Agenda item

To consider the report of the head of legal and democratic services on proposed changes to the council’s constitution – attached.

Council considered the report of the head of legal and democratic services and monitoring officer on proposed changes to the council’s constitution.

RESOLVED: to

1.     agree to amend the constitution in the Summary and Explanation section and the Cabinet Arrangements and Procedure Rules to update the key decision definition by removing reference to strategic directors;

2.     agree to amend the Summary and Explanation section and the Joint Audit and Governance, Planning and Scrutiny Committees’ procedure rules to make explicit that councillors have the right to attend committee meetings where they are not a member, including where confidential or exempt information is being discussed;

3.     agree to amend paragraph 15 of the Planning Committee Procedure Rules so that “no meeting shall exceed two and a half hours in duration unless the committee, prior to the expiry of the period, votes for the meeting to continue to complete the item under discussion”;

4.     authorise the Head of Legal and Democratic Services to update the scheme of delegation to officers in Schedule 1 to specifically reflect the Council’s changes to officers’ responsibilities under the revised management structure; 

5.     agree to amend the scheme of delegation to the head of planning to:

(i)        add the following text to paragraph 1.1(a)ii regarding ward councillors’ right to call-in planning applications for consideration by Planning Committee: “This request must be in writing and deal with the planning issues to ensure that the audit trail for making that decision is clear and unambiguous.” 

(ii)       change paragraph 11.9 to read “To deal with the recovery of the Community Infrastructure Levy including stop notices, liability orders and other enforcement mechanisms under Regulation 89 to 94 and 111 of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010.” 

(iii)      add the following paragraph “To express the opinion of the councilas local planning authority on whether a neighbourhood plan requiresStrategic Environmental Assessment (Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004) and/or an appropriate assessment (Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 (as amended 2011)).” 

6.     agree to amend paragraph 14.3 of the scheme of delegation to the interim head of waste, leisure and environmental health “To give authority to police community support officers to issue fixed penalty notices in respect of litter and dog fouling offences under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005.”

7.     agree to amend the Joint Staff Committee Procedure Rules as set out in appendix 1 of the head of legal and democratic services and monitoring officer’s report to Council on 13 December 2017;

8.     agree to amend the Officer Employment Procedure Rules as set out in appendix 2 of the head of legal and democratic services and monitoring officer’s report to Council on 13 December 2017;

9.     authorise the head of legal and democratic services to update the constitution to reflect the agreed amendments with effect from 1 January 2018; and

10.  authorise the head of legal and democratic services to make any minor or consequential amendments to the constitutions for consistency and to reflect the council’s style guide.