Agenda and minutes

Minutes of meeting held on 3 November, 2016 (previously circulated).

The minutes of the meeting of 3 November 2016 (previously circulated) were approved by the Chairman as a correct record.

There were no items of urgent business.

To receive declarations by Members of interests in respect of items on this Agenda. 

Members are reminded that, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, they are required to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which have not already been declared in the Council’s Register of Interests. (It is a criminal offence not to declare a disclosable pecuniary interest either in the Register or at the meeting). 

Whilst not a legal requirement, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9 and in the interests of clarity and transparency, Members should declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which they have already declared in the Register, at this point in the meeting. 

In accordance with Part B Section 2 of the Code Of Conduct, Members are required to declare the existence and nature of any other interests as defined in paragraphs 8(1) or 9(2) of the Code of Conduct. 

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee considered a report of the Democratic Services Manager to agree the timetable of Committee meetings for the 2017/2018 municipal year. The Democratic Services Manager presented the report, and explained reasons for the proposed changes to meeting times and locations, as well as the differences between the draft timetables at Appendix A and Appendix C. The Democratic Services Manager reminded the Committee that any substantial proposals for changing the current timetabling pattern, shown at Appendix A, would need to be submitted as a recommendation to Council for approval.

Members discussed in detail the two potential Committee timetables. Members raised concerns about some of the proposed changes, in particular, the suggestion that  Budget and Performance Panel should be held in June and August, the preference being for July and September, as it was in 2016. It was also suggested that holding Overview and Scrutiny meetings one week before Cabinet (as demonstrated in Appendix C) would be beneficial to all Overview and Scrutiny Members as well as those involved in the pre-scrutiny process.

Members agreed with the recommendations in the report regarding changing the start times of:

·        Annual Business Council to 6pm;

·        JCC to 5pm with Personnel Committee to start at 6:10pm, ‘or at the rise of JCC, whichever is the later’ with the Chairman to use their discretion regarding an earlier start for JCC depending on the amount of business to be considered

Members also agreed with the change of venue for Audit Committee from Morecambe Town Hall to Lancaster Town Hall.

It was proposed by Councillor John Reynolds and seconded by Councillor Roger Mace:

‘(1)    That the draft timetable, set out in Appendix C of the report, be recommended to Council, subject to changing the Budget and Performance Panel meetings scheduled for 13 June and 15 August to dates in July and September.

(2)     That it be recommended to Council that

a)      the start time of Annual Council be changed from 6.30pm to 6pm.

b)      the start time of JCC be changed from 4pm to 5pm and Personnel Committee to start at 6:10pm, ‘or at the rise of JCC, whichever is the later’ with the Chairman to use their discretion regarding an earlier start for JCC depending on the amount of business to be considered

c)      the venue for Audit Committee be changed from Morecambe Town Hall to Lancaster Town Hall.’

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of the proposition.

Resolved:

(1)    That the draft timetable, set out in Appendix C of the report, be recommended to Council, subject to changing the Budget and Performance Panel meetings scheduled for 13 June and 15 August to dates in July and September.

(2)     That it be recommended to Council that

a)      the start time of Annual Council be changed from 6.30pm to 6pm.

b)      the start time of JCC be changed from 4pm to 5pm and Personnel Committee to start at 6:10pm, ‘or at the rise of JCC, whichever is the later’ with the Chairman to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

The Committee considered a report of the Democratic Services Manager to enable Members to consider an issue raised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee regarding viewing reports in draft form before publication.

The Democratic Services Manager presented the report and explained why viewing reports in draft form would not be feasible as there were often several versions of a draft report before it was finalised and ready for publication. Members agreed that if the new potential timetable (set out in Appendix C of the previous agenda item 5) was put in place, this would address this issue raised by Overview and Scrutiny and there would no longer be a need to view draft reports.

It was proposed by Councillor Roger Mace and seconded by Councillor Ian Clift:

‘That this matter be reviewed in a years’ time to assess whether this issue has been fully addressed or needs to be considered again’.

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of the proposition, whereupon the Chairman declared the proposal to be carried.

Resolved:

That the matter of viewing draft reports be reviewed in a years’ time to assess whether this issue has been fully addressed or needs to be considered again.

The Committee considered a report of the Democratic Services Manager to enable Members to consider mandatory training for two issues; Safeguarding/Child Sexual Exploitation training for Members of the Licensing Regulatory Committee, and finance training for all newly-elected Members.

The Democratic Services Manager presented the report and answered questions raised by Members. Members felt it would be beneficial for training in general to be held at a reasonable time to allow those that have work commitments to attend. Members also requested the possibility of having a record of the training that they have already completed, and the training available. The Democratic Services Manager agreed to offer that information to members.

There was a discussion around the issue of training for Licensing Regulatory Committee members and mandatory training for Councillors in general.

The Democratic Services Manager pointed out that, since any change to the Constitution would be to Part 3 - Responsibility for Functions – the Committee could only make recommendations to Council; it did not have delegated authority to approve changes to Part 3. (Recommendation 2 in the report erroneously suggested that the Committee could make the decision and authorise the Monitoring Officer to make any changes approved at the meeting).

It was proposed by Councillor John Reynolds and seconded by Councillor Ian Clift:

‘That the recommendations regarding mandatory training for Members, as set out in the report, be recommended to Council.’

Resolved:

That the Committee recommends that Council makes it mandatory for

(1)          all members and named substitutes of the Licensing Regulatory Committee to have undertaken Safeguarding/Child Sexual Exploitation training before sitting on the Committee;

(2)          all newly elected Members to undertake finance training.

There were no appointments to committees or changes to membership.