Agenda item

Report of the Constitution Working Group

NB: The new Constitution is electronic, not paper-based. Members will be emailed a link to the digital document by Democratic Services to enable them to access it.

Councillor Whitehead, Chairman of the Constitution Working Group, introduced the report and thanked the officers who had assisted the Group with the review of the constitution. The Monitoring Officer demonstrated the online functionality of the document to council using a laptop device and a large screen television.

It was noted that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had asked for clarification from the Monitoring Officer about two issues they had raised in August 2018:

(i)      Clarification of what should be referred to Cabinet or Council regarding spending of the City Council’s reserves.

(ii)     Request the Constitutional Working Group to consider additional parameters should be set on the amount Cabinet can spend from the City Council’s Reserves.

Councillor Whitehead explained that there was a limit of £150k for individual Cabinet Members; any spend over £150k could only take place after consultation with the relevant Director or the Chief Executive. The Monitoring Officer showed the page onscreen where this was set out in the constitution (Cabinet Procedure Rules paragraph 3 number 4).

Councillor Whitehead and the Monitoring Officer responded to a number of questions from Councillors.

In regard to recommendation (1) in the report, Councillor Whitehead proposed that:

“That a decision on the issue regarding Members’ Access to Information be postponed until after the May elections.”

Councillor Mace seconded the proposition, which was clearly carried when put to the vote.

Councillor Whitehead proposed a new local method of calculating political balance, set out in Appendix B of the report, and appended to these minutes. Councillor Mace seconded the proposition.

Before calling for a vote, the Mayor informed Councillors that a unanimous vote was required, in law, to adopt a local method of calculating political balance. A vote was then taken, and the result was a unanimous decision to adopt the new method.

Councillor Whitehead, seconded by Councillor Mace, then proposed, in relation to recommendations (3) to (6):

“(3)    That the new digital constitution, revised in line with the resolutions of Council made on 13 March 2019, be approved.

(4)     That the new constitution comes into force from Monday 6 May.

(5)     That officers be requested to complete formatting and proof-reading the digital document for uploading to the Council’s website in time for the commencement date.

(6)     The Monitoring Officer may make minor consequential editing and grammatical amendments to the text and correct typographical, referencing and consistency errors.

Councillor Brookes proposed an amendment to the propositions, by way of addendum, to add the words “That an automated log be set up to monitor all changes to the constitution, which identifies who made the changes.”

Councillor Barry seconded Councillor Brookes’ amendment.

Initially, this was not accepted as a friendly amendment by Councillor Whitehead, who sought advice from the Monitoring Officer on the feasibility of such a log. After discussion with Councillor Brookes, Councillor Whitehead and her seconder agreed to accept the following wording as a friendly amendment:

“That officers investigate including an automatic log to monitor all changes to the constitution, which identifies who made the changes.”

Councillor Edwards then proposed that the role definition for non-executive champions be retained in the new constitution to allow the new Council to appoint champions as it wished, without the need for any amendment to the constitution. Councillor Brookes seconded this proposition, however it was clearly lost when put to the vote.

There was then further lengthy debate on the constitution before the Mayor acceded to a request, from Councillor Goodrich, to move to the vote.

The proposition was clearly carried.

Resolved (resolution (2) was unanimous):

(1)          That a decision on the issue regarding Members’ Access to Information be postponed until after the May elections.

(2)          That Council adopts the new method of calculating political balance, set out in Appendix B of the report, and appended to these minutes.

(3)     That the new digital constitution, revised in line with the resolutions of Council made on 13 March 2019, be approved.

(4)     That the new constitution comes into force from Monday 6 May.

(5)     That officers be requested to complete formatting and proof-reading the digital document for uploading to the Council’s website in time for the commencement date.

(6)     The Monitoring Officer may make minor consequential editing and grammatical amendments to the text and correct typographical, referencing and consistency errors.

(7)     That officers investigate including an automatic log to monitor all changes to the constitution, which identifies who made the changes.

(The press and public were re-admitted at this point.)