To review the draft Constitution
for the Dorset Council and provide comments as relevant so that the committee’s
views can be taken into account by the Governance Working Group when it forms
its final recommendations.
Minutes:
The
committee considered a report with regard to work undertaken to draft a
Constitution for the new Dorset Council.
A copy of the draft Constitution was provided for members’
consideration. The draft Constitution had
been developed with the Governance Working Group, which had agreed a number of
principles to underpin the drafting of the various key parts of the
Constitution. The draft Constitution was
still work in progress, being subject to continued consultation with members
and officers. The Governance Working
Group would be meeting on 19 December 2018 to consider the comments from this
committee and a member briefing and workshop to be held on 13 December. In addition a proposed draft committee
structure was provided to members
The
Legal Services Manager (Dorset Councils Partnership) provided an overview of
the key principles which had been used to develop the draft Constitution, which
included the preference of the Governance Working Group for a lean and light
approach, consistency in use of terminology in the document, size of
committees, decision making reserved to Full Council, Executive and overview
and scrutiny arrangements.
Members
considered the issues arising from the presentation and the draft document and
during discussion the following points were raised:
·
The Executive would be formed of the Leader and between 2 to 9 other
members
·
The detail around area forums was still work in progress and would be
developed by the new Council including how they linked with town and parish
councils and other local area organisations
·
Relevant issues around emergencies and contingencies would be dealt with
by the Executive or Full Council as appropriate and there was a need to
consider officer delegations in this area with an appropriate reporting
mechanism
·
The draft committee structure included a body for the scrutiny of health
matters however it was recognised that there may be a joint committee for the
whole of Dorset
·
A full discussion was held with regard to the proposed arrangements for
area planning and a map of the proposed area boundaries was shown to
members. The Governance Working Group
had considered a range of options and had concluded that the option presented
provided the best way forward and fitted in with the overarching principle of
having a lean and light structure. A
comment was made that it would be useful for members to see the background
information and range of options considered and it was agreed that this
information could be provided to members of the committee. Various comments were made with regard to the
size of the areas, with some feeling that the areas were too large and would
take away from local decision making and a comment was made with regard to the
large workload for these committees. An
alternative view was expressed that the areas should be kept as proposed so
that the committees had a more strategic overview of issues in the Council and
recognising the role that town and parish councils played in the planning
process. It was felt that these issues
could be explored with members during the member briefing and workshop session
to take place
·
It was expected that there would be a further review of the Constitution
after a period of time
·
Members considered arrangements for consideration of matters relevant to
Revenues and Benefits and joint arrangements would be included in the
Constitution. A point was noted that
there was a proposal for a pan-Dorset arrangement
·
Area arrangements were work in progress and was another area that could
be focused on at the member briefing and workshop
·
In response to a question it was noted that the work streams had been
looking at the following themes – people, place, resources and health. Place covered the regulatory work on the
council including public realm
·
A comment was made with regard to the proposed size of the Staffing
Committee (5 members) and whether due to the small membership, there would be
issues with being quorate? In response,
it was not anticipated that the committee would sit very often but the point
would be taken away and further considered
·
There were opportunities for all members to have a role in the proposed
committee structure which included joint committees and panels, however a point
was noted that some members felt excluded
·
In response to a question it was noted that decision making by
individuals through the executive arrangements could be undertaken but that
this could not apply to non-executive members.
Portfolio holders could establish engagement with other members or establish
advisory panels but they could not delegate the power to take decisions to
non-executive members
·
Consideration was given to the policies that would need to go to Full
Council for approval and those that would not
·
A comment was made with regard to powers proposed to be given to the
Monitoring Officer and a concern was expressed that the Monitoring Officer
could have unilateral authority to change the Constitution without
consultation. It was noted that when this
had been considered there was recognition that the Monitoring Officer shouldn’t
have to go through a process for every change to the Constitution. A suggestion was made that changes could be
made in consultation with the Leader with the exception of where the Monitoring
Officer was making changes in order to follow legal requirements. This comment would be taken away for further
consideration as to the wording to be included
·
A comment was made that there should be a review of the Constitution
after a period of 12 months. In response
it was noted that there could be
recognition that a review would take place
·
Members considered the proposed arrangements for overview and scrutiny
and the arrangements for the call-in process.
One view expressed was that the call-in process should sit with the Audit
and Governance Committee and another view was that call-in should be undertaken
by the 4 overview and scrutiny committees
·
Members noted the interim committee arrangements for the period from 1
April 2019 until the elections for the Dorset Council in May 2019
Supporting documents: