Agenda item

To consider report LDS/215 of the Head of Governance, People & Performance.

The Committee considered report LDS/215 of the Head of Governance, People & Performance which requested that the Committee consider proposed changes to the Council’s Constitution, namely in relation to the guillotine procedures, Licensing Sub-Committee (Hearings) Procedure Rules, and the Order of Business for the Annual Meeting of the Full Council.

The Committee discussed and voted upon each proposed change in turn.

The Procedures for Guillotine

Following discussion, the Committee expressed its support for having consistency across procedures for both Committees and the Full Council by enabling Committees to vote to continue after a meeting had reached 2½ hours with a “hard” Guillotine only being retained to come into effect at 11pm when meetings were held outside the Town Hall.  The Committee viewed that approach as an improvement to the current procedure, as a Committee would have the option to vote to continue the meeting rather than being required to conclude a meeting by 11pm regardless of whether all items on the agenda had been considered.  The Committee’s attention was brought to paragraph 5.8 of the report which set out the consequences for any motions and recommendations which had not been dealt with by the time a guillotine fell.

The Committee AGREED to recommend to the Full Council that the Guillotine procedure for Committees be amended to enable Committees to vote to continue after the meeting had reached 2½ hours (mirroring the Full Council Procedure Rules), with a “hard” Guillotine for Committees being retained to come into effect at 11pm when a Committee was held outside the Town Hall.

The Committee did not wish to make any changes to the current Guillotine process for meetings of the Full Council.

Licensing Sub-Committee (Hearing) Procedure Rules

Following a query from the Committee, the Head of Governance, People & Performance clarified that, once a Hearing has been arranged to consider an application to review a licence, legislation did not provide flexibility to withdraw the application (even where all parties had come to an agreement) and therefore such a Hearing was required to go ahead to consider the matter and could not be cancelled.

The Head of Governance, People & Performance informed the Committee that, since publication of the report, it had come to light that the Procedure Rules referred to regulations which were no longer in force.  Consequentially the Committee was requested to delegate authority to the Head of Governance, People & Performance to make additional amendments to the Rules to ensure they reflected current legislation.

The Committee AGREED to recommend to the Full Council that the Licensing Sub-Committee (Hearings) Procedure Rules be amended as set out in Appendix A to the report; and that the Head of Governance, People & Performance be delegated to make additional amendments to those Rules to ensure they reflected current legislation, with those changes being included in the appendix to these minutes which would be put before the Full Council for its approval.

Order of Business for the Annual Meeting of the Full Council

The Committee sought clarification on the current provisions available should a Councillor wish to put forward a Notice of Motion to the Full Council to remove the current Leader from office.  The Committee was informed that, whilst the Constitution currently provided for a Notice of Motion or an urgent item of business to be brought before an ordinary meeting of the Full Council, and for an extraordinary meeting of the Full Council to be called, it did not currently allow such a Notice of Motion to be considered at the Annual Meeting of the Full Council.  Additionally, the Committee was assured that an item of business relating to such a Notice of Motion would only be on the agenda for the Annual meeting of the Full Council if one had been submitted.

The Committee AGREED that the Full Council be recommended to add the following in as new paragraph 2.1(l) (Order of Business for the Annual Meeting of the Full Council) to the Full Council Procedure Rules: “Consider a No Confidence Notice of Motion regarding the current Leader of the Council (if required).”

RESOLVED

That the Full Council be recommended that:

1.      The Guillotine procedure for Committees be amended to enable Committees to vote to continue after the meeting had reached 2½ hours (mirroring the Full Council Procedure Rules), with a “hard” Guillotine for Committees being retained to come into effect at 11pm when a Committee was held outside the Town Hall.

2.      The Licensing Sub-Committee (Hearings) Procedure Rules be amended as set out in the Appendix to these minutes.

3.      The following be added in as new paragraph 2.1(l) (Order of Business for the Annual Meeting of the Full Council) to the Full Council Procedure Rules:

“Consider a No Confidence Notice of Motion regarding the current Leader of the Council (if required).”