Agenda item

The Council considered the report of the Head of Legal & Democratic Services which dealt with matters requiring 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 & Democratic Services explained the requirement within Council Procedure Rules for certain committees to be appointed at the Annual Meeting, as indicated in the report.  In addition to the twelve committees currently provided for within the Constitution, the creation and terms of reference of the Clwyd Pension Fund Committee had been approved at the County Council meeting on 30 April 2014, with its scheme of delegation to be considered later in this item.

 

Following approval of the new operating model, including a new senior management structure, by the Council on 25 March 2014, it was recommended that a review of the Overview & Scrutiny committee structure should be carried out, with a report submitted to the Constitution Committee by the Chief Executive on how the review would be conducted.

 

Councillor Aaron Shotton moved approval that the County Council confirm the appointment of the Committees as outlined in the report and that the review proceed.  This was seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge and on being put to the vote, was carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(a)       That the County Council confirm the appointment of the Committees as outlined in section 2 of the report; and

 

(b)       That the need for a review of the Overview & Scrutiny Committees be endorsed and that the Chief Executive bring a scoping paper for that review to the Constitution Committee.

 

(B)       Determination of the size of Committees

 

The Head of Legal & 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 Aaron Shotton moved approval that the County Council confirm the size of the Committees as outlined in section 3.01 of the report which was seconded by Councillor Bernie 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 and Pension Delegations

 

The Head of Legal & Democratic Services reported that the Annual Meeting was required to decide the Terms of Reference of the Committees that it had appointed and that these were set out in Part 2 of the Constitution.  There were no proposed changes, unless Members agreed that changes were needed to the proposed scheme of delegation to officers for the Clwyd Pension Fund Committee, shown in Appendix 1 to the report.

 

Councillor Aaron Shotton moved approval that the County Council confirm the current Terms of Reference of the Committees and the proposed scheme of delegation to officers for pension functions.  This was seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge and on being put to the vote, was carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(a)       That the delegation to officers in relation to the Clwyd Pension Fund be approved; and

 

(b)       That the existing terms of reference for the committees be confirmed.

 

(D)       Political Balance

 

The Head of Legal & Democratic Services reported that at, or as soon as practicable after the Annual Meeting, Members were required to decide the allocation of seats to political groups in accordance with the Political Balance Rules contained in the Local Government & Housing Act 1989 and the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990 as amended.  The calculations for political balance were based on the current number of 68 County Councillors and may be subject to change following the by-election on 22 May 2014.

 

The Head of Legal & Democratic Services explained that since the inclusion of Option A in the report, an alternative Option F had been submitted in which there was an additional Liberal Democrat seat on Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee taken from the Independent allocation, in return for an Independent seat on the Pensions Committee taken from the Liberal Democrats.  Copies of Option F were circulated, with the changes highlighted in red.

 

Councillor Aaron Shotton proposed that the County Council confirm the allocation of seats as outlined in Option F.  This was duly seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge and on being put to the vote, was carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the political balance of committee seats be agreed as Option F which is appended to this document.

 

(E)       Appointment of Chairs of Standing Committees

 

The Head of Legal & Democratic Services reported that Council Procedure Rule 1.1(x) required the Council to appoint the Chairs of standing committees with the exception of the Standards, Overview & Scrutiny and Audit Committees.  The table in the report provided details of which body was to appoint which Chair.

 

For the Committees that the County Council was responsible for appointing the Chair, Councillor Aaron Shotton moved the following, which was seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge and on being put to the vote, was carried:

 

§                     Clwyd Pension Fund Committee - Councillor Alan Diskin

§                     Constitution Committee - Councillor Robin Guest

§                     Democratic Services Committee - Councillor Robin Guest

§                     Licensing Committee - Councillor Tony Sharps

§                     Planning & Development Control Committee - Councillor David Wisinger

 

Councillor Aaron Shotton’s proposal that Councillor Haydn Bateman be appointed Vice-Chair of the Clwyd Pension Fund Committee was seconded by Councillor Attridge and on being put to the vote, was carried.

 

It was reported that the Chairs of Overview & Scrutiny committees were chosen by the political groups and were dependent on the strength of the various groups and which groups had seats on the Cabinet.  As the New Independent and Liberal Democratic groups were the same size, both were equally entitled to chair one Overview & Scrutiny committee between them which was to be determined by the Council.  That committee would then be required to select a Chair at its next meeting.

 

Councillor Aaron Shotton moved the following, which was seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge and on being put to the vote, was carried:

 

Overview & Scrutiny Committee            Group to Choose Chair

Community Profile & Partnerships              Independent Alliance

Environment                                                   Conservative

Housing                                                          Labour/Independent

Lifelong Learning                                          Labour/Independent

Social & Health Care                                    Independent/Labour

 

Councillor Aaron Shotton then provided names of the following Members to be appointed as Chairs:

 

Housing Overview & Scrutiny Committee - Councillor Ron Hampson

Lifelong Learning Overview & Scrutiny Committee - Councillor Ian Roberts

Social & Healthcare Overview & Scrutiny Committee - Councillor Carol Ellis

 

In relation to requirements for the Chair of Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee to be appointed from the Liberal Democrat or New Independent groups, Councillor Clive Carver asked it if was possible for this to be shared by the two groups or from the group with the lowest number of Chairs.  Councillor Robin Guest asked if the legislation allowed for the two groups to share the chairmanship of this Committee on a six month or annual basis.  The Head of Legal & Democratic Services advised that the Local Government Measure (Wales) 2011 required that the Chair must be chosen by the Committee and not Council.

 

Councillor Aaron Shotton moved approval that the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee choose its Chair from the Liberal Democrat or New Independent groups.  This was seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge and on being put to the vote, was carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

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

 

Constitution Committee - Councillor Robin Guest

Clwyd Pension Fund Committee - Councillor Alan Diskin

Democratic Services Committee - Councillor Robin Guest

Licensing Committee - Councillor Tony Sharps

Planning & Development Control Committee - Councillor David Wisinger

 

(b)       That Councillor Haydn Bateman be appointed as the Vice-Chair of the Clwyd Pension Fund Committee.

 

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

 

Community Profile & Partnerships        Independent Alliance

Corporate Resources                             Liberal Democrat or New Independent

Environment                                             Conservative

Housing                                                    Labour/Independent

Lifelong Learning                                    Labour/Independent

Social & Health Care                              Independent/Labour

 

(d)       That the Chair of the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee be appointed from either the Liberal Democrat or New Independent groups by the Committee.

 

(F)       Local Choice Functions

 

The Head of Legal & Democratic Services reported that the Council was required to agree such parts of the Scheme of Delegation relating to those local choice functions which could be decided either by the Council or the Cabinet and/ or delegated to officers.

 

Councillor Aaron Shotton proposed that the existing table of Local Choice Functions included in Part 3, Section A, Table 3 of the Constitution, be confirmed.  This was duly seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge and on being put to the vote, was carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the existing Local Choice Issues be confirmed.

 

(G)       Nominations to Internal Bodies

 

The Head of Legal & Democratic Services reported that the existing Scheme of Delegation provided for an Appointments Committee for first and second tier officers comprising of seven Members.  This was not a Standing Committee and was convened when required by seeking nominations from Group Leaders.  Previously it had been usual for Committee Members to be politically balanced including the relevant Cabinet Member.  The Council had previously agreed that the Chair or Vice Chair of the relevant Overview & Scrutiny Committee be one of the Members of the Committee.  It was recommended that the Council continue the previous practice.

 

Councillor Aaron Shotton proposed that the previous practice should continue.  This was seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge and on being put to the vote, was carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

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

 

(H)       Nominations to Outside Bodies

 

The Head of Legal & Democratic Services explained that the list of outside bodies to which the Council made appointments, and the current appointments, was appended to the report.  The Council was recommended to delegate to the Chief Executive, in consultation with Group Leaders and non-aligned Members, any changes to the appointments to these bodies.

 

Councillor Aaron Shotton moved approval that the appointment of outside bodies be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with Group Leaders and non-aligned Members.  This was seconded by Councillor Bernie Attridge and on being put to the vote, was carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the appointment of outside bodies be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with Group Leaders and non-aligned Members.

 

(I)         New Model Constitution

 

The Head of Legal & Democratic Services reported that a review of the national model of the Constitution for all councils in Wales had resulted in a new model with an improved layout.  As it was important for the Council to determine whether to adopt the new model, which differed to the Council’s own Constitution, it was recommended that Members consider proposals on how this would be approached.

 

Councillor Aaron Shotton proposed that the Council note that the Chief Executive would bring forward proposals for how this process would be managed.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That it be noted that the Chief Executive would bring forward proposals on how the process would be managed.