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Venue: Committee Room 1 & 2, The Guildhall, Market Square, Cambridge, CB2 3QJ. View directions
Contact: Martin Whelan Committee Manager
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Apologies for absence Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillor Pitt. |
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Minutes of previous meeting PDF 69 KB Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 21st November were approved as a true and accurate record. |
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Declarations of Interest Members
are asked to declare at this stage any interests that they may have in any of
the following items on the agenda. If any member is unsure whether or not
they should declare an interest on a particular matter, they are requested to
seek advice from the Head of Legal Services before the meeting.
Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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Public Questions Minutes: There were no public questions. In response to a question from Cllr Herbert regarding errors in the Council’s initial financial modelling, the Chief Executive said that she was in discussion with the Council’s external auditors, Ernst and Young, regarding their review, which would be reported to Civic Affairs. Members would also be updated prior to the Council budget setting meeting on 21st February.
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Minutes: The committee received a report from the Head of Legal
Services proposing changes to the constitution to enable area committees to be
consulted on, and to consider, project appraisals for capital schemes for which
area committees were responsible. The Head of Legal Services informed the committee that
Councillor Dryden, as Chair of South Area Committee had suggested an amended
form of wording to that recommended in paragraph 3.4 of the report. This, in
two instances, meant deletion of the phrase “provided that relevant Ward
Councillors have been consulted where appropriate” and its replacement by
“provided that relevant Ward Councillors are always consulted”. The Head of
Legal Services said that he saw no objection to this. Councillor Herbert expressed concern about the number of
changes made to the Constitution within a short period of time relating to
procedures for Area Committees, and to an excessive level of detail. Councillor
Herbert also asked for consideration to be given to simplifying the Constitution.
The Head of Legal Services expressed sympathy with the objective stated but
said that the proposed changes were needed to make the scheme of delegation to
officers work properly for area committee capital schemes. Resolved i. (5 votes to 0) to accept the wording
suggested by Councillor Dryden ii. (2 votes to 0) to recommend the Council
to amend the Constitution as follows: 1. Amend the first paragraph of Section 9.3.1
of Part 3 by the insertion of the words shown in bold italics: Subject to Section 9.3.1A,
in the case of new capital schemes, the following approvals (together with
approval to the necessary budget provision) must be obtained before any scheme
may proceed. 2. Add new section 9.3.1A to
Part 3: In the case of new capital schemes, responsibility
for which has been delegated to Area Committees by the Executive, the following
approvals (together with approval to the necessary budget provision) must be
obtained before any scheme may proceed. • For
schemes where the estimated cost is £15,000 and below: once included in the
Area Committee’s programme, may proceed without further committee
consideration, provided that relevant Ward Councillors provided that
relevant Ward Councillors are always consulted. • For schemes
where the estimated total cost is over £15,000 and up to £75,000: a capital
project appraisal and procurement report proforma must be completed and
referred to the relevant Area
Committee Chair, Vice Chair and Opposition Spokes for approval. The schemes may
then proceed without Area Committee consideration, provided relevant Ward
Councillors provided that relevant Ward Councillors are always consulted. • For schemes where the estimated total cost is over £75,000: a capital project appraisal and procurement report pro-forma must be completed for consideration and approval by the relevant Area Committee. |
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Pay Policy Statement 2013/14 PDF 85 KB Minutes: The committee
received a report from the Head of Human Resources setting out a draft Pay
Policy Statement for 2013/14. The Localism Act requires the Council to approve
and publish a pay policy statement by 31 March each year. The Committee was
asked to recommend the pay policy statement to the full Council on 21 February.
The Head of Human
Resources drew the Committee’s attention to recommendations made by the
Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Committee regarding the adoption of a “living
wage” policy for staff and agency workers. The full Council would consider
these on 21 February. Councillor Herbert
expressed concern that there were examples at other authorities of significant
redundancy payments being made to senior officers who then were promptly re-engaged
elsewhere in the public sector. Councillor Herbert noted that redundancy
payments were only repayable in these circumstances if an officer takes up a
post with another body covered by the local government redundancy rules.
Councillor Herbert asked whether there was scope to change these rules to
require repayment by employees re-engaged in the public sector within a longer
period. The Head of Human Resources said that she would investigate the scope
for local discretion and write to Councillor Herbert. Councillor Herbert
also suggested that the section of the pay policy statement dealing with tax
avoidance should be strengthened. He suggested that member approval should be
needed before the Council contracted with a consultant through a company, where
the company arrangement was designed to avoid tax. The Head of Human Resources
agreed to report further to the committee on the scope for further measures to
discourage tax avoidance. Resolved (5 votes to 0) to recommend to the Council:
i.
To approve the
Living Wage proposals as part of the Pay Policy Statement 2013/14.
ii.
To approve the
draft Pay Policy Statement 2013/14 attached as Appendix 1 of the committee
report, with the inclusion of proposals relating to the Living Wage as
recommended by the Civic Affairs Committee (see updated Pay Policy Statement
2013/14 attached). iii. To note the request for a briefing note on the options for extending the period between redundancy and re-engagement within the public sector, which would require repayment of redundancy payments. iv. To note the request for a report on the scope for further measures to discourage tax avoidance arising from the employment of consultants through companies. |
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Request for additional item to Civic Affairs agenda 30/1/13 from Cllr Johnson - Jack Warren Green polling district Email from Councillor Johnson “Abbey Councillors have held the view for a while now
that polling district which Jack Warren Green resides in should be moved from
its current location in AA to AB. We believe there is a logical case for this. Currently
Jack Warren Green residents have to travel roughly 1km to vote at the AA
polling station at Howard Road. We believe that this distance is partly why
there has been a very low turnout from this area in comparison to others in the
district. The route from Jack Warren Green to the AB polling station (at East Barnwell Centre) crosses Newmarket Road but is 1/5th of the distance (200m). In our view the AA electoral district is too large in any case. Our calculations figure that broadly 50 per cent of the Abbey electorate is in the AA district, compared to 25% each in the other two. We recognise that the AC polling district (Riverside area) is logical and coherent in terms of proximity and access - AB less so.” Minutes: The committee received an oral report in response to a
request from Cllr Johnson regarding Jack Warren Green polling district.
Councillor Johnson explained the rationale behind the request. The Democratic Services Manager explained that he had been
in correspondence with Councillor Johnson, and confirmed that it would not be
possible to complete the required process prior to the County Council
elections. The committee were advised there was merit in progressing this as
part of a Polling District Review. The Electoral Services Manager was asked to provide an
update on forthcoming events regarding electoral matters. The committee were
advised that it was a legal requirement to implement Individual Electoral
Registration by 2014, and that the process would begin this summer. It was also
explained that the City Council were required to undertake and complete a
Polling District Review by the end of 2014, although it was currently planned
to do this in 2013. The committee was advised that it was intended to delay the
publication of the register will be in March 2014 following a delayed canvass. The committee made the following comments on the report i.
The proposals were welcomed, however it was
suggested that the most appropriate polling district for Loughton Court should
also be considered in the review. ii.
Whilst the principle of equality of polling
district sizes was suggested, specific examples such as Romsey where it was
advantageous to have unequal polling districts. iii.
It was suggested that the committee endorsed the
principle of transferring Jack Warren Green and Loughton Court from AA to AB
polling districts. The committee agreed to this suggestion. The Democratic Services Manager explained that a report
would be presented to a future Civic Affairs meeting to allow members to shape
the review of the polling districts, prior to statutory consultation. Resolved (5 votes to 0) to i. Endorse the principle of transferring Jack Warren Green and Loughton Court from AA to AB polling districts
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