Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor O’Connell, Councillor Bick attended as an alternate.

Apologies were also received from Rob Bennett (Acting Independent Person).

No interests were declared.

Minutes of the meeting of the 14 February 2018 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

There were no public questions.

The Committee received a report from the Head of Legal Practice regarding the recruitment of an Independent Person and Deputy Independent Person.

Resolved (unanimously) to recommend to Council:

i.        Mr Rob Bennett is appointed as the Council’s Independent     Person and Judge David Pearl as the Deputy Independent         Person.

ii.       Both posts would be for a three year fixed term with a further option to extend the appointment for a two year period          subject to annual ratification at the Annual Meeting of the    Council.

The Committee received a report from the Chief Executive regarding changes to scrutiny committee and review of the decision making process.

The report outlined the conclusions and recommendations of a Member Working Group tasked with reviewing the council’s scrutiny committees and the workload undertaken by these committees.

In response to members’ questions the Chief Executive and Democratic Services Manager said the following:

     i.        The newly created Planning and Transport Scrutiny Committee would oversee planning policy so there was no disadvantage to implementing the scrutiny changes before the new Local Plan had been adopted.

    ii.        Referred to the Local Plan and confirmed that discussions would also need to be undertaken with South Cambridgeshire District Council about appropriate governance for the development of the new joint Local Plan.

   iii.        Confirmed that the group leaders would receive a note clarifying the changes to committee structure so they could plan for the Annual Meeting. 

  iv.        They noted Cllr Bick’s observation that as the new Environment and Community Scrutiny Committee would have three Executive Councillor portfolios reporting to it this could have implications for committee size to accommodate the requisite number of spokespeople.  This would be an issue for Group Leaders to consider when considering committee places and proportionality post-election.

Resolved (unanimously) to:

     i.        Recommend to Council the changes to Part 3 section 6 of the Constitution as set out in Appendix A (Appendix B shown with tracked changes for reference).

    ii.        Agree that the new scrutiny committees keep to the already agreed 2018/19 programme of meetings as referred to in paragraphs 3.7 and 3.8

The Committee received a report from the Democratic Services Manager regarding council size submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

The report detailed the conclusions of a Member Working Group tasked with considering the Council Size submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) which would formally begin its work on 29 May 2018.

The committee requested more information on the electorate per councillor and the population per councillor to re-enforce the case that the size of the Council should not be reduced.

In response to members’ questions the Chief Executive and Democratic Services Manager said the following:

i.        Confirmed that forecasting would account for the increasing   population size including for areas with new developments.

ii.       Explained that the LGBCE required the forecasting         methodology to be included in the submission.

i.        Confirmed that the requested changes would be made to        section 4.4 and 4.5 to emphasise the impact of population growth on councillor workload in the LGBCE draft submission.

ii.       Confirmed that population and electorate statistics would be shared with Members prior to the Council meeting on 19 April together with more background information on the issues discussed

Resolved (unanimously) to:

i.        Recommend to Council the approval of a submission on         Council Size to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England of 42 councillors.

ii.       Approve drafting changes to the report for Council’s        consideration on 19 April agreed by the Chief Executive in consultation with the Chair and spokes.

The Committee are asked to agree to hold a special meeting of the Civic Affairs Committee at 6pm on Wednesday 27 June 2018 to consider issues for the Boundary Commission.

The Committee received a request from the Democratic Services Manager to hold a special meeting of the Civic Affairs Committee at 6pm on Wednesday 27 June 2018 to consider issues for the Boundary Commission.

Resolved (unanimously) to hold a special meeting of the Civic Affairs Committee on Wednesday 27 June 2018.