protocol at Annexe 1 to the Executive Procedure Rules.”; and the Executive Working Group Protocol as set out in Annexe 5 to the report be adopted.

The Committee discussed the proposal to the amend Council Procedure Rule 21.1 to remove the requirement for Members to stand when speaking at meetings of Full Council. The Committee agreed that there were practical benefits to remaining seated, including making it easier for Members to speak directly into their microphone, giving flexibility to any Member with mobility difficulties who found it hard to stand up and sit down again, and presenting a less formal or traditional image of the council to residents. Whilst there were some concerns that not standing to speak was disrespectful to the Mayor, the Committee noted that during the recent Council meetings held since May 2021, Members had remained seated whilst speaking and no lack of respect had been shown to the Mayor.

The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that:

6.    Council Procedure Rule 21.1 be amended as follows to remove the requirement for Members to stand when speaking at meetings of the Council:

“21.1   Standing to speak Speaking at the meeting

When a member speaks at full Council they must stand and address the meeting through the Mayor, but may stand or remain seated, as they prefer. If more than one members stands indicates they wish to speak, the Mayor will ask one to speak and the other must sit wait for the Mayor to invite them to speak. Other members must remain seated whilst not speak when a member is speaking unless they wish to make a point of order or point of personal explanation.”

The Chairman proposed, and it was duly seconded, that in view of there being only two Overview and Scrutiny Committees going forward, there was no longer any need to have an Overview & Scrutiny Co-ordinating Board, and this should be abolished. This would not stop the chairmen and vice-chairmen of the two new Overview and Scrutiny Committees meeting with officers to consider their respective work programmes and committee arrangements.

Cllr Gray expressed some concern for abolishing the Co-ordinating Board before the transition to the new arrangements had been completed. He also was concerned that there was no forum for co-ordination between scrutiny, Audit and Standards committees.

The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that

7.    the Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinating Board be abolished.

The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that

8.    the Monitoring Officer be authorised to make the necessary changes to the Constitution arising from the previous resolutions.