Issue - meetings

            That the County Council approve option 1 to reflect the change in the Council’s political balance.             

The Chief Officer (Governance) introduced a report to review the Council’s Political Balance calculations following the by-election resulting in the election of Councillor David Roney. 

                        He detailed which Political Groups needed to lose places on which Committees and explained that there were various options to achieve this and three were detailed in the appendices to the report. 

                        Councillor Aaron Shotton proposed option 1, which was duly seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge. 

                        Councillor Clive Carver queried the threshold for rounding up or down to achieve the total number of Committee places each group was entitled.  He queried why the Conservative Group needed to lose a place from the Planning Committee, which he felt was unfair, as the overall number in the Group had not changed since the election in 2012.  He proposed that option 2 be accepted, which was duly seconded by Councillor Nigel Steele-Mortimer.  The Chief Officer (Governance) provided a detailed response on the calculation of committee places which ensured fairness, in particular that the figures were not rounded up or down. 

                        Councillor Robin Guest said that option 2 would mean that the Political Group representation would be different on the Constitution Committee and Democratic Services Committee, which he disagreed with.  Councillor Nigel Steele-Mortimer explained that there were already different Members on the Constitution Committee and Democratic Services Committee. 

Councillor Mike Peers commented that, on option 1, the New Independents would gain a third place on the Planning Committee however they had previously been unable to allocate Members to two seats. 

                        Councillor Aaron Shotton commented on the question by Councillor Carver and said that political balance calculations were not subject to political interference. 

                        On being put to the vote, the amendment to support option 2 was lost. 

                        The Chief Officer (Governance) advised that Members could now either speak on the original motion from Councillor Aaron Shotton or vote.  A closure motion was then proposed and on being put to the vote, option 1 was approved. 

            RESOLVED:

            That the County Council approve option 1 to reflect the change in the Council’s political balance.