Agenda item

This matter is the responsibility of the Council Governance Arrangements Working Group – Chair, Councillor Ross Henley.

The purpose of this report is to provide Members with an update on the work of the Council Governance Arrangements Working Group and to make recommendations as to how to proceed.

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·       Some councillors were disappointed that it was too late for the Committee System to be introduced for the 2021 Municipal Year.

·       Councillors agreed that there had been good cross party action taken within the Working Group.

·       Councillors thanked the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources for his work in steering the Working Group.

·       Councillors believed that they should do what was best for the community and residents.

·       Some councillors believed that the Committee System was too slow for the decision making process.

·       Some councillors opposed the introduction of a Committee System with the creation of a Unitary Authority on the horizon.

·       Councillors wanted to ensure that all councillors were included in the decision making process, which included back-benchers.

·       Some councillors highlighted the good work and fast decisions that had been made with the use of an Executive Model, especially during the Covid Pandemic.

·       Some councillors believed that the Committee System would be a better democratic process.

·       Councillor Thwaites proposed that recommendation 2.4 be removed from the report.  This was duly seconded by Councillor Cavill.

·       Concern was raised that officers were overstretched and that the introduction of a second Scrutiny Committee would not achieve the desired results.

·       The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources would not support the amendment.

·       Councillors highlighted that the removal of recommendation 2.4 would impact on recommendation 2.5.

·       Some councillors stated that they had requested two Scrutiny Committees in 2019 when the New Council was formed.  Now with the creation of a Unitary Authority on the horizon, they did not believe it was the right time to introduce a second Scrutiny Committee.

·       Some councillors agreed that the introduction of a second Scrutiny Committee would give councillors the opportunity to look into more varied topics.

·       The vote was taken and the amendment was lost.

·       Councillor Weston proposed an amendment to change the wording to recommendation 2.1 to: The Council moved to a Committee system of governance from the Council AGM on 10 May 2022, unless a decision was made to set up a Unitary Council for the area from 2023.  This was the original wording agreed by the Working Group and was duly seconded by Councillor Mansell.

·       The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources thanked the Working Group for their hard work on the project and apologised for the changed wording in recommendation 2.1.  The amended wording was as result of the debate held at the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee on 12 April 2021.

·       Councillors supported the amendment and queried the procedure used for a Shadow Council.

·       Concern was raised on whether it was the right time to introduce a Committee System, as it would be a waste of resources for the Council during the short time left as Somerset West and Taunton Council.

·       The vote was taken and the amendment was carried.

·       Councillors discussed the pros and cons and the differences between a Committee System and an Executive Model.

·       Councillors gave feedback from the Working Group.

·       Councillors thanked officers and the Working Group for the work carried out on the project.

·       The Chair proposed a 30 minute time extension which was carried.

Resolved that:-

Relating to the 2022 Municipal Year

2.1      The Council moved to a Committee system of governance from the Council AGM on 10 May 2022, unless a decision was made to set up a Unitary Council for the area from 2023.

2.2      The Council proposed to the Unitary Shadow Authority that a committee system of governance was adopted, if set up as the principal council for the area.

2.3     The Council wrote to the Chief Executives and Leaders of the County and Districts to request that they considered that the Shadow Authority governance arrangements were set up as a Committee system

          Relating to the 2021 Municipal Year

2.4      That a second Scrutiny Committee was introduced from the AGM in 2021, with the focus being Corporate Scrutiny Committee and Community Scrutiny Committee.  The split of workload for the two Scrutiny Committees (see Annex A at the end of this report) was approved.

2.5      That the number of seats on both Scrutiny Committees was 15 from the start of the 2021/2022 Municipal Year.

2.6      The Audit, Governance and Standards Committee was split into two separate Committees from the AGM in 2021, for the 2021/22 Municipal Year and became Audit and Governance Committee and Standards Committee.  The Terms of Reference for both Committees (see Annex B and Annex C at the end of this report) was approved.

2.7      That the number of seats on the Audit and Governance Committee was 11 from the start of the 2021/2022 Municipal Year.

2.8      That the number of seats on the Standards Committee was 9 from the start of the 2021/2022 Municipal Year.

2.9      The role of Shadow Portfolio Holders was included within the Constitution as per the wording in Annex D to this report.

2.10    Officers and Portfolio Holders were reminded of requirements to provide information and notifications to Ward Councillors as per the Member Officer Protocol.

2.11    The Corporate Scrutiny Committee were asked to work with officers to consider a system for communicating reports to Members from representatives from outside bodies.