Amendment Moved by Cllr
Sutton at Annual Council – 16 April 2003
This
Council believes that the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Council should be
above party politics and that the Chairmanship should rotate between members of
different political groups in a manner which reflects both the length of time
since that group provided the Chairman AND the number of seats the group has
held during that period. In order to
achieve this aim the following amendment should be made to the Constitution:
Delete
paragraph 1 of Article 5 and replace with:
1.
Election, Role and
Function of the Chairman
The Chairman and Vice Chairman will be elected by the full Council
annually and, unless the full Council expressly decides to the contrary, the
following protocol will apply :
(a)
The Vice Chairman will
not be a member of the same political group for two consecutive terms.
(b)
The Vice Chairmanship
will rotate between members belonging to party groups in accordance with a
calculation of the total number of seats held by each group in all of the
municipal years since the Chairman was last a member of that group. A member
from the group with the highest number will prevail.
(c)
The Vice Chairman for
the preceding year will not be opposed should they be able to and choose to stand
for Chairman.
(d)
For these purposes
only, Independent Members will be regarded as forming a single group and group
membership will be taken as at the annual council meeting in each year.
(e)
Where the calculation
in paragraph 2 results in equal numbers a member of the group which has
not provided the Vice Chairman for the longest period shall prevail.
2.
The Chairman and in
his/her absence the Vice Chairman, will have the following
responsibilities :
(a)
to impartially uphold
and promote the purposes of the Constitution, and after receiving advice, to
interpret the Constitution when necessary;
(b)
to impartially preside
over meetings of the full Council so that its business can be carried out
efficiently and with regard to the rights of all Councillors and the interests
of the community;
(c)
to ensure that the full
Council meeting is a forum for the debate of matters of concern to the local
community and the place at which members who are not on the Executive are able
to hold the Executive to account;
(d)
to promote public involvement
in the Council’s activities;
(e)
to be the conscience of
the Council;
(f)
to be responsible for
the Council’s civic affairs and attend such civic and ceremonial functions as
the Council and he/she determines appropriate.