Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2012.

28.1     THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 7 November be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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 10am on 29 January 2013.  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.

29.1     No public questions were received.

To answer any written members’ questions.  The closing date/time for the receipt of questions is 10am on 29 January 2013.

30.1     No members’ questions were received.

To consider the report and recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel relating to members’ allowances.

31.1    William Alexander, Chairman of the Independent Remuneration Panel, presented the panel’s report in respect of members’ allowances for 2013/14. 

31.2    He explained that the panel recommended no change to the basic rate of allowance for 2013-14, and that the level of special responsibility allowances in the scheme should remain unchanged for 2013-14. 

31.3    One member, who was the chairman of a scrutiny committee, suggested that consideration should be given to extending the scheme of special responsibility allowances to include committee lead members alongside the committee chairs, in order to recognise the key role they played in the committee’s work.

31.4    One member explained that the role of chairman of the Pensions Committee had changed significantly over the years, in terms of the training requirements and the time invested. He suggested that in order to recognise this consideration should be given to the chairman of the Pensions Committee being included in the scheme of special responsibility allowances.

31.5    In response to the comments raised, the chairman of the Independent Remuneration Panel explained that a more in-depth review of the special responsibility allowances in the scheme would be undertaken by the panel and asked members to forward any comments and suggestions to him via Simon Harper, Lead Democratic Services Adviser.  He anticipated that recommendations would be brought forward to the committee later on in the year.

31.6    The chairman of the Independent Remuneration Panel reported that the panel had recognised that the mileage allowance payable to Council staff was being brought into line with the HM Revenue and Customs rate.  Consequently the panel had recommended that the mileage allowance payable to councillors from April 2013 should be brought into line with the HM Revenue and Customs rate.  The committee supported this recommendation.

31.7    The panel had noted that the councillors representing some of the more rural divisions travel significant distances to parish and town council meetings and this was an important part of their representative role.  The panel had therefore recommended that in future the costs of travelling to and from parish and town council meetings should be formally recognised in the allowance scheme.

31.8    Whilst some members were in support of this recommendation particularly as the forthcoming boundary changes post elections in May 2013 would mean fewer councillors, and councillors representing larger areas of the county, others felt that the recommendation could not be justified.  One member suggested that the travel costs to parish and town council meetings would already be covered in the councillors’ basic allowance, paid in recognition of the duties they undertook in representing and serving the local community.

31.9    The committee noted that the panel had also recommended that the council should offer councillors the opportunity to join the Local Government Pension Scheme based on the basic allowance.

31.10  In response to a question the committee was informed that currently approximately a third of all councillors in the UK had the option to join the Local Government Pension Scheme, however the number taking up this offer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To consider the revised Employee Code of Conduct.

32.1    The Director of People’s Services presented the revised Employee Code of Conduct. 

32.2    The committee noted that the recommendations set out in Graham Garbutt’s review of the Cotswold Water Park included the need for revised codes of conduct for both members and employees. 

32.3    The committee considered the section on the membership of clubs, societies and other organisations in the Employee Code of Conduct, which had been redrafted to include a paragraph outlining the purpose of recording this information, and to include a paragraph to set out examples of potential conflict of interests.

32.4    Whilst the committee agreed with the inclusion of the paragraph outlining the purpose of recording the information, on reflection they did not feel that the inclusion of the detailed examples of potential conflicts of interests was necessary and agreed that this paragraph should be removed.

32.5    The committee resolved:

TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL that the council adopts the revised Employee Code of Conduct

To note that proposals for a revised scrutiny structure and a new approach to corporate parenting will be presented to the next meeting of the Constitution Committee on 5 March 2013.

33.1    The committee noted that a revised scrutiny structure and a new approach to corporate parenting would be presented to the next meeting of the Constitution Committee on 5 March 2013.

To consider the attached report of the Monitoring Officer.

34.1    The committee considered a report of the Director of Law and Administration relating to changes to the constitution made by the Monitoring Officer. This was in relation to Procedural Standing Order 27.1 (application of procedural standing orders to other Council bodies) being amended to include reference to Procedural Standing Order 2.3. 

The committee resolved:

TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL that the amendments to Procedural Standing Order 27.1 be approved.