Agenda item

To agree changes to the Constitution as set out below and in the attached report.

RECOMMENDATION

That Council agree the following changes to the Constitution, as recommended by the Monitoring Officer via the Constitution Review Working Group that:

1)             The following proposals relating to the following areas of Council Rules of Procedure be agreed:

a.    sections relating to Member and public questions as set out in paragraphs 1.1-1.4 of the report;

b.    that Rules 4.2.1.1 Timing and order of business [Annual Council] and 4.2.2.1 Timing and order of business [Ordinary Council meetings] be amended as set out in paragraph 2 of the report;

c.     that Rule 4.2.13.13 Motions on Expenditure or Revenue be deleted and Rule 4.2.11.2 be amended as set out in paragraph 3 of the report;

d.    proposals relating to statements by the Leader of Council etc and from the Council Owned Companies being incorporated into the Minutes of Committee and Board Meetings and Ward Matters agenda item as set out in paragraph 4 of the report;

e.    that Rule 4.2.2.1 Timing and Order of Business (Ordinary Meetings be amended as set out in paragraph 5 of the report;

f.      that Rules 4.2.9.5, 4.2.10.5, 5.4.29 and 5.4.37 – Scope of Public and Member Questions be amended as set out in paragraph 6 of the report;

g.    Rules 4.2.8 Duration of Meetings, 4.2.8.1 Consideration of Motions and 4.2.12 Motions without Notice be amended, as set out in paragraph 7 of the report;

2)             that it be noted that Rule 5.2.10.4 [Responsibilities of Executive Member for Environment, Sport and Leisure] as set out in paragraph 8 of the report, will be amended;

3)             it be noted that Rule 5.2.7.17 [Responsibilities of Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Housing] as set out in paragraph 8 of the report, will be added;

4)             that Rule 5.4.19 Timing of the [Executive] meeting be amended as set out in paragraph 9 of the report;

5)             that Section 6.2 Overview and Scrutiny, be amended as set out in paragraphs 10 and 11 of the report:

6)             changes to Chapter 8.2 – Planning Committee Procedure Rules as set out in paragraph 12 of the report;

7)             changes to Chapter 8.3 – Planning Member Guidelines on Good Practice as set out in paragraph 13 of the report

Council considered proposed changes to the Council’s Constitution.

It was proposed by Imogen Shepherd-Dubey and seconded by Prue Bray that the recommendations contained within the report be approved, subject to the withdrawal of recommendations 1a) and 1d).  Members had also received additional recommendations as part of a supplementary agenda.

Imogen Shepherd-DuBey took Council through the proposed amendments to the Constitution.  Much of what was recommended was designed to speed up Council meetings, as Council was consistently unable to get through all of the business on meeting agendas.

Pauline Jorgensen commented that she welcomed the withdrawal of the recommendation relating to questions, and that whilst she could support some suggestions, she could not support all.  She felt that the proposal that the Chief Finance Officer provide costings for all Motions would be overly onerous for Officers.

In accordance with Section 4.2.15.5 a recorded vote was requested for recommendations 1 c), 1e), 5 and 7. 

Rachel Burgess stated that she supported many of the recommendations, but felt that the inclusion of the word ‘unlawful encampments’ in place of ‘travellers’ under section 5.2.10.4, did not satisfactorily resolve the issue.  In addition she felt that the Chair of Executive meetings should not be able to make a speech at the start of meetings, and that the agenda should be for business items only.

Keith Baker questioned how the Constitution Review Working Group could agree proposals, only for some of them to be withdrawn prior to the meeting.  He queried the proposal that business items which were ‘to note’ only had a discussion time of 10 minutes, which he felt was too short and that some important reports would not receive a sufficient debate as a result.  Keith Baker felt that Council should be able to continue to vote for an extension of the meeting or not, in the same way as other Committees.

Gary Cowan felt that the Constitution was not fit for purpose and required a rewrite.

Alison Swaddle felt that the proposal that the size of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees be agreed at Annual Council, should not be agreed.

Chris Bowring believed that the recommendations around the Planning Committee did not make sense. Stephen Conway emphasised that this had been approved by the Planning Committee.

Jim Frewin commented that he appreciated the amount of work that had gone into the review, but he too felt that the Constitution was in need of a rewrite.

Prue Bray acknowledged that it was a long list of proposed amendments.  Whilst sympathetic she felt that a rewrite of the Constitution was not a priority at the time.  She explained that 1b was to correct an incorrect paragraph reference which had been incorrect for some time.  The proposal set out in 1c) was to facilitate the Motion process and would allow the debate of Motions in the full knowledge of the likely costs.  Whilst she understood concerns around the ‘to note’ items, the majority of reports did not fall into this category.  The proposed amendment was designed to speed up the meetings.  Prue Bray appreciated the sensitivities around the reference to ‘unlawful encampments’ but emphasised that reference had to be made in some form and could not just be removed from the Constitution.  She went on to refer to the proposed amendments relating to the size of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees and indicated that this related to political proportionality.

RESOLVED:  That

1)              The following proposals relating to the following areas of Council Rules of Procedure be agreed:

b)that Rules 4.2.1.1 Timing and order of business [Annual Council] and 4.2.2.1 Timing and order of business [Ordinary Council meetings] be amended as set out in paragraph 2 of the report;

c)that Rule 4.2.13.13 Motions on Expenditure or Revenue be deleted and Rule 4.2.11.2 be amended as set out in paragraph 3 of the report;

e)    that Rule 4.2.2.1 Timing and Order of Business (Ordinary Meetings be amended as set out in paragraph 5 of the report;

f)      that Rules 4.2.9.5, 4.2.10.5, 5.4.29 and 5.4.37 – Scope of Public and Member Questions be amended as set out in paragraph 6 of the report;

g)    Rules 4.2.8 Duration of Meetings, 4.2.8.1 Consideration of Motions and 4.2.12 Motions without Notice be amended, as set out in paragraph 7 of the report;

2)              that recommendation 2 not be agreed;

3)              it be noted that Rule 5.2.7.17 [Responsibilities of Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Housing] as set out in paragraph 8 of the report, will be added;

4)              that recommendation 4 not be agreed;

5)              that Section 6.2 Overview and Scrutiny, be amended as set out in paragraphs 10 and 11 of the report:

6)              changes to Chapter 8.2 – Planning Committee Procedure Rules as set out in paragraph 12 of the report;

7)              changes to Chapter 8.3 – Planning Member Guidelines on Good Practice as set out in paragraph 13 of the report

8)              a Climate Emergency Overview and Scrutiny Committee be established;

9)              the proposed terms of reference for the Climate Emergency Overview and Scrutiny Committee be approved;

10)          the composition of the Climate Emergency Overview and Scrutiny Committee be four Wokingham Borough Partnership Members and three Conservative Members, plus substitute Members (four/three) as advised by the Group Leaders;

11)          the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Climate Emergency Overview and Scrutiny Committee be elected at the first meeting.

The results of the recorded votes were as follows:

Recommendation 1c:

Recommendation 1e:

Recommendation 5:

Recommendation 7: