Agenda and minutes

Minutes of meeting held on 14^th January 2010 (previously circulated). 

The Minutes of the meeting held on 14^th January 2010 were signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Members considered a report of the Head of Democratic Services which set out amendments to the Protocol on Member/Officer Relations to be included in the Council’s Constitution. The Standards Committee had considered the amendments at its meeting on 21^st January and referred the amendments to Council Business Committee for approval.

It was reported that the most significant amendment was the inclusion of a new section which related to access to information and enabled Members’ requests for information to be dealt with without the need for a separate Freedom of Information request.

Other amendments made were to ensure the Protocol reflected the current Code of Conduct and general good practice.

Members discussed the importance of confidentiality of information that was sent in e-mails.

Resolved :

That Council Business Committee approve the revised Protocol on Member/Officer Relations to be included in the Council’s Constitution.

The Democratic Support Officer presented a report which requested the Committee to consider recommendations from Audit Committee on the length of City Council meetings.

Members were advised that Audit Committee had recommended that Council Procedure Rule 10 be amended to allow meetings to adjourn after two hours for a ten minute comfort break and again after four hours for 30 minutes at the Chairman’s discretion. Currently, the only provision within the Council’s Constitution was a break after 4 hours utilised mainly at full Council meetings.

The Committee discussed the recommendations of Audit Committee and the importance of having regular breaks within meetings.

Resolved :

That Council Business Committee approve the amendment to the Council’s Constitution regarding the length of meetings as set out in the report.