An apology for absence was received from Councillor Tony Cox who was deputised for by Councillor Tom Anderson.

Members are asked to consider whether they have any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or any other relevant interest in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

Members were asked to consider whether they had any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or any other relevant interest in connection with any item(s) on the agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were.

The Independent Persons Mr J McCosh, Professor Jones and Mr G Kerr declared interests in item 9 Appointment of Independent Persons as Mr J McCosh, and Mr G Kerr were up for reappointment. All three left the meeting during consideration of this item.

To approve the accuracy of the minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2021.

Resolved – That the accuracy of the minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2021 be agreed.

The Chair reported that there had been no public questions, statements or petitions submitted.

The Head of Legal Services introduced the report of the Director of Law and Governance which provided the Committee with an update on the progress made by the Governance Working Group in respect of the review of the committee system and associated constitutional changes.

The Chair reported that following discussions held by the Governance Working Group, further information had been received in relation to the membership of the Audit and Risk Management Committee and on the frequency of the meetings. The Head of Democratic and Member Services explained that feedback had been received from the Head of Internal Audit following a conversation he had held with the Chair and group spokes of the Audit and Risk Management Committee.

Members sought clarification on the advice provided and the Head of Legal Services outlined the suggestion of 6 members on the Committee which would meet four times a year.

The Chair suggested that the Governance Working Group could discuss this further in due course.

The following was then moved by Councillor Phil Gilchrist and seconded by Councillor Janette Williamson.

‘That the committee welcomes the detailed work undertaken by the Governance Working Group to date. Members have also had sight of and been made aware of the views of the Independent Panel.

Having considered the progress made Committee is clear that Members have balanced the issues of workload, the pressures on officers, the needs of Members to make fully informed decisions, as well as the concerns set out by the Independent Panel.

In this regard Members understand the concerns set out by the Panel regarding the nature and necessity for matters to be reported to the committees. This matter is best addressed by the relevant Chairs and spokes in discussion with officers best placed to offer advice and guidance on the pressures and constraints of time and resources that they face.

In the light of these considerations Committee is of the opinion that the following structural changes to the Council’s Constitution should take place –

(a)  The Urgency Committee should be dissolved, and its functions absorbed by the Policy & Resources Committee.

(b)  The Housing Committee be dissolved, and its Terms of Reference be absorbed by the Economy Regeneration and Development Committee.

(c)  The number of Policy and Services Committees should remain at six taking account of the majority view expressed at the working party.

(d)  The Decision Review Committee should be dissolved, and the call-in provisions removed.

(e)  The Partnerships Committee should be dissolved, and its statutory functions and other relevant functions be absorbed into the relevant Policy Committees.

(f)  That Council be recommended to resolve to appoint no overview and Scrutiny committee under s9JA of the Local Government Act 2000.

(g)  Appointment of all Deputy Chief Officers, including Assistant Director Grades, be delegated to the Chief Executive as Head of Paid Service.

(h)  The diary of meetings should now be revised to reflect this proposed structure.  Members have considered the issue of reducing the number of meetings per year but believe the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

The Chair proposed that this item be deferred to the next meeting to enable Head of Democratic and Members Services to make the necessary revisions required following what the Committee had just resolved when considering agenda item 5.

Resolved– That this item be deferred to the next meeting of the Committee.

The Head of Legal Services presented the report which outlined the minor amendments which had been made to The Local Government Associations model Councillor Code of Conduct (model code) on 19^th January 2021 and presented the new local version of the model code incorporating the changes to be adopted.

Resolved – That Council be recommended to adopt the revised Members’ Code of Conduct.

The Head of Legal Services presented the report which provided a summary of Standards complaints received under the Members’ Code of Conduct and Protocol for dealing with complaints against Members between 1 November 2020 and 31 October 2021.

Members expressed pleasure that all complaints included inthe summary had been concluded.

The cost of investigations that were undertaken byexternal investigators was queried by a member. The Head of Legal Services stated she was unable to give the exact figure but would share this information with members.

Resolved – Thatthe summary of standards complaints set out in appendix 1 be noted.

The Head of Legal Services presented the report which sought approval for the re-appointment of four Independent Persons to sit as co-opted members of the Constitution and Standards Committee.

The Independent Persons Mr J McCosh, Professor Jones and Mr Kerr who had declared interests in item 9 Appointment of Independent Persons as Mr McCosh and Mr Kerr were up for reappointment, left the meeting during consideration of this item.

All members were in favour of re-appointing the current Independent Persons.

Resolved – That Council be recommended to appoint the following Independent Members to the Constitution and Standards Committee for a period of four years:

Mr G Kerr

Mr J McCosh

Mrs A Lloyd-Prince

Mr A Wilson