Agenda and minutes

No apologies were received.

No interests were declared.

There were no public questions.

The committee received a report regarding the constitutional impact of transferring Planning Items from Area to Central Planning Committee.

Councillor Cantrill proposed an amendment as follows:

‘To agree Area Committee meeting frequency is altered from the current ‘every eight weeks’ to ‘at least six (delete - four) times per year.

Councillor Benstead stated that the recommendation as worded gave each  area committee the ability to set its own timetable without being influenced by the planning process.

Councillor Pitt stated that by going down to four meetings per year all meetings would be busy and balancing demands may be difficult.  Councillor Cantrill revised his amendment to: 

‘To agree Area Committee meeting frequency is altered from the current ‘every eight weeks’ to a recommended six times a year (delete - at least four times per year).

Councillors Cantrill and Pitt asked about the funding of additional Area Committees (if they all met six times).  The Leader stated that the budget amendment to be considered at Council was based on each area committee having five meetings per year but that if all area committees met more than that then the savings would need to be found elsewhere.

Members of the committee were reminded that there was provision in the Constitution for the Chief Executive following consultation with the Chair to call  additional meetings of an area committee if the business (for that cycle) warranted it.

The amendment was put to the vote and was lost by 2 votes in favour to 4 against.

Resolved (by 4 votes in favour to 2 against) to recommend to Council:

       i.          To agree Area Committee meeting frequency is altered from the current ‘every eight weeks’ to ‘at least four times per year’ commencing from October 2014, with each Area Committee continuing, as now, to set its own timetable of meetings for the municipal year; and

     ii.          To instruct the Head of Legal Services to amend the Constitution to reflect this change.

The Council appoints three City Councillors to the Conservators of the River Cam for a three year term ending 31 December 2015.

Following the resignation of Councillor Reiner from her position as a Cam Conservator the Civic Affairs Committee is asked to recommend to Council a new appointment to take her place.

The Chair ruled under 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 the item be considered despite not being made publicly available five clear days prior to the meeting.

The committee received a late agenda item regarding a vacancy following Councillor Reiner’s recent decision to step down as a city councillor appointee on  the  Conservators of the River Cam.

Resolved (by 3 votes to 0) to recommend to Council:

       i.          That Councillor Tunnacliffe take the place of Councillor Reiner on the Conservators of the River Cam.