Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 2 - Wallasey Town Hall. View directions

Contact: Shirley Hudspeth 

Items
No. Item

16.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Moira McLaughlin and Independent Members Professor RS Jones and Chris Jones.

 

17.

Members Code of Conduct

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.

Minutes:

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 this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

 

No such declarations were made.

 

18.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 61 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the following meetings of the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee as a correct record.

 

1)  Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee meeting as Trustees of the Callister Youth Club – 6 July, 2016.

 

2)  Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee – 6 July, 2016.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved - That

 

1)  the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee (meeting as Trustees of Callister Youth Club) held on 6 July, 2016 be confirmed as a correct record; and

 

2)  the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 6 July, 2016 be confirmed as a correct record

 

Note: The Head of Legal and Member Services informed that for completeness, the minutes of the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee, meeting as Trustees of Callister Youth Club would be countersigned again, when the Committee next met as Trustees.

19.

Recommendations of the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Working Group pdf icon PDF 77 KB

Minutes:

The Head of Legal and Member Services introduced his report that provided details of the recommendations of the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Working Group made at its meeting on 19 September 2016.

 

Members noted that the Working Group did not have decision making powers and that the Committee was requested to consider the recommendations of the Working Group as contained in the report and the attached appendices.

 

The matters considered were:

 

1)  Scheme of Non-Executive Delegation of Functions to Officers, Council Constitution Part 3 Schedule 4 A Part 1 and Part 2;

 

2)  Draft Civic Handbook; and

 

3)  Draft Flag Flying Protocol

 

19a

Appendix 1 - Scheme of Delegation to Officers - non executive functions pdf icon PDF 236 KB

Minutes:

The Head of Legal and Member Services introduced his report that detailed proposed revisions to the Scheme of Non-Executive Delegation of Functions to Officers, Council Constitution Part 3 Schedule 4 A Part 1 and Part 2.

 

The Head of Legal and Member Services informed that the recommendations were necessary to update the Scheme of Delegation in line with the Council’s new Operating Model approved by the Council’s Employment and Appointments Committee in July 2016. He further informed that the changes also provided greater clarity in respect of existing delegations and contained little in terms of additional powers to Officers.

 

The Committee was apprised that, as part of his preparations for review of the scheme, the Head of Legal and Member Services had made contacted with the Head of Regeneration and Planning with regard to the delegated powers relating to planning and licensing and was happy to present further information on such delegations to a future meeting of the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee Working Group. 

 

A Member confirmed that he was content with the existing procedures that existed for Planning decisions and the involvement of, and communication to, Elected Members. He did however feel it was important to communicate where in the decision making process Officer’s decisions were recorded – particularly when involving finance and staffing and personnel matters.

 

Discussion took place regarding the proper scrutiny of officer decisions. The Head of Legal and Member Services requested that Members provide examples of where it was felt that the information had been hard to come by, this would enable useful understanding of specific areas of Member concern.

 

A Member pointed out that, using planning procedures as an example, Councillors were notified beforehand, enabling pre-scrutiny of applications prior to decision. It was his view that in some other service areas circumstances could exist whereby Members may not hear about an Officer decision until after the event. 

 

The Head of Legal and Member Services informed that there was no issue with providing the information being sought by Members. He further informed that different arrangements existed with regard to the Executive-side and Council–side, and that the focus of the report related to changes to delegation of Council-side functions. It was noted that the revised document provided clarity and certainty arising from the changes recently agreed by the Employment and Appointments Committee to the Council’s new operating model.

 

A Member pointed out that, with regard to the option to refer officer decisions to Overview and Scrutiny Committees under paragraph 14, Committee workload was already heavy.

 

Additional debate took place, with the Head of Legal and Member Services providing additional information regarding the 2011 governance arrangements, strong leader model, and executive functions – to add clarity regarding the jurisdiction and powers falling under the various Parts of the Scheme of Delegation (Executive-side and Council-side).

 

The Head of Legal and Member Services was requested to provide a further report to the Working Group to enable it to consider the Council’s decision making arrangements and how delegated decisions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19a

19b

Appendix 2 - Draft Civic Handbook pdf icon PDF 956 KB

Minutes:

Further to Minute 35 (Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee Working Group, 24 February 2016) and 42 (Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee Working Group, 19 September 2016), the Head of Legal and Member Services introduced a revised Civic Handbook that set out guidance for the Mayor and Officers engaged in Civic functions.

 

The Committee was informed that the revised document included suggestions made by Members during earlier discussion and a number of minor updates to procedural guidance.

 

The Head of Legal and Member Services informed that the Handbook was to remain a ‘living document’ but was designed to provide a sound basis for guidance for the Mayor and the management of Civic functions, yet allowing for and supporting the Mayor’s discretion on a variety of matters. 

 

(2)   RECOMMENDATION

That the Draft Civic Handbook be agreed.

19c

Appendix 3 - Draft Flag Flying Protocol pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Taken in conjunction with the previous item (Appendix 2, Civic Handbook) and further to Minute 36 (Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee Working Group, 24 February 2016) and 43 (Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee Working Group, 19 September 2016), the Head of Legal and Member Services introduced his report that proposed a revised protocol to be adopted in relation to the flying of flags at Wallasey and Birkenhead Town Halls.

 

(3)  RECOMMENDATION

That the Protocol (as amended) for the Flying of Flags at Wirral Town Halls be agreed.