Agenda and minutes

Constitution Committee - Thursday 13 January 2011 3.00 pm

Venue: Chairman's Room - Shire Hall, Gloucester. View directions

Items
No.	Item
29.	Election of Chairman Minutes: Cllr Hicks proposed that Cllr Hawthorne be elected as Chairman for the meeting. This was seconded by Cllr Jones. As there were no other nominations it was RESOLVED THAT Cllr Hawthorne be elected as Chairman for the meeting.
30.	Minutes PDF 55 KB To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2010. Minutes: RESOLVED THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2010 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
31.	Apologies for absence Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Hilton & Noble.
32.	Public Questions To answer any written public questions about matters which are within the powers and duties of the Committee. The closing date/time for receipt of questions is 10.00am on Thursday, 6 January 2011. To answer any oral question(s) put by members of the public with the consent of the Chairperson. Depending on the nature of the questions asked it may not be possible to provide a comprehensive answer at the meeting, in which case a written answer will be supplied as soon as reasonably possible after the meeting. Minutes: No public questions were received.
33.	Members' Questions To answer any written members’ questions. The closing date/time for the receipt of the questions is 10.00am on Thursday, 6 January 2011. Minutes: No Members’ questions were received.
34.	Members' Allowances - Report of the Independent Remuneration Panel PDF 56 KB Minutes: William Alexander, Chairman of the Independent Remuneration Panel presented the Panel’s report in respect of Members’ Allowances for 2011/12. He explained that the majority of the Panel had agreed that due to the current economic climate, there should be no changed to the basic rate of allowance and all other allowances in the scheme should remain unchanged for 2011/12. The only exception was that the Chairperson of the Corporate Parenting Committee should be in receipt of a Special Responsibility Allowance of £5808 which was in line with that of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee Chairmen, the reason for this being that when reviewing the workload of this Committee; it appeared to be proportionate to that of a Scrutiny Committee. The Panel would continue to meet on an annual basis to review allowances and should events materially change, will meet as required. In response to a Members’ question, Mr Alexander explained that the reason why Quinton Tallon did not agree with the Panel’s recommendation with regard to no increase in the basic allowance was because he considered it important that the cost of living index should be added to the basic allowance. Members of the Committee supported the Panel’s recommendations as public sector salaries were being frozen and it was right that this was reflected in Councillors remuneration. The Committee expressed thanks to the Panel for its work. RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to COUNCIL THAT (i) No change be made to the Basic Rate of Allowance for 2011/12. (ii) All other allowances in the scheme remain unchanged for 2011/12. (iii) The Chairperson of the Corporate Parenting Committee be given a Special Responsibility Allowance of £5808 (in line with the Overview & Scrutiny Committee Chairmen).
35.	Amendments to the Constitution PDF 52 KB Additional documents: Delegations to Group Director of Community Safety and to Head of Trading Standards , item 35. PDF 20 KB Safety Licensing Committee , item 35. PDF 46 KB Minutes: Christine Wray, Assistant Director of Law & Administration presented this report that outlined changes to the delegation arrangements for Trading Standards Functions. On being put to the vote it was RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to COUNCIL and CABINET THAT amendments to the Constitution set out in Annexes A1 & A2 of the report be approved and recommended to full Council in sofar as they relate to non-executive functions and to Cabinet insofar as they relate to executive functions.
36.	Amendments to the Constitution by the Monitoring Officer Minutes: Christine Wray, Assistant Director of Law & Administration presented this report that highlighted changes to the Constitution recently made under the Monitoring Officer’s delegated powers. During the ensuing discussion concerns were expressed that as no union representative had been appointed to the Pensions Committee and the majority of staff were not members of a trade union, a process should be explored with the trade unions whereby any member of staff could be nominated to become a member of the Pensions Committee. Members were content in the meantime that this change be ratified. RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to COUNCIL THAT changes to the Constitution as set out in Appendix C be ratified.