Issue - meetings

This report sets out various provisions in the Localism Act which affect the Council’s constitutional arrangements, the action required and where applicable the options available to Members.

Discussion:

This report provided details of various provisions on the Localism Act 2011 which affected the Council’s constitutional arrangements, in particular, options around form of governance, election and term of office of executive leaders, petitions and councillor call for action. The report had been initially considered by the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 21 June 2012 and Cabinet on 10 July 2012, with the views and comments set out in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the report.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Rodney Chambers, supported by Councillor Jarrett, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Deputy Leader, proposed the recommendations set out in the report.

Decision:

a)     The Council agreed, at this stage, to make no change to the current arrangements regarding the form of governance but noted that the Localism Act 2011 provided options to make changes.

b)     The Council agreed that a four year term of office for the executive Leader should be retained and approved the minor changes to the Council’s executive arrangements as set out in Appendix B to the report, given the potential for further regulations being made by the Secretary of State.

c)      The Council agreed that no change should be made at this stage to the Council’s petitions scheme even though the Localism Act revoked the duty to have a scheme for handling petitions, noting that the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee had called for a report reviewing the arrangements for e-petitioning.

d)     The Council approved the changes to the overview and scrutiny rules as highlighted in Appendix C, to give effect to revocation of the Councillor Call for Action scheme (for non crime and disorder issues) and the implementation of a requirement to enable any Member of the Council who was not a member of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee to be able to refer matters to the Committee (with the exception of excluded matters).

Background: 

This report provided details of the Localism Act 2011 and the consequential decisions which were required relating to forms of governance; election and term of Executive Leaders, repeal of provisions regarding petitions and Councillor Call for Action (CCfA).

The Business Support Overview and Scrutiny had considered this report on 21 June 2012 and its recommendations were set out in an addendum report, tabled at the meeting. The Committee had also asked officers to provide information on alternative forms of governance and this information was set out in Appendix A to the report.

The Committee had recommended to Cabinet no change to the Council’s petition scheme and changes to the Overview and Scrutiny rules to give effect to the revocation of the Councillor Call for Action scheme for non crime and disorder issues and the implementation of a requirement to enable any member of the Council who is not a Member of the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee to be able to refer matters to the Committee (with the exception of excluded matters).

Reasons:

The Council is required to respond to the provisions of the Localism Act 2011 – this report will enable the Cabinet’s views on the proposals to be reported to Council on 26 July 2012.