Issue - meetings

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chairman of the Constitution Committee, to present the report from the meeting held on 16 January 2022.

Richard Blamey, Chair of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP), presented the Panel’s recommendations regarding members’ allowances. It was understood that the Panel was recommending an increase to the basic allowance of £250, and to maintain the Special Responsibility Allowances at their current levels. Consideration had also been given to the introduction of a cycling allowance for members to incentivise travel by cycle, however further enquiries relating to the cycling rate for staff would need to be made.

On being put to the vote it was

RESOLVED to

a)   Increase the Basic Allowance from £10,500 to £10,750 for the financial year 2022-23.

b)   Maintain Special Responsibility Allowances at their current level

c)   Note the revised Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2022-23 at Appendix B of the report presented to the Constitution Committee.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chair of the Constitution Committee, presented the rest of the report which set out proposed changes to the Council’s Constitution.

One member requested that it be made clear, in reference to the proposed amendment for public and member questions, that it would still be possible to ask questions of reports that had been published late. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that was the intention and agreed to take on board the principle.

RESOLVED that the recommendations in the report relating to public and member questions, Pension Committee, and Contract Procedure Rules be approved.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chairman of the Constitution Committee, to present the report from the meeting held on 18 January 2021.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chair of the Constitution Committee, presented the recommendations from the meeting held on 18 January 2021.

It was explained that a number of technical amendments had been made to the Constitution reflecting changes to job roles and responsibilities.

It was also understood that the Committee had discussed the introduction of a time frame for the provision of written responses to supplementary questions, where answers could not be given verbally at a Council meeting, and for these responses to be made available to the public. After some debate by the Committee a way forward had been proposed.

One member welcomed the change as a step in the right direction, whilst another member commented that they believed the timescale for a response should be shorter. It was acknowledged that the Constitution could be amended in the future if members felt that the proposed change wasn’t working.

RESOLVED that the amendment outlined in the Constitution Committee report be made to the Constitution at standing orders 9.5.3, 9.8.3, and 8.8.3.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chair of the Constitution Committee, to present the report from the committee meeting held on 9 March 2020 and subsequent changes required to the Council’s Constitution since that meeting.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chair of the Constitution Committee, presented the report from the meeting held on 9 March 2020 and subsequent changes required to the Council’s Constitution since that meeting.

One member sought clarification on the procedure for motions without notice. In response it was confirmed that under the Procedural Standing Order for motions without notice, the seconder did not have the right to speak in support of the motion. 

RESOLVED toagree the recommendations from the Constitution Committee as included in the report:

a)    -  To increase the Basic Allowance from £10,300 to £10,500 (2%)

-       To increase the Special Responsibility Allowance for Committee Chairs and Group Leaders from £6,120 to £6,360 (4%).

-       To increase all other Special Responsibility Allowances by 2% in line with the recommendation for the Basic Allowance.

-       To note the revised Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2020-21 at Appendix B to the report (please refer to Annex 1).

-       To indicate support for the Special Responsibility Allowance for the Chair of the Police and Crime Panel to be set at the same level as a Scrutiny Chair at Gloucestershire County Council and authorise the Chief Executive to write to the six District Councils to request their support for this approach.

b)    that the changes to the terms of reference of the Pension Board be approved as indicated in Annex 2.

c)    the scheme of delegation be changed to authorise the Executive Director of Economy, Environment and Infrastructure as set out in the Annex 3.

d)    that the change, as detailed in the report, be made to Procedural Standing Order 11.2.2 in Part 4 of the Constitution.

e)    toratify the changes to the Constitution made by the Monitoring Officer under delegated powers (MO2 in Section 5 of Part 3 of the Constitution). Please refer to Annex 5.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chairman of the Constitution Committee, to present the report from the meeting held on 30 January 2020.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chair of the Constitution Committee, presented the report from the meeting held on 30 January 2020.  He explained that decisions were required relating to parental leave for councillors and the criteria for submitting motions.  He said that no decision was necessary relating to the procedure for notices without motion because the arrangements needed to be considered in more detail.

Although shared parental leave was not specifically identified in the proposed parental leave policy, it did refer to applying the principles included in relevant staff policies. 

RESOLVED to

a)        Adopt the parental leave policy for councillors as shown as Appendix A to the report.

b)        Implement the proposed amendments outlined in Appendix B to the report relating to the criteria for submitting motions and be reviewed after 6 months.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chairman of the Constitution Committee, to present the report from the meeting held on 14 January 2019.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, the Chairman of the Constitution Committee, presented the report from the meeting held on 14 January 2019.

RESOLVED that the changes to the Constitution by the Monitoring Officer relating to ‘friendly amendments’ be ratified. 

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chairman of the Constitution Committee, to present the recommendations from the meeting held on 15 January 2018.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, the Chairman of the Constitution Committee, presented the recommendations from the meeting held on 15 January 2018.

10.1Recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP)

RESOLVED

a)    To increase the Special Responsibility Allowance for committee chairs and group leaders to £6,000 for the 2018-19 financial year.

b)    To increase the Basic Allowance from £10,000 to £10,100 (1%) for the 2018-19 financial year.

c)    To increase all other special responsibility allowances by 1% in line with the recommendation for the Basic Allowance.

d)    To note the revised Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2018-19 at Annex C to the report.

10.2Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee

RESOLVED that the Constitution be amended, as set out in Annex D, to include the arrangement for the Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee to be drawn from outside the group or groups forming the administration.

10.3Urgent questions at Cabinet

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Procedural Rules in Section 9 of Part 4 of the Constitution be amended as indicated in Annex E to the report.

10.4Length of speeches for motions at Council

RESOLVED that Procedural Standing Orders in Section 12 of Part 4 of the Constitution be amended as indicated in annex F to the report. 

10.5Monitoring Officer changes to the constitution

RESOLVED that the changes to the Constitution by the Monitoring Officer shown at Annexes G, H and I be ratified. 

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chairman of the Constitution Committee, to present the recommendations from the meeting held on 9 October 2017.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, the Chairman of the Constitution Committee, presented the recommendations from the meeting held on 9 October 2017.

78.1      Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee

An amendment to the recommendation was proposed that the committee chair should be determined by members of the opposition groups.  Cllr Hawthorne questioned whether this was lawful.

With the support of Council, the recommendation was referred back to the Constitution Committee for further consideration.

78.2      Gloucestershire Economic Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee

RESOLVED that the constitution be amended, as set out in annex B to the report, to include the requirement for the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review the decisions, plans and policies of the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Joint Committee.

78.3      Gloucestershire Health and Wellbeing Board

A member expressed concern regarding the removal of opposition members from the board.  He believed that only having one political group represented on the board was not good for local democracy.  He called for the new arrangements to be reviewed after a suitable period.

RESOLVED that the revised terms of reference for the Gloucestershire Health and Wellbeing Board, as set out in annex C to the report, be approved and adopted.

78.4      Oral questions at full Council

An amendment to the recommendation was proposed to retain the 30 minute notice prior to the meeting for oral questions from the public.  Cllr Hawthorne advised that the change to 12 noon the day before would allow a proper answer to be provided rather than a written answer after the meeting.  On being put to the vote, the amendment was defeated.

RESOLVED that procedural standing orders in section 9 of part 4 of the constitution be amended as indicated in annex D to the report. 

78.5      Motions at meetings of full Council

It was noted that some changes to the length of speeches had been suggested at Group Leaders and this would be considered at the next meeting of the Constitution Committee.

78.6      Employee Code of Conduct

RESOLVED that the revised Employee Code of Conduct, as set out in annex E to the report, be approved and adopted.

78.7      Monitoring Officer changes to the constitution

RESOLVED that the changes to the constitution by the Monitoring Officer shown at annexes F, G and H be ratified.