a)                 The Local Authorities (Standing Orders)(England)(Amendment) Regulations 2015 – Appointment and Dismissal of Senior Officers

Councillor Fleming proposed and Councillor Pett seconded the recommendations from the Governance Committee.

Resolved: That the amendments to Officer Employment Procedure Rules (Appendix M of the Constitution) and paragraph 6 of the Constitution entitled “Functions of the Full Council” within Part 2 – The Council and District Council Members, in relation to the dismissal of statutory officers, attached as an appendix to the report, be approved.

b)                 Kent County Council  Electoral Division Review

A new alternative ‘Option 4’ was tabled.  Councillor Firth proposed that the holding response sent to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England on 3 July 2015 be amended in accordance with the tabled alternative Option 4 and the alternative proposed division names also detailed on the map, and this was duly seconded by Councillor Mrs. Hunter. 

Speaking to the amended proposal from what was recommended from the Governance committee, Councillor Firth advised that the District was merely a statutory consultee to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England’s (LGBCE) consultation document and its draft proposals for new county council division boundaries for Kent County Council (KCC).   The review was being carried out because of electoral imbalances and had little to do with communities.  Since the meeting of the Governance Committee some more work and consultation had been carried out and the newest proposal was trying to put forward the best division possible in light of the reduction from 7 to 6. 

Councillor Thornton proposed an amendment, which was duly seconded,  that the word ‘and East’ be inserted into the proposed division named Sevenoaks Darent Valley, to read ‘Sevenoaks East and Darent Valley.’

The amendment was put to the vote and carried.

The substantive motion was then put to the vote and it was

Resolved:  That the holding response sent to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England on 3 July 2015 be amended in accordance with the amended alternative option 4, along with the alternative proposed division names detailed on the map, to include the amended name ‘Sevenoaks East & Darent Valley’.