Issue - meetings

(A)       Appointment of Committees

That the County Council confirm the appointment of the Committees as outlined in section 2.01 of the report.

(B)       Determination of the size of Committees

That the County Council confirm the size of the Committees as outlined in section 3.01 of the report.

(C)       Terms of Reference of Committees

That the existing terms of reference for all Committees be confirmed.

(D)       Political Balance – Annual Review

That the poltical balance of committee seats be agreed as option G which is detailed in the minutes.

(E)       Appointment of Chairs and Vice-Chairs of Standing Committees

(a)       That the following Members be appointed Chair of the Standing Committees as indicated below:-

• Constitution Committee – Councillor R.J.T. Guest
• Democratic Services Committee – Councillor R.J.T. Guest
• Licensing Committee – Councillor L.A. Sharps
• Planning & Development Control Committee – Councillor D.E. Wisinger

(b)       That the Chairs of the Overview & Scrutiny Committees be allocated to the following groups:

Community Profile & Partnerships  Independent Alliance

Corporate Resources                                   New Independents

Environment                                                   Conservative

Housing                                                          Labour

Lifelong Learning                                          Labour

Social & Health Care                                    Independent

(c)        That the following Members be noted as Chair to the following Overview & Scrutiny Committees with the remaining names to be confirmed by the Independent Alliance, New Independents and Conservative groups:

·        Housing Overview & Scrutiny – Councillor R.G. Hampson

·        Lifelong Learning Overview & Scrutiny – Councillor I.B. Roberts

·        Social & Health Care Overview & Scrutiny – Councillor C.A. Ellis

(F)       Local Choice Issues

That the existing Local Choice Issues as detailed in the report be confirmed.

(G)       Nominations to Internal Bodies

That the appointment of an Appointments Committee, as detailed in section 8.01 of the report, be agreed.

(H)       Nominations to Outside Bodies

That the appointment of outside bodies be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with Group Leaders.

(I)         Standards Committee

That it be noted that the three Members of the Standards Committee were appointed at the last AGM for four years.

(J)       Programme of Ordinary Meetings

That it be noted that the draft programme of meetings was on the agenda for consideration.

The Council considered the report of the Head of Legal and Democratic Services which dealt with matters that required decisions at the Annual Meeting of the County Council in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 1.1 (vii) – (xiv).  Those matters were set out in separate sections of the report.

(A)       Appointment of Committees

            The Head of Legal and Democratic Services explained that the Council’s Procedure Rulesrequired the Annual Meeting to appoint at least one Overview & Scrutiny Committee, a Democratic Services Committee, an Audit Committee, a Planning and Development Control Committee, a Standards Committee, a Licensing Committee and such other Committees as the Council considered appropriate to deal with matters which were neither reserved to the Council nor were Executive functions. 

            Members were advised that the Democracy Bill, when in force, would permit the Democratic Services Committee to be given other functions so it could be combined with the Constitution Committee at some point in the future.

Councillor A.P. Shotton moved approval that the County Council confirm the appointment of the Committees as outlined in section 2.01 of the report which was seconded by Councillor R.C. Bithell and on being put to the vote, was carried.

RESOLVED:

That the County Council confirm the appointment of the Committees as outlined in section 2.01 of the report.

(B)       Determination of the size of Committees

            The Head of Legal and Democratic Services reported that the Annual Meeting must decide upon the size of each of the Committees it had appointed.  The Constitution made provision for the size of the Committees which were detailed in the report. 

            Councillor A.P. Shotton moved approval that the County Council confirm the size of the Committees as outlined in section 3.02 of the report which was seconded by Councillor J.B. Attridge and on being put to the vote, was carried.

RESOLVED: 

That the County Council confirm the size of the Committees as outlined in section 3.01 of the report.

(C)       Terms of Reference of Committees

            The Head of Legal and Democratic Services reported that the Annual Meeting was required to decide the Terms of Reference of the Committees that it had appointed.  The existing Terms of Reference of the Committees were set out in Part 2 of the Constitution and there were no proposed changes.

            Councillor A.P. Shotton moved approval that the County Council confirm the current Terms of Reference of the Committees it had appointed which was seconded by Councillor J.B. Attridge and on being put to the vote, was carried.

RESOLVED:

That the existing terms of reference for all Committees be confirmed.

(D)       Political Balance – Annual Review

            The Head of Legal and Democratic Services reported that the Annual Meeting was required to decide the allocation of seats to political groups in accordance with the Political Balance Rules contained in the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990 as amended.

            Since the agenda had been despatched, there had been a change in the composition of the political  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8