Issue - meetings

Report attached in separate agenda pack. 

Matter for Decision:

 

To agree the processes by which decisions on various matters will be taken by Area Committees from 1 April 2012, and seeks Executive Councillor approval to adopt these processes.

 

Decision of Executive Councillor for Arts, Sport and Public and the Executive Councillor for Community Development and Health

 

The Executive Councillors jointly resolved to:

 

(a) approve the proposed process for devolving decision making on public art, public realm, community facilities, play and open space projects funded by developer contributions as set out in the Officer’s report subject to:

 

·        extending the definition of “open spaces” from the limited definition considered at Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Committee on 10 October 2011 to include all open spaces;

 

(b) delegate their Executive functions to the extent necessary to implement these processes and devolve decision making to Area Committees.

 

(c) recommend Council to extend the terms of reference of Area Committees to include exercise of the delegated functions.

 

The Executive Councillor for Community Development and Health further resolved to:

 

(d) approve the proposed process for devolving decision making on Safer City grants as set out in Officer’s report subject to the amendment of the second sentence of paragraph 4.3 of the report to read:

 

·        Decisions on approval/rejection of these applications will be made by the Director of Community Services after consultation with the Chairs of Area Committees, relevant Ward Councillors and Opposition Spokes Persons as and when the applications are received and outside of Area Committees.

 

(e) delegate his Executive functions to the extent necessary to implement this process and devolve decision making to Area Committees;

 

and

 

(f) recommend Council to extend the terms of reference of area committees to include exercise of the delegated functions.

 

Reason for the Decision:

 

As detailed in the Officer’s report.

 

Any alternative options considered and rejected:

 

Not applicable.

 

Scrutiny Considerations:

 

The committee received a report from the Director of Environment regarding the recommendations to devolve decisions to area Committees.

 

The Head of Legal Services tabled the following amended recommendations:

 

AMENDED RECOMMENDATION:

 

2.1 The Executive Councillors for Arts, Sport and Public Places and for Community Development and Health are recommended to:

 

(a) approve the proposed process for devolving decision making on public art, public realm, community facilities, play and open space projects funded by developer contributions as set out in the foregoing report subject to:

 

·extending the definition of “open spaces” from the limited definition considered at Strategy and Resources Committee on 10 October 2011 to include all open spaces;

 

(b) delegate their Exectutive functions to the extent necessary to implement these processes and devolve decision making to area committees.

 

(c) recommend Council to extend the terms of reference of area committees to include exercise of the delegated functions.

 

 

2.2 The Executive Councillor for Community Development and Health is recommended to:

 

(d) approve the proposed process for devolving decision making on safer city grants as set out in foregoing report subject to the amendment of the second sentence of paragraph 4.3 of the report to read:

 

·Decisions on approval/rejection of these applications will be made by the Director of Community Services after consultation with the Chairs of Area Committees, relevant Ward Councillors and Opposition Spokes Persons as and when the applications are received and outside of Area Committees.

 

(e) delegate his Executive functions to the extent necessary to implement this process and devolve decision making to area committees;

 

and

 

(f) recommend Council to extend the terms of reference of area committees to include exercise of the delegated functions.

 

The committee made the following comments in response to the report:

 

             I.      Members welcomed the amended recommendations and the clarity this added to the definition of open space.

          II.      Some members were concerned that the level of work being devolved to Area Committees was unworkable as they already had very full agendas.

       III.      Members agreed that Area Committee had evolved to have individual styles and some finished very late in the evening. However, residents do attend which is not often the case with Scrutiny Committees.

      IV.      Increasing the frequency of Area Committees was suggested.

         V.      Councillor Dryden suggested removing planning from the agenda of Area Committees as a solution.

      VI.      The costs of additional Area Committee work was questioned.

 

The Head of Community Development responded and confirmed that the learning of the North Area Pilot would be shared with other Area Committees with a view to improving community engagement. Each Area Committee had been allocated a Head of Service to facilitate improvements to the process. A further piece of work would be needed on these issues. A funding bid for a Community Engagement Worker was on-going.

 

Councillor Bick stated that the aim was to reinforce the role of Area Committees as central to the decision making process rather than a peripheral add on. Forward planning of the agendas would allow better use of both member and officer time. The Director of Environment endorsed this position and stated that this would be a different way of using existing resources. The new methodology would also be more responsive which would allow schemes to be implemented and delivered in a more timely fashion.

 

Members requested clarity on the amended paragraph 4.3 and the role of the Director of Community Services in the decision making process. The Director of Community Services stated this was a standard clause, normally only applied to out of cycle decisions. She confirmed that it was extremely rare for a Director to go against a decision of the Chair of a Committee.

 

The Scrutiny Committee considered and endorsed the amended recommendations in the report by 6 votes to 0.

 

The Executive Councillors for Arts, Sport and Public and the Executive Councillor for Community Development and Health approved the amended recommendations.

 

Conflicts of interest declared by the Executive Councillor (and any dispensations granted)

N/A