Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies were received from Rob Bennett the Independent Person.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 February were agreed as a true and accurate record.

 

At this point in the meeting the Chair, with the agreement of the Committee, re-ordered the agenda to take the Committee Appointments and Constitutional Changes for Annual Council first, followed by the Honorary Freedom of the City and finally the Governance Review Proposals. For the purposes of the minutes the items have been kept as per the order of the published agenda.

There were no public questions received.

Report to follow

The Democratic Services Manager introduced the report and outlined the key aspects to members.

 

The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny compiled a report in February 2022 which found that the Council’s current arrangements lead to a lack of collective democratic accountability, was resource heavy, opaque, did not result in improved outcomes for the Council and was not as inclusive as it could be for residents to engage with.

 

The Governance Reference Group (GRG) was established to consider the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny and Independent Renumeration Panel (IRP) findings and develop proposals for the Civic Affairs Committee that could be put to full Council.

 

The GRG in December 2023 came up with four principles for good governance and highlighted the below:

 

·      Decision making is timely / prompt, focussed and efficient

·      Decision making is accountable

·      Our governance system and decision-making processes are transparent

·      Encourages collaboration

 

The CfGS review went to great lengths to emphasise the importance of behaviours and culture.

 

The City Council’s written constitution already incorporated the Leader and Executive/Cabinet form of governance. The constitution provided for collective Executive decision making at public meetings (e.g. Cabinet), and an Overview and Scrutiny Committee. However, in practice the Council operates what has been termed a ‘hybrid-hybrid’ system because it blended elements of the two distinct forms of governance available to local authorities - the Committee and Leader-Cabinet systems.

 

The GRG also commissioned officers to provide some hypothetical options for the Leader and Executive/Cabinet model based on current best practice; and that these options should consider members’ desire for new arrangement to provide for strong scrutiny and enable non-executive members to have a role in the decision-making process. 

 

Members of the Committee commented on the report which included:

 

·      There was no overall consensus on the best model within the GRG, however the majority of the GRG were supportive of the Leader and Cabinet model.

·      The Liberal Democrat Group as a whole was not supportive of the Leader and Cabinet model for a few grounds namely that there could potentially be less involvement in decision-making for non-executive councillors.

·      The recommendations in the report were about working towards implementing a revised Leader and Cabinet model, which would give the opposition opportunities to contribute and have more democratic debates on key items that affect the City.

·      It had been two years since the CfGS report had been completed and it was time that the Council moved forward towards a new system, stepping away from being unique in comparision with other local authorities. The work of the Chair of the GRG was noted for being collaborative.

·      It was important that non-executive councillors from across all parties were given the opportunity to scrutinise the decisions of the Executive.

·      There were potentially opportunities for non-executive councillors and for opposition to be involved in policy formation, before political groups ask members to project certain ideas before a later stage. More councillors could be involved within the creative stage of decision-making.

 

 

Resolved (4 votes for, 2 votes against, 0 abstentions) to recommend to Council:

 

a.    That the Council design and implement a revised ‘Leader and Cabinet’ model of decision making and authorises the Chief Executive to enable changes to be implemented from the Annual Council Meeting in May 2025

b.    To establish a member-officer design group with external technical support to develop a revised 'Leader and Cabinet' model with final proposals including an updated constitution being presented to the Civic Affairs Committee and then to full Council for adoption.

 

Report to follow

The Democratic Services Manager introduced the report and explained that the recommendation to grant the Honorary Freedom of the City was reserved for the extraordinary Annual Council Meeting.

 

Members welcomed the recommendation and asked that strong communications were put out explaining the close links HMS Protector has with Cambridge.

 

HMS Protector carried out a lot of work for the British Antartic Survey (BAS), which was based in Cambridge as well as working closely with the Scott Polar Institute. This was also the only ice breaker the British Navy had. In addition, this recommendation also addressed the serious nature that the City takes towards climate change.

 

It was also noted that the previous captain was the first female appointed to captain a vessel of this sort in history.

 

Resolved (Unanimous) to recommend to Council:

 

a.    To confer the Honorary Freedom of the City of Cambridge upon HMS Protector. (Nb. Granting the Freedom of the City will require at least two thirds of the Councillors present to agree to the recommendation).

 

The Committee received a report on the appointments to committee’s and Chair’s/Vice Chair’s.

 

It was noted that on the Cambridge Joint Area Committee that this Municipal Year the Green party would take a seat and the Lib Dems would have a seat but that for the following Municipal Year the Lib Dems would take this seat back so they would have two seats.

 

Resolved: (unanimously) to recommend to Council:

 

i.               Appointments to city council committees and joint partner bodies below:

 

Environment and Communities Scrutiny Committee 8 (5 Labour + 2 Lib Dem + 1 Green)

 

Pounds, Nestor, Swift, Divkovic, TBC

 

Payne, Hauk

 

Glasberg

 

Alternates – Griffin, Sheil, Martinelli, Flaubert, Tong

 

Planning and Transport Scrutiny Committee 8 (5 Labour + 2 Lib Dem + 1 Green)

 

Nestor, Baigent, Swift, Griffin, Divkovic

 

Porrer, Bick

 

Clough

 

Alternates – Pounds, Todd-Jones, Lee, Lokhmotova, Bennett

 

Housing Scrutiny Committee 9 (6 Labour + 2 Lib Dem + 1 Green)

 

Griffin, Robertson, Gawthrope Wood, Baigent, Swift, Thittala

 

Martinelli, Lee

 

Tong

 

Alternates: Nestor, Pounds, Young, Porrer, Bennett

 

Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Committee 8 (5 Labour + 2 Lib Dem + 1 Green)

 

Robertson, Gawthrope Wood, Sheil, Baigent, Todd-Jones

 

Bick, Young

 

Bennett

 

Alternates – Lab TBC, Lab TBC, Porrer, Martinelli, Clough

 

Civic Affairs Committee 6 (4 Labour + 1 Lib Dem +1 Green)

 

McPherson, Gawthrope Wood, Sheil, Robertson

 

Young

 

Bennett

 

Alternate – Holloway, Bick, Clough

 

Employment (Senior Officer) Committee 6 (4 Labour + 1 Lib Dem + 1 Green)

 

Davey, Carling, Gilderdale, Moore

 

Bick

 

Bennett

 

Alternates: Labour TBC, Porrer, Clough

 

Licensing Committee 10 (6 Labour + 3 Lib Dem + 1 Green)

 

McPherson, Bird, Moore, Griffin, Pounds, Wade

 

Blackburn-Horgan, Young, Lib Dem TBC

 

Clough

 

Alternates – Davey, Lib Dem TBC, Bennett

 

Planning Committee 9 (6 Labour + 2 Lib Dem + 1 Green)

 

Smart, Baigent, Thornburrow, Gilderdale, Carling, Dryden

 

Porrer, Lokhmotova

 

Bennett

 

Alternates – Nestor, Todd-Jones, Flaubert, Young, Howard

 

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority - 1 seat

 

A.Smith

 

Alternate - Davey

 

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee 2 Labour

 

Lab TBC, Lab TBC

 

Alternate – Lab TBC

 

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Audit and Governance Committee 1 Labour + one alternate

 

S.Smith

 

Alternate – Lab TBC

 

Greater Cambridge Partnership Joint Assembly 3 (2 Labour + 1 Lib Dem)

 

S.Smith, Thornburrow, Bick

 

Joint Development Control Committee - Cambridge Fringes 6 (4 Labour+ 2 Lib Dem)

 

S.Smith, Baigent, Smart, Thornburrow

 

Porrer, Flaubert,

 

Alternates – Gilderdale, Nestor, Young, Lokhmotova

 

Cambridge Joint Area Committee 6 (4 Labour + 1 Lib Dem + 1 Green)

 

Thornburrow, Robertson, Baigent, Moore

 

Young

 

Bennett

 

Alternates – Carling, Lab TBC, Martinelli, Tong

 

ii.             Nominations for Chairs and Vice-Chairs 2024/25

 

Environment and Communities Services

Chair - Pounds

Vice-Chair – Nestor

 

Planning and Transport

Chair – Nestor

Vice-Chair – Baigent

 

Housing

Chair – Griffin

Vice-Chair (nb. Tenant/Leaseholder is Chair of Part 1 of the meeting) - Robertson

 

Strategy and Resources

Chair – Robertson

Vice-Chair – Gawthrope Wood

 

Civic Affairs

Chair - McPherson

Vice-Chair – Gawthrope Wood

 

Licensing

Chair - McPherson

Vice-Chair - Bird

 

Planning

Chair - Smart

Vice-Chair (Labour) – Baigent

Vice-Chair (Lib Dem) - Porrer

 

JDCC

Chair – S.Smith