PURPOSE

1. To amend the Constitution in order to give effect to new governance structures and systems agreed at the Annual Council.

BACKGROUND

2. The adoption and publication of a constitution is a requirement under the Local Government Act 2000 and, particularly, under the Constitutional Order 2000 (which prescribes the subject areas which are usually covered by the Constitution).

3. The Constitution is a living document and the previous Council considered amendments to it several times during its four year lifespan. The previous Council also proposed that further work be undertaken in order to approve the then Constitution. The changes to the constitutional structure agreed at Annual Council are very different in character to the evolutionary steps planned by the former Council. This report, and the revised draft Constitution it proposes, therefore places the planned amendment of the Constitution which will not now take place.

4. It is inevitable that this Council will wish to make further changes to the Constitution over its lifespan. This may particularly be the case in the early months of a new administration. It is, therefore, proposed that the Constitution is subject to revision as necessary by means of further reports brought to Full Council, where the changes are substantial, or under powers delegated to the Chief Executive where the amendments are to clarify and to reflect changes consequential on other decisions and do not change the substance and meaning of the Constitution significantly.

AMENDMENTS

5. Presenting a revised draft Constitution containing the number of revisions proposed, in a manner which presents both the original text and the revised draft in a way which is accessible and digestible is not easy. The re-drafting exercise has involved a three stage revision. The working documents, showing the changes made to the draft at each stage, can be made available electronically or in hard copy upon request. In order to track the development of the draft it is necessary to access each of the three documents.

6. In order to draw attention to the more major and significant amendments some key parts of the Constitution are appended to this report.

Appendix 1 - Members’ Job Profiles

Appendix 2 - Article 5 - Scrutiny Committees

Appendix 3 - Article 6 - Policy Commissions

Appendix 4 - Article 7 - Cabinet

Appendix 5 - Article 9 - Audit Committee

Appendix 6 - Schedule : Description of Executive Arrangements

Appendix 7 - Protocol on the Council’s Decision-making Process

Appendix 8 - Financial Regulations

Appendix 9 - Contract Standing Orders

7. Changes to other parts of the Constitution can be summarised as follows:-

SECTION		AMENDMENT
(i)	Article 2 - Transitional Arrangements	Addition of provision enabling postholders re-elected at ordinary elections to continue in their roles until the Annual Council.
(ii)	Article 4 - Full Council	Deletion of Food Law Enforcement service plan. Guidance from the Secretary of State in 2001 recommended inclusion of this plan in the policy framework. Although important this plan does not have the strategic significance of other parts of the policy framework and advice from Head of Public Protection is to deal with its adoption under power delegated to the Cabinet Member for Safer Communities.
(iii)	Scheme of Delegations	Insofar as the Scheme of Delegations concerns delegation of Full Council functions (particularly regulatory functions) the amendments are presentational and semantic and do not change the subject of the delegated powers.
(iv)	Procedure Rules	Changes to the procedure rules are limited to those connected to decisions taken at Annual Council, particularly, adding a 3 hour guillotine.
(v)	Access to Information Rules	Changes are minor to reflect new structures approved at Annual Council.
(vi)	Budget Policy Framework Rules	Changes are minor to reflect new structures approved at Annual Council.
(vii)	Development Control Sub Committee Rules	As well as minor changes there are new arrangements amending arrangements for a site visit (now to take place in advance of the committee meetings) and clarifying the responsibility for adoption of planning policy.
(viii)	Licensing Sub Committee Rules	Changes to these rules are minor and are consequential on decisions taken at Full Council.
(ix)	Human Resources Miscellaneous Appeals Sub Committee Rules	The terms of reference of this new Sub Committee reflect the structure proposed at Annual Council.
(x)	Officer Employment Rules	Changes here are limited to minor textual changes to improve the clarity of the draft.
(xi)	The Members’ Code of Conduct	No changes are proposed to the Code of Conduct which continues to follow the statutory model. Some minor textual changes are made to the documents related to gifts and hospitality which support the Code.
(xii)	Protocol Member/Officer relations	Only minor and consequential changes are proposed to the Protocol.
(xiii)	Code of Practice for dealing with Licensing matters	Only minor changes to clarify the existing text and to reflect previous decisions are proposed to this Code of Practice.
(xiv)	Code of Practice for dealing with Development Control matters	Alongside minor textual changes there are new sections proposed advising on the danger of bias and apparent bias. This reflects changes in the law since the last re-draft of this Code of Practice.
(xv)	Code of Practice dealing with property transactions	Only minor and consequential changes are proposed.
(xvi)	Parish/Town Council Protocol	Significant changes are proposed to the Protocol.
(xvii)	Protocol on publicity and the media	Minor and consequential changes only are proposed.
(xviii)	Members’ Allowances Scheme	Changes to this scheme can only be proposed following recommendations from an Independent Remuneration Panel. No changes are proposed at this date pending the convening of a Panel.

FINANCIAL REGULATIONS AND CONTRACT STANDING ORDERS

8. The Constitution includes revised Financial Procedure Rules.

9. Whilst there are clearly legislative requirements which the Council must adhere to, these are supported by these locally determined rules which seek to regulate the way in which the Council manages its financial affairs. As such they form part of the overall system of internal control. They set out the responsibilities of members, senior management and staff with respect to financial affairs, including budget management, internal controls, service planning and risk management. They are significantly streamlined compared to the previous version with the intention that they are more succinct and more ‘user-friendly’. To deliver this aim, it has been necessary to create a comprehensive but separate set of procedure notes which set out in some detail precisely how financial matters are handled at operational level. These are listed at the end of the new document.

10. Similarly, the Council’s Contract Standing Orders have been streamlined to make them easier for managers and staff to understand and apply. Contract Standing Orders are the procedural controls which govern the way in which the Council procures goods and services effectively covering most non-pay spending. As such they are a vital component in achieving value for money, good governance, protection against allegations of malpractice and compliance with UK and European legislation.

11. It is vital that the Council complies with both sets of rules as they ultimately contribute to good corporate governance. A statement of compliance is required of all managers as part of the annual Statement of Internal Control – now a statutory requirement. Compliance is monitored on a continuous basis by the Council’s Internal Audit team and non-compliance is brought to the attention of senior management. It is therefore important that a pro-active programme of awareness training is undertaken and this will begin soon after the new rules are approved as part of the Constitution.

FUTURE WORK

12. It is suggested that the following areas of work, leading to a further report to Full Council, will improve yet further the Constitution:-

(i) Scrutiny committee and policy commissions.

The relationship between the two parts of the overview and scrutiny function is critical to the delivery of service improvements. The relationship between scrutiny committee and the policy commissions will be a subtle and evolving one. Particularly, the need may arise to review the formal location of the specific statutory requirements in relation to health and scrutiny, scrutiny of education functions. Both of these functions are currently delegated to the relevant Policy Commission. A planned review of the relevant articles and rules will provide some reassurance that any counter productive effect created by the revised Constitution can be removed quickly.

(ii) Publicity and the media.

Internal and external communications are high on the agenda of the administration. Part of a general review of communication arrangements should include the drafting of a new protocol on publicity and the media for addition into the Constitution in place before the existing protocol.

(iii) Members allowances.

As discussed above, there is a need to revisit the scheme of allowances following advice from an Independent Remuneration Panel.

(iv) Cabinet responsibilities, schemes of delegation and management of structures.

The Constitution is required to give more detail of these governance arrangements than is included in the current draft. It is proposed that the Leader of the Council and Chief Executive, under powers delegated to them prepare easily accessible descriptions of arrangements for Cabinet member decision making and for deployment of senior managers. This information can be added to the Constitution under those same delegated powers.

(v) Financial Regulations and Gifts and Hospitality

Both of these rules reflect a previous organisational culture which placed operational responsibility on Strategic Directors. Each document needs to be redrafted to reflect the new culture of devolving responsibility to Heads of Service and Operational Managers.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION RULES

13. The law relating to confidential and exempt items (where the press and public can be excluded from debates) are due to be revised by way of a statutory instrument made before Parliament. The purpose of the statutory change is to make the law related to local authorities consistent with the more general law of freedom of information. As the law will require the replacement of this part of the existing access to information rules, it is suggested that this change can be made as soon as the legislation is effective without a further decision by Full Council.

EVALUATION/RISK MANAGEMENT

14. The changes agreed at Annual Council require substantial amendments to the Constitution. For so long as the new structures are being operated under the terms of the previous Constitution there is some risk that a decision will be taken which is unlawful for want of the correct structures having been established and set out in the Constitution.

15. Some of the changes proposed may be controversial, not least as the short time available to complete the re-draft exercise has allowed only limited consultation with Members. Leaders of the political groups had early access to the re-drafted document but no wider consultation has been undertaken and the group leaders only had a very short time to digest a significant amount of information.

16. It is therefore suggested that Members approve the constitutional documentation as re-drafted. In the event that there are reservations about any individual part of the new constitutional settlement, early work can be undertaken, to bring re-drafted sections to the July Full Council. Either a postponement of the adoption of the new arrangement for re-drafting, “on the hoof” at Full Council will bring avoidable risks.

17. Only if Members believe that the Constitution systematically fails to deliver the structures agreed at Annual Council should there be consideration of adjourning this agenda item for further work to be undertaken.

RECOMMENDATIONS

It is recommended that Full Council adopts the revised new Constitution, version 3.4.

BACKGROUND PAPERS

Draft Constitution versions 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3.

Contact point: John Lawson, Head of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer ( 3203, email address: [email protected]

COUNCILLOR R A SUTTON

Leaders of the Council