Agenda item

To receive an overview of work being progressed by the Governance Working Group including proposals for scrutiny arrangements and call-in in the new Dorset Council.

At the request of the committee, members received a report which provided an outline of the work of the Governance Working Group, including its progress to date, next steps and the timetable for the production of the new Constitution.  The report also provided some information on the working group’s initial thinking on overview and scrutiny arrangements.

As Chair of the working group, Councillor Spencer Flower provided an overview of the work of the group which had met on 3 occasions, with one further meeting planned before concluding their work.  He noted that the report on the new Constitution would be brought to this committee at the meeting on 3 December, and in addition, a member briefing would be held to provide all members with the opportunity for a detailed look at the work done and for any fine tuning required.

David Fairbairn (Solicitor, Purbeck District Council) had been involved with the work of the group.  He noted that there was a wish to involve all members in the development of the Constitution which was why it had been agreed to hold a member briefing and to include information in members’ newsletters.

Members considered the issues arising from the report and during discussion the following points were raised:

·                A point was raised that there was some unease that the Shadow Executive Committee was receiving reports before the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been able to review them.  In response it was noted that the Constitution would not be finalised until it had been adopted by Full Council in January 2019

·                A discussion was held in respect of the reference to the member briefing to be held and whether calling it a member briefing would reflect the importance and key role of the session?  The Chairman asked if the session could be retitled in order to ensure attendance by members

·                It was noted that the Governance Working Group had agreed with the principle of there being Area Forums in order to ensure that local connection with communities was not lost with the new Dorset Council.  Further work was required but this would be part of the model moving forward.  In addition, the working group, through discussion with officers, had identified a suitable option for development management purposes

·                The working group had considered options within the ‘Governance-light’ model that it would like to see for Dorset Council.  There was an opportunity to review structures and ways of working.  This would include a review of the Policy Framework with 10 headline policies (there were around 30 included in the policy frameworks of the current six councils) and a review of the Constitution both now and as the new Council bedded in

·                There was no wish to marginalise members, although a point was raised that some members did not feel as engaged as they had been previously

·                A point was noted that the proposals outlined in the report could be supported as long as they were ‘governance-light’ and not ‘democracy-light’.  It was acknowledged that there was a need for good local decision making and it was hoped that this was a central feature of what was brought back to the committee in December

·                In respect of the indicative proposals for Overview and Scrutiny, it was noted that the working group had considered whether there should be an overarching overview and scrutiny committee but that this had been rejected as being too bureaucratic and not in keeping with the ‘governance-light’ model

·                In response to a question with regard to the geographical nature of the proposed area forums, it was noted that work in this area was still to be completed

·                In respect to proposed changes to boundaries by the Boundary Commission it was noted that some changes had been made following consultation with local residents but that most of the proposals considered by the working group would remain the same

·                Reference was made to a report on the Shadow Executive Committee Forward Plan for the meeting on 10 December 2018, with regard to ‘Local Area Arrangements’

·                Further consideration of the detail of area forums could be considered by the committee at their next meeting where the draft Constitution would be considered

The committee noted the progress made to date by the Governance Working Group.