PROTOCOL ON THE COUNCIL'S DECISION MAKING PROCESS
1. Introduction and purpose of the document
This
document is a guide only and in the event of uncertainty on the part of any
councillor or officer, reference should be made to the Council's Monitoring
Officer who has responsibility for advising on the Council's constitution.
The Decision Making Process
Decisions
are made by the Council in many places and by a number of people.
The vast
majority of the decisions made by the Council are undertaken under delegated
powers by officers in accordance with the Council's scheme of delegations. This
scheme is contained within this constitution.
Many other
decisions are taken in committees of the Council, by the Cabinet or by the Full
Council itself. Some decisions can be
taken by individual members of the Cabinet who have been given a specific remit
for an area of work.
To clarify
the different types of decisions and how they are made, this protocol sets out
the different categories of decisions, whether made by the Full Council, the
Cabinet, the Regulatory committees or by officers either acting under their
delegated powers or in conjunction with a specific member of the Council.
Principles of Decision Making
In making
decisions, the Council, its Members and its officers need to be able to
demonstrate:
(a)
that
relevant matters were taken into account;
(b)
that
nothing irrelevant was considered;
(c)
that
procedural rules and Financial Procedure Rules have been complied with;
(d)
that
proper advice was taken and considered before the decision was reached;
(e)
that
any interests are properly declared;
(f)
that
the decision is properly recorded and published.
(g) proportionality (i.e. the action must be proportionate to the desired outcome);
(h) due consultation and the taking of professional advice from officers;
(i) respect for human rights;
(j) a presumption in favour of openness;
(k) clarity of aims and desired outcomes;
(l) due consideration of all available options; and
(m) the protocols and procedures contained in the Protocol on Decision Making and the Parish Protocol contained in this Constitution.
Categories of decision making
The
Council uses a number of categories of decision making -
Category A decisions : Decisions taken by the Full Council
The
Council meeting is the one occasion that the whole of the membership of the
Council meets together to make key decisions on the budget and strategic
policies.
There are certain
decisions that only the Council can take -
·
To
consider and agree the revenue and capital budgets
·
To
set the council tax for the following financial year and to issue a precept
·
To
approve the Policy Framework and any changes to it
·
To
agree amendments to the Council's constitution and the terms of reference of
the Cabinet and committees
·
To
determine the allocation of seats to political groups
·
To
agree amendments to the scheme of delegations, Procedure Rules, Contracts
Procedure Rules and Financial Procedure Rules.
·
To
receive reports from the Head of Paid Service, from the Monitoring Officer and
the Council's section 151 officer
·
To
approve the making of bye-laws
·
The
Full Council agenda will be published 5 working days in advance of the date of
the meeting, or if a meeting is convened at less than 5 working days' notice as
soon as it is convened.
·
Decisions
of the Council will be recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the Full
Council and published within 10 working days
·
Decisions
of the Full Council will be effective immediately.
Category B decisions : Decisions taken by the Cabinet
By law the
Cabinet is responsible for delivering (within the Budget and Policy framework
set by Full Council) the great majority of Council services. The presumption is that only decisions with
genuine Council or Island-wide significance will be taken collectively by the
Cabinet. In particular, the Cabinet is responsible for -
·
Leading
the community planning process
·
Developing
the Council's Policy framework and making recommendations for change to the
Council
·
Proposing
an annual budget including, capital plans, for submission to the Full Council
·
Taking
decisions on resources and priorities within the approved budget and the Policy
Framework, consulting with other councillors and other stakeholders as
necessary.
·
Being
the focus for developing partnerships with other agencies and the business and
voluntary sectors to address local needs
·
Address
and resolve sensitive, controversial and other important issues
·
Agendas
for all meetings of the Cabinet will be published 5 working days prior to the
meeting.
·
The
record of Cabinet decisions will be published within 2 working days of the
meeting
·
Decisions
of the Cabinet will be subject to a call in procedure and accordingly will not
take effect for 9 working days following publication of the decision record.
Category C decisions : Decisions by the Regulatory Committee and Sub-Committees in accordance with their terms of reference
Within the
constitution, specific decision making authority has been delegated to the
Regulatory Committees where the decisions are of a quasi judicial or other
special character. There are three sub-committees:
The Regulatory (Development Control) Sub-Committee
The Regulatory (Licensing) Sub-Committee
The Regulatory (Human Resources and Miscellaneous) Sub-Committee
·
Each
of these committees is regulated by a specific protocol and, in some cases,
codes of practice. The procedure to be followed by each should be in accordance
with any approved code of practice and so as to ensure that the rules of
natural justice are adhered to and, where appropriate, statutory guidance and
regulations.
·
Decisions
of these bodies are effective immediately and are not subject to the call in
procedure. The processes of decision making are, however, subject to scrutiny.
Category D decisions : Decisions taken by a Cabinet
There is a
presumption that Cabinet Members will take those decisions which have a genuine
strategic significance for those function for which they have
responsibility. Cabinet Members are is
authorised to take decisions which fall within his or her remit of
responsibility.
Where the
decision:
(i)
Can
be implemented within existing budget allocations to service areas the Cabinet
Member will take the decision.
(ii)
Requires
transfer of budget between allocations to service areas the Cabinet Member will
take the decision jointly with the Deputy Leader (or if unavailable with the
Cabinet Member for Resources or the Leader of the Council).
(iii)
Is to
dispose of property the decision will be taken by the Cabinet Member jointly
with the Deputy Leader (or if unavailable the Cabinet Member for Resources or
the Leader of the Council). A copy of
any report proposing disposal of property will also be sent, in advance of he
decision being taken, to the Chair of the Scrutiny Committee.
·
Where
a Cabinet Member wishes to take a decision under such delegated powers, a
written report must first be prepared by the relevant officer together with, as
appropriate, legal and financial advice. If there is any doubt about the
authority to take the decision, then the advice of the Monitoring Officer must
be taken in advance.
·
The
report must be made publicly available for a minimum of five days before the
portfolio holder can take the decision.
·
The
Cabinet Member must consider, prior to taking a decision, whether consultation
should take place with the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee, with the local
Member or with the relevant Policy Commissioner.
·
A
written record of the decision must be made on a form provided by the Committee
Section. That written record must have attached to it the report indicating the
advice the portfolio holder has received from the relevant officer and any
legal or financial advice received. The form must identify when public notice
was given of the intention to make the decision. The form should also require
the Cabinet Member to declare if he or she has a registerable interest in the
matter. The form must then be given to the Proper Officer as soon as it has
been completed.
·
Like
decisions reached by the Cabinet, be subject to the call in procedure and
accordingly will not take effect until the Friday of the week after it is
taken.
·
On the agenda for each meeting of the Cabinet there
shall be an opportunity for questions to be put to any Cabinet Member on any
decisions that they have taken since the last meeting.
Category E decisions : Decisions taken by an Officer in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member
There are
a number of items specifically contained within the Council's scheme of
delegations which provide for the relevant officer to make a decision in
consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member.
The relevant officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member should
consider whether these decisions should be taken following consultation also
with the relevant Policy Commissioner, the Chair of the Scrutiny Committee
and/or local member(s).
·
A
proper record, in a corporately agreed format, should always be made of any
such decisions
·
Decisions
of this nature are effective from the moment they are made.
·
Such
decisions should be given proportionate publicity.
Category F decisions : Decisions taken by an Officer or by those authorised by the Officer
This
category includes a wide range of decisions made on a day to day basis by
Strategic Directors, Heads of Service or by staff authorised by them to take
such decisions. These decisions fall within the scheme of delegations to the
Officers and concern the operational management of their areas of
responsibility.
Such
decisions will be within approved budget and policy. The Officer will use their
discretion in briefing the relevant elected member(s) on decisions taken in
this category.
·
The
relevant officer who takes the decision will need to ensure that appropriate
legal and financial advice is taken.
·
The
relevant officer will have to consider the most appropriate form for recording
the decision .
·
The
decision will have effect from when it is made.
Functions
otherwise delegated to one of the regulatory sub-committees will usually be
exercised by the parent committee when:
·
The
decision involves the adoption of a policy which one of the sub-committees will
be responsible for applying to particular applications
·
The
decision is likely to be followed by a further application to be determined by
another regulatory sub-committee (for example where a planning application is
likely to be followed by an application for a liquor licence)
·
Where
the issue has Island wide effect or significance (for example, an application
for a major festival)
The report
enabling the decision will identify the reason for the parent committee hearing
the application.
The role
of the Scrutiny Committee is to support service improvement by scrutinising
decisions of the Cabinet and Cabinet Members.
The Scrutiny Committee does not make decisions.
Advance notice of Key Decisions
The
Cabinet is required to publish a forward plan of Key Decisions that it intends
to make within the following four months. This will enable the Scrutiny
Committee to consider which items they wish to examine and consider in good
time before they are determined by the Cabinet.
A Key Decision is one that is
likely either -
·
to
result in the authority incurring additional expenditure or a reduction in
expenditure exceeding £250,000 in any one year or any individual service or
function to which that decision relates; or
·
it is
otherwise significant in terms of any individual service to the public.
The
forward plan must identify all those items about which it is known that the
Cabinet is to make a decision within the following 4 months. The forward plan
will be updated on a monthly basis. Not all key decisions will be known 4
months in advance and so advance notice of decisions will be included as soon
as they become known.
There is a
mechanism for taking urgent decisions not on the forward plan. This is an exceptional process for use in
genuinely urgent circumstances and when the report supporting the decision sets
out why the decision did not appear on the forward plan and why the
decision cannot wait until the next forward plan is published.
If an item
which is a key decision arises which is not in the forward plan and has to be
taken at short notice, the Strategic Director, Corporate Services will ensure
that the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee is notified - or in his or her
absence, the Chairman of the Council - and that a minimum of three days notice
has been given that the Cabinet intend to consider the item. Such an item can
only be considered with less than three days notice where agreement has been
obtained from the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee or, in his or her absence,
the Chairman of the Council.
Holding the Cabinet to account: the case for challenge and how to operate it
Question time
The
Council's Standing Orders regulate the right of any member to ask questions of
any Cabinet Member at each meeting of the Full Council. All written questions
notified in advance of the meeting will be dealt with and there is in addition
a maximum of 10 minutes to ask each portfolio holder an oral question on any
item within his or her remit.
There is a
similar right at meetings of the Cabinet for any member of the Council to ask a
question of any Cabinet Member either by giving notice of the question prior to
the start of the meeting or by not giving notice.
Members of
the public are invited to put questions at both Cabinet and Full Council
meetings.
The call-in procedure
Call-in is
a safety net to temporarily halt the implementation of a decision which proves
unexpectedly controversial or counter productive effect.
The
procedure only applies to decisions of the Cabinet or decisions taken by
Cabinet Members under delegated powers (i.e. Category B and Category D
decisions.) Unless there are specific reasons why a Cabinet decision has to be
implemented immediately, the decision will remain subject to the call in
procedure for 5 working days following the publication of the minutes of the
meeting.
During
this period, any four or more members of the Scrutiny Committee can sign a
notice triggering the call-in mechanism and halting implementation of the
decision for a period of 7 days. Upon
receiving such a notice, the Proper Officer will make arrangements to convene
such a meeting as quickly as possible and to arrange for the attendance at that
meeting of the relevant officer (or a substitute) who prepared the original
report. The Scrutiny Committee will receive advice from the Monitoring Officer
or the Chief Finance Officer on whether the decision falls within the approved
budget or the Policy Framework.
At the
next meeting the Scrutiny Committee may:
(i)
Endorse
the decision.
(ii)
Refer
the decision back to the decision-maker with recommendations.
(iii)
Refer
the decision to another body, with recommendations.
(iv)
Add
an enquiry to its own work programme.
(v)
If advice
has been received that the decision is outside of the Budget and Policy
Framework refer the advice to Full Council with a recommendation that the
Budget or Policy Framework be amended.
Only in
(v) is implementation of the decision prevented after the meeting of the
Committee has disposed of the call-in.
PROTOCOL ON PUBLICITY AND THE MEDIA
1.
The
Isle of Wight Council values the important role that the media has in
disseminating information about the policies and services we provide to local
residents. Wherever possible a positive approach will be taken to providing
information to the media through press releases, press briefings, statements,
and interviews by a senior officer or councillors.
2.
The
Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), of which the Media and Public Relations
Office (MPRO) forms part, has responsibility for promoting the Council's media
and publicity profile and consultation initiatives. In compliance with the
Government's Code of Practice Council, publicity material and communications
generally will not support or promote a political party's point of view.
3.
Wherever
possible no Council department should issue press releases or statements
directly to the media. This should be done through the MPRO. Similarly, where
possible, Council departments should contact the MPRO when contacted by the
media. The MPRO would not wish to cause
delays and recognises that some flexibility should be given, depending on the
nature of the enquiry (See point 14). The Head of Communications has prepared
further guidance on this, which has been distributed to all Strategic Directors
and senior managers and which is available from the MPRO. The Fire and Rescue
Service will directly deal with media enquiries concerning their day to day
operations. Similarly, Isle of Wight Tourism will directly deal with most
tourism issues, especially in support of marketing activity .The MPRO will
become involved where tourism issues relate to other council directorates or
when there is an emergency.
4.
Journalists
will continue to be encouraged to attend Full Council, and Cabinet, the
Scrutiny Committee and other council meetings, to enable them to report
accurately on the proceedings, and further briefings will be arranged where
appropriate. The MPRO will co-ordinate and monitor media responses. All
agendas, reports and minutes (unless confidential) are issued in advance to the
registered media by committee services or made available at the meetings.
5.
Where
appropriate, the MPRO will issue press releases in advance of meetings,
highlighting key items as agreed with, and approved by:
In the case of the Full Council:
(a)
The
Chief Executive, or a Strategic Director, and the Leader of the Council, and
quoting the Leader of the Council, the appropriate Cabinet member or senior
officer or as appropriate, Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee or Policy
Commissioner to explain and publicise council policies and services
In the case of the Cabinet or other
decision-making bodies:
(b)
Issues
will be identified at the pre-agenda briefing meetings in advance, and agreed
with the Leader of the Council and Chief Executive. If requested by the Chief
Executive or the Leader of the Council, the MPRO will issue a press release
following the meeting, describing the decision and quoting the Leader of the
Council, appropriate Cabinet member or senior officer.
6.
Motions
and questions from individual councillors shown on the agenda will not be
publicised through press releases.
7.
The
MPRO will respond to press enquiries before and following the meeting by
providing an explanation at officer level or referring to the Leader of the
Council or the appropriate Cabinet member, and organise interviews and photo
opportunities.
8.
Where
a reporter wishes to find out what was said by individual councillors during a
debate the reporter will be referred to the councillors concerned.
9.
The
Chairman of the Council shall issue press releases through the MPRO on any
issue relating to his or her civic role.
10.
The
MPRO will respond to any press enquiries before and following the meeting by
providing a factual explanation at officer level. Where a matter of policy is
in question, the MPRO should consult the appropriate Cabinet member and/or the
Chief Officer.
11.
If
requested by the Chairman, the MPRO will issue a press release following the
meeting, in line with the information item, factually describing the outcome,
and listing the Policy Commissioner/Chairman of the Committee and Lead Officer
as contact points. Where a matter of policy is in question, the MPRO will
consult the appropriate Cabinet member and/or Head of Service/Strategic
Director. As the role of scrutiny develops further within the council,
protocols for pre-publicity may be reviewed.
12.
Where
a reporter wishes to find out what was said by individual councillors during a
debate, the MPRO should refer the reporter to the individual councillor.
13.
The
MPRO will liase with the appropriate officers to provide information as
requested by the media.
14.
Where
officers are approached by the media they should, where possible, contact the
MPRO, to decide the appropriate response on the matter. Where the enquiry is
purely factual and deadlines are tight, then officers can provide the
information direct (and inform the MPRO afterwards).Where the enquiry is of a
potentially sensitive or controversial nature, then the MPRO must be consulted
before officers respond. Similarly, the
MPRO need to be informed of all enquiries from the national media and responses
given. This includes positive as well as negative coverage.
As mentioned in point 3, the Head of Communications has prepared
further guidance on this which defines
factual and controversial/sensitive information. This has been distributed to
all Strategic Directors and senior managers and which is available from the
MPRO.
15.
The
CCU will provide the Chief Executive and Senior Officers or other senior
managers with advice on any matter of a communications nature which relates to
the reputation of the council as a whole and its policies and services.
16.
The
CCU will promote agreed corporate initiatives in liaison with the Leader of the
Council and/or the Chief Executive, including press releases, briefings,
conferences and events.
17.
The
CCU will promote agreed Cabinet initiatives in liaison with Strategic Directors
or other seniors managers, and with Cabinet members.
18.
The
CCU will promote agreed service initiatives as requested by senior managers in
liaison, where appropriate, with Cabinet members, Policy Commissioners or Chair
of The Scrutiny Committee.
19.
The
CCU will promote the role of scrutiny and Policy development within the overall
democratic process, as the opportunity arises, in liaison with the Leader of
the Council and the Chief Executive.
20.
Councillors
are encouraged to liase with the MPRO over media enquiries to ensure a
co-ordinated and positive profile for council activities. The MPRO will provide
professional non party-political communications advice to members on request.
21.
The
MPRO will encourage councillors and officers to participate in the council's
Media Training Courses.
22.
It is
the prerogative of individual councillors to make their own statements. They
are invited to work closely with the appropriate Cabinet member or other
councillor empowered to represent the council on the subject, particularly
where they are intending to comment on a matter of council policy, but are not
obliged to do so.
23.
Nothing
in this protocol precludes any political group from issuing its own media
information. However this cannot be done through the MPRO or by using council
resources.
24.
The
period between the notice of an election and the election itself precludes
proactive publicity of candidates and other politicians who are directly
involved. It is, however, acceptable for the MPRO to respond to events and
service enquiries, provided the answers are factual and not party political,
and for key political or civic members to comment in an emergency or important
event outside the council's control.
25.
The
CCU will not publish, or assist in the publication of, anything designed to
influence local people in deciding whether or not to sign a petition requesting
a referendum for an elected mayor. Publicity will be restricted to details
about the proposals and to explain existing arrangements.
26.
Any
publicity about a referendum, prior to or during the referendum period, will
not seek to influence public opinion on the outcome.
27.
Wight
Insight will be produced seven times a year to promote council policies,
services and initiatives to Isle of Wight residents.
28.
The
Head of Communications will act as editor. Wight Insight is a non-political
publication, and will not ordinarily feature individual councillors or ventures
of officers.