Issue - meetings
Proposed Revision to the Constitution - Part 5.4 (Member/ Officer Relations' Protocol)
Meeting: 05/07/2017 - General Purposes Committee (Item 4)
4 Proposed Revision to the Constitution - Part 5.4 (Member/ Officer Relations' Protocol) PDF 94 KB
As the Council is operating Executive arrangements then it must have a Constitution and also ensure that this Constitution is kept up-to-date.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Paul Greeno, Senior Corporate and Governance Lawyer, introduced the report. Mr Greeno explained there were a number of omissions that he had identified since publication of the draft protocol, which he would correct in future iterations, specifically:
· Section 13 - Members’ Services and the use of Council Facilities – would be updated to reflect:
o the current (recently updated) Councillor Enquiry process; and
o that the term ‘Council Facilities’ includes IT equipment.
Heather Daley, Divisional Director, HR and Transformation, also suggested a number of amendments to Section 14 – Recruitment, Appointment and other Staffing Matters – to more accurately reflect the role of Members in these matters and clarify the proper role of the Joint Consultative Advisory Group. Ms Daley also advised the Protocol may need amendment to reflect potential changes to the employee appeals process, discussed by the Committee earlier in the meeting.
The Committee noted that the emphasis on the role of committee chairs (Section 9) gave the impression that the Protocol reflected a committee system model. It asked that the Protocol be amended to that it reflects more clearly the Council’s directly elected mayor/cabinet model of governance.
RESOLVED:
That the General Purposes Committee:
1. Requests that an updated Member/Officer Relations Protocol is brought to a future meeting.