The Head of Legal and Member Services introduced a report and apologised for the lateness of its circulation on Constituency Committees and their terms of reference.

An amended Article 10 of the Council’s Constitution was approved by Council on 30 April 2013 which put in place the necessary provision for the appointment of Constituency Committees and for those Committees to discharge such functions as may be delegated to them from time to time by the Executive and / or the Council. It also set out the scope of the Constituency Committee’s role in acting as a voice for the community with respect to a range of matters including the development of an area plan and making recommendations to the Executive in respect of any funding allocated to the Committee.

On 14 October 2013, Council formally appointed Members to all the Constituency Committees and made provision for each Constituency Committee to co-opt up to 6 community representatives.

The report set out considerations and a proposed approach for further developing an individual terms of reference for each Committee and for amending the Council’s Constitution to ensure that Article 10 was fit for purpose for the future operation of the constituency working model.

It was proposed that:

·  A future review of the Council’s Constitution include an updated Article 10 relating to the terms of reference for the Constituency Committees, which both provided further clarity on the decision-making powers of the Committees as services and budgets were devolved, and ensured that all Committees had the scope and flexibility necessary to drive forward the constituency working model and deliver the functions increasingly devolved to them;

·  The Committee develops a committee procedure rules ‘handbook’ which sets out over and above the terms of reference in the Council’s Constitution how it would operate. The handbook might include sections on:

o  Aims of the Committee in respect of the role it wishes to take in the local area;

o  Specific committee procedures relating to the operation of meetings;

o  How the Committee will be supported by Council officers;

o  Specific provisions dealing with the role of the Chair, Vice Chair, community representatives;

o  The role of the Committee in influencing the contribution of partners;

o  meetings;

o  Agreed arrangements/procedures for dealing with budget allocation and expenditure;

o  The process and criteria for establishing constituency ‘task and finish’ groups.

Caroline Laing, Constituency Manager, outlined a proposed approach for the Task and Finish groups and their terms of reference, including the suggestion that they should consist of six elected members in a 4:2 ratio, together with two community representatives.

On a motion by Councillor Abbey, seconded by Councillor Lewis, it was –

Resolved –

(1)  That the proposed approach outlined in paragraph 3.1 of the report be agreed.

(2)  That an elected Member led ‘Task and Finish’ Group of six Members (4:2), plus two community representatives, to develop the Committee’s Handbook and to make recommendations as to any amendments required to Article 10, be established.

(3)  That officers seek nominations from Members of the Committee for participation in the Task and Finish group.