Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Staged Budget Process as set out in the amended appendix to the report to the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee be approved for Budget Consultation purposes; and

(b)       That section 16 of the Constitution be amended to the suggested wording set out in the new appendix, with the revised wording for Requirement 19 on the webcasting of meetings.

The Democratic Services Manager presented recommendations from the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee meeting on 26 April 2018 following the review of the budget consultation process.

Member feedback generated from the consultation had been developed into a series of requirements as set out in the report alongside responses.  A Staged Budget Process flowchart, using the 2018/19 approach, could be adapted for future use and helped to illustrate the complexities of the process and consultation requirements.

Due to the timing of the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee meeting, the Democratic Services Manager circulated a revised report with changes agreed at that meeting:

The amended resolutions to approve the revised report and form of words for insertion into section 16 of the Constitution were agreed by Members.

Following a query from Councillor Mackie, it was clarified that requirement 19 would be taken out of the report as the use of call-in would be considered by the Constitution & Democratic Services Committee in June.

The Chief Executive commented on the inclusivity of consultation on the budget process and progress on the budget for 2019/20.

Councillor Richard Jones referred to requirement 18 on the conclusion of proposals which had been through the budget process and requested that ‘unless new information comes to light’ be inserted to take account of any changes.  On the need for confidentiality on information sharing, the Chief Executive gave examples of reporting stages between committees and referred to the working protocol which could be developed.  The importance of call-in was noted and further discussion would be required on this.  In response to further comments, oversight of the entire budget was the responsibility of the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee which would consider a report on the Integrated Assessment Tool.  Officers would give further consideration to the need for a clear understanding of consequences of budget decisions.

In response to Councillor Jones’ suggestion to webcast every committee meeting with an impact on budget discussions, the Chief Officer (Governance) explained the limitations on webcasting equipment.  The Chief Executive said that agreement to webcast the all-Member budget meeting of Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee would be extended to other meetings of that Committee convened as part of the staged budget process, whether all Members were invited or not.  Requirement 19 would be amended to reflect this, noting that the annual budget meeting ‘will’ be webcast (rather than ‘could’).

Councillor Heesom also raised concerns about requirement 18 on the conclusion of proposals and said that further discussion should not be prohibited which would hinder the democratic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8