Minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2012.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20^th November 2012 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

Any interests not already registered

No additional declarations of interest were made.

On 23^rd April 2013, full Council approved, in principle, a proposed Governance Structure and agreed that the Leader of the Council should develop further more detailed proposals and forward the information to the Modern Local Governance Group.  Members considered papers outlining the proposed terms of reference for the following Committees:

-          Cabinet Advisory Committees

-          Scrutiny Committee

-          Governance Committee

-          Audit Committee.

In addition to the terms of reference Members also considered the draft structure for consultation and the proposed size of Committees.

As there were no track changes within the document, the Democratic Services Manager outlined the changes that had been made to the document following the Member Consultation event on Wednesday 8^th May.

The Chairman outlined the main reason for the introduction of the changes which was to address the four main concerns held by Members:

·                perception of remoteness/inaccessibility of portfolios;

·                feeling of disengagement from influence and decision-making;

·                lack of training and development (succession planning for future Cabinet members); and

·                need to streamline the system to match the resource available.

The changes would strengthen the scrutiny function and would allow more member involvement in the formulation of policy.

In response to a question, the Chairman clarified that what was being proposed was a one year trail of the proposed arrangements.  During the year other options could be considered by the Governance Committee.  The purpose of introducing the proposed changes at Annual Council was to address the concerns raised by Members through the Governance Review.

A Member raised concerns and disappointment that none of the documents that had been circulated had included any track changes, the Member highlighted that there was a public equalities duty to keep people informed.  The Member stressed that she would have expected Officers to alert Members to the changes to the documents that were being voted upon.

Cabinet Advisory Committees

Members reviewed and considered the terms of reference for the Cabinet Advisory Committees.  A Member questioned whether it should be reflected somewhere in the Constitution that the intention was that every Member, except the Chairman of the Council, the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee and the Chairman of the Audit Committee, would have a seat on at least one of the Advisory Committees.

Two visiting Members requested that some consideration be given to preventing spouses from scrutinising each other as this issue had been raised at a Parish Council meeting.

Another Member suggested that the third item on the agenda should be a report from the Cabinet Member outlining their activities since the previous meeting and what they intend to do in the following three months.  It was also suggested that it would be helpful to have time set aside for the Advisory Committees to question the Portfolio Holder on the report they produce.  This would ensure that all Members would be kept informed.

A Member also suggested that the following be added to the terms of reference under specific functions:

(d) The Advisory Committee shall develop and approve  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.