Venue: Committee Room 1, City Hall
Contact: Charlie Mason, Democratic Services Officer (01522 873533)
No. | Item |
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Confirmation of Minutes - 23 March 2015 Minutes: RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2015 be confirmed. |
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Changes to the Order of Business Minutes: RESOLVED that the item relating to the Independent Person’s allowance be considered last in order that the Independent Person could absent himself from the meeting at that point. |
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Declarations of Interest Please note that, in accordance with the Members' Code of Conduct, when declaring interests members must disclose the existence and nature of the interest, and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) or personal and/or pecuniary. Minutes: No declarations of interest were received. |
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Code of Conduct: Cases Review Minutes: The Legal and Democratic Services Manager:
a) outlined the details of a case in which a councillor had been convicted for the criminal offence of taking part in a meeting having failed to disclose a disclosable pecuniary interest.
b) advised members that officers would seek to provide annual Member Code of Conduct training in order to ensure that members were given every opportunity to understand their legal commitments.
c) invited members’ questions and comments.
Members:
The Legal and Democratic Services Manager emphasised that officers had a duty to ensure members were fully aware of their legal obligations.
RESOLVED that:
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Member Induction Review Minutes: The Democratic Services Officer:
a) presented a report summarising the outcome of member inductions following the election on 7 May 2015.
b) advised that two new councillors had been inducted and that feedback regarding the process had been positive.
c) advised that officers were developing suitable changes to the induction programme in light of the forthcoming all-out elections in 2016.
d) invited members’ questions and comments.
RESOLVED that the report be noted. |
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Local Democracy Week Update Minutes: The Democratic Services Officer:
a) presented a report regarding the Council’s plans for Local Democracy Week.
b) advised that two schools had expressed an interest in working with the Council to promote democratic engagement among their students during Local Democracy Week.
c) summarised the options available to members.
d) invited members’ questions and comments.
Members:
RESOLVED that officers be requested to contact schools which had expressed an interest in Local Democracy Week to develop events to take place between 12 and 18 October 2015. |
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The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 Additional documents:
Minutes: The Legal and Democratic Services Manager:
a) presented a report regarding the proposed revisions to the Council’s standing orders in relation to the dismissal of specified senior officers.
b) advised that the Council had to implement the changes in accordance with the relevant regulations.
c) summarised the options available to Council in the implementation of the standing orders.
d) invited members’ questions and comments.
Members:
The Democratic Services Officer advised that the letter of advice and subsequent information provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government accompanying the regulations had strongly implied that elected members should not form part of any relevant panel. Instead, councillors would be able to participate in any decision through their role on Council, where members would need to consider but not be bound by the findings of any independent persons.
RESOLVED that members’ support for the proposed changes be noted |
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Work Programme Update Additional documents: Minutes: The Democratic Services Officer:
RESOLVED that the work programme be approved. |
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Independent Person Allowance Minutes: The Legal and Democratic Services Manager:
a) presented a report regarding a recommendation that consideration should be given to increasing the allowance paid to the Independent Person in accordance with the recent increase in the allowance of the Audit Committee’s independent member.
b) highlighted the financial position of the relevant budget.
c) invited members’ questions and comments.
Members:
RESOLVED that:
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