Agenda item
Proposed amendments to the Council's Constitution - report of the General Purposes Committee, 17th January 2012
The General Purposes Committee on 17th January 2012 will consider a number of proposed amendments to be Council’s Constitution as set out in the attached report.
The recommendations of the General Purposes Committee in relation to the matters in the report will be circulated to Members before the Council meeting.
Decision:
Councillor Shiria Khatun moved, and Councillor Joshua Peck seconded, the recommendations of the General Purposes Committee as set out in the report of the committee circulated to Councillors in the supplementary agenda pack.
In seconding the motion, Councillor Joshua Peck moved a tabled amendment as follows:-
“Delete points 11.5 and 11.6 and insert:-
‘This Council instructs the Interim Chief Executive to make arrangements for a working group comprising a representative of the Executive, the majority and the other political groupings, senior officers and an independent adviser to consider the budget making and virement arrangements of the Council and make recommendations to a meeting of the next non-budget Full Council through the appropriate channel’.”
Councillor David Edgar seconded the amendment moved by Councillor Peck.
Following debate the amendment moved by Councillor Peck was put to the vote and was agreed.
Councillor Craig Aston moved, and Councillor David Snowdon seconded, a further tabled amendment as follows:-
“1. That the proposed amendment to Council Procedure Rule 17.4 at part 4.1 of the Constitution be deleted.
2. To delete the word ‘ten’ in Council Procedure Rule 17.4 at part 4.1 of the Constitution and substitute the word ‘six’.
3. To amend Council Procedure Rule 17.4 at part 4.1 of the Constitution to add at the end:
‘No recorded vote may be called on motions under Council Procedure Rules 14.1.10, 15.11.4 and 15.12.1 (that is, motions that the question be now put)’.”
Following debate the amendment moved by Councillor Aston was put to the vote and was defeated.
The substantive motion as amended was then put to the vote and was agreed.
DECISION
1. That the deadline for amendments for the Budget Council meeting be brought forward to 9.15 a.m. on the working day before the budget meeting and the amendments be circulated to the Mayor and all Councillors, with any officer comments that are available, at least 24 hours before the meeting.
2. That the Budget Council Procedure Rules at paragraph 4.2 of Part 4.1 of the Constitution be amended as follows in relation to the first Budget Council meeting:
(a) Other than amendments notified in advance as above, no further substantial amendment may normally be moved at the budget meeting but the Council may, subject to the advice of the Monitoring Officer, Section 151 Officer and Head of Paid Service, agree that an amendment without notice can be debated.
(b) The Speaker will remind the Council at the start of the meeting of the importance where possible of all amendments being moved at the beginning of the debate or as soon as the need for the amendment is identified; and before moving to the ‘right of reply’ and voting stage of the meeting will give a final invitation for any further amendments. No new amendment may be proposed once the call for the vote has commenced.
(c) At the first Budget Council meeting, if a new amendment is moved during the final 30 minutes of the time allocated for the meeting, the meeting will automatically be extended by up to 30 minutes to enable that amendment to be debated before the guillotine procedure comes into operation. This will apply even if a previous extension has already been agreed.
(d) At the end of the 30 minutes if the debate is not complete, the guillotine process will come into operation in the normal way and the vote will proceed on the amendments and substantive motion the meeting will conclude, unless the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 officer advise the Speaker that the matter has not been sufficiently discussed – in this case the meeting will continue to consider any outstanding amendment(s) and any further amendments that may arise directly as a consequence of those amendments only.
(e) Nothing in the above provisions should extend the meeting beyond a total duration of five hours, at which point the guillotine process shall come into operation.
3. That the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules at Part 4.3 of the Constitution be amended as follows:-
(a) The adoption or approval of the plan or strategy is the responsibility of the full Council;
(b) The Mayor as the Executive has responsibility for preparing the draft plan or strategy for submission to the full Council; and
(c) If the Council wishes to amend the Mayor’s proposals in relation to the items included in the Budget and Policy Framework only, the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001 set out the dispute resolution procedure to be followed. The Council must inform the Mayor of any objections which it has to his proposals (i.e. the amendments it wishes to agree) and must give the Mayor at least five working days to reconsider his proposals and re-submit them (amended or not, with reasons) to a further Council meeting. If at this further meeting the Council still wishes to amend the Mayor’s revised proposals, such a decision requires a two-thirds majority of the Members present and voting. If no valid amendment at the further meeting receives two-thirds support, the Mayor’s proposals are deemed adopted in accordance with the regulations.
4. That the position of Deputy Chair of Council be re-designated as ‘Deputy Speaker’.
5. That Council Procedure Rule 27.1 be amended to state:-
‘No photography or video or audio recording of any kind by Members, guests or members of the public may take place at any Council meeting without the express permission of the Speaker. The Council may determine that the proceedings of the Council Meeting shall be audio recorded by the officers and those recordings stored in accordance with a policy agreed by the Council and accessed by any member on request, for their own use, including publication. Such requests to be made in writing to the Monitoring Officer.’
6. That Council Procedure Council Procedure Rule 17.4 at part 4.1 of the Constitution be amended as follows:
‘Recorded vote. If twenty Members present at the meeting request it by rising from their seats, the names for and against the motion or amendment or abstaining from voting will be taken down in writing and entered into the minutes.’
7. That the recommendations of the General Purposes Committee in relation to the Financial Procedure Rules as set out in Paragraphs 11.5 and 11.6 of the report be deleted; and
8. That this Council instructs the Interim Chief Executive to make arrangements for a working group comprising a representative of the Executive, the majority and the other political groupings, senior officers and an independent adviser to consider the budget making and virement arrangements of the Council and make recommendations to a meeting of the next non-budget Full Council through the appropriate channel.
9. That the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services) be authorised to amend the text of the Constitution as necessary to give effect to the changes agreed at 1-8 above.
(Action by: Aman Dalvi, Interim Chief Executive; Isabella Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive [Legal Services]; and John Williams, Service Head, Democratic Services)
Minutes:
The Council considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services) proposing amendments to the Council’s Constitution as recommended by the General Purposes Committee at its meeting held on 17th January 2012. The report, which was circulated with the supplementary agenda, superceded that which had been included in the original agenda papers.
The Council noted that the supplementary report had not been circulated with the Council agenda in accordance with the timescales set out in the Authority’s constitution because the meeting of the General Purposes Committee reported therein took place after the agenda was sent to print. The report was nevertheless recommended for consideration at this meeting because the constitutional matters set out in the report required urgent resolution to enable the implementation of the decisions previously made by the Council and, in relation to the Budget Council procedures, to ensure these were in place before the Budget Council Meeting 2012.
The report was introduced by Mr John S. Williams, Service Head, Democratic Services and appropriate advice was provided by Ms Isabella Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services), in particular drawing the Council’s attention to the statutory officers’ comments on the proposals regarding (i) recorded votes and (ii) virements.
Councillor Shiria Khatun MOVED and Councillor Joshua Peck SECONDED the recommendations of the General Purposes Committee as set out in the report circulated with the supplementary agenda.
In seconding the motion, Councillor Peck MOVED a tabled amendment as follows:-
“Delete points 11.5 and 11.6 and insert:-
‘This Council instructs the Interim Chief Executive to make arrangements for a working group comprising a representative of the Executive, the majority and the other political groupings, senior officers and an independent adviser to consider the budget making and virement arrangements of the Council and make recommendations to a meeting of the next non-budget Full Council through the appropriate channel’.”
Councillor David Edgar SECONDED the amendment moved by Councillor Peck.
Councillor Craig Aston MOVED, and Councillor David Snowdon SECONDED, a further tabled amendment as follows:-
“1. That the proposed amendment to Council Procedure Rule 17.4 at part 4.1 of the Constitution be deleted.
2. To delete the word ‘ten’ in Council Procedure Rule 17.4 at part 4.1 of the Constitution and substitute the word ‘six’.
3. To amend Council Procedure Rule 17.4 at part 4.1 of the Constitution to add at the end:
‘No recorded vote may be called on motions under Council Procedure Rules 14.1.10, 15.11.4 and 15.12.1 (that is, motions that the question be now put)’.”
Extension of time limit for the meeting
Councillor David Snowdon MOVED and Councillor Zara Davis SECONDED, a procedural motion – “That under Procedure Rule 15.11.7 the meeting be extended until completion of the current agenda item.” The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.
Procedural Motion
Following debate, Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman MOVED and Councillor Bill Turner SECONDED, a procedural motion – “That under Procedure Rule 14.1.10 the question be now put.” The procedural motion was then put to the vote and was agreed.
The Service Head, Democratic Services advised the Council that Members should now consider and vote in turn on each recommendation contained in the report. Amendments to each recommendation could be proposed in the usual manner.
At the appropriate point during the Council’s consideration, the amendments previously moved by Councillors Peck and Snowdon respectively were put to the vote.
The amendment moved by Councillor Peck was agreed.
The amendment moved by Councillor Snowdon was defeated.
Each section of the substantive motion as amended was then put to the vote in turn and was agreed. Accordingly it was:-
RESOLVED
1. That the deadline for amendments for the Budget Council meeting be brought forward to 9.15 a.m. on the working day before the budget meeting and the amendments be circulated to the Mayor and all Councillors, with any officer comments that are available, at least 24 hours before the meeting.
2. That the Budget Council Procedure Rules at paragraph 4.2 of Part 4.1 of the Constitution be amended as follows in relation to the first Budget Council meeting:
(a) Other than amendments notified in advance as above, no further substantial amendment may normally be moved at the budget meeting but the Council may, subject to the advice of the Monitoring Officer, Section 151 Officer and Head of Paid Service, agree that an amendment without notice can be debated.
(b) The Speaker will remind the Council at the start of the meeting of the importance where possible of all amendments being moved at the beginning of the debate or as soon as the need for the amendment is identified; and before moving to the ‘right of reply’ and voting stage of the meeting will give a final invitation for any further amendments. No new amendment may be proposed once the call for the vote has commenced.
(c) At the first Budget Council meeting, if a new amendment is moved during the final 30 minutes of the time allocated for the meeting, the meeting will automatically be extended by up to 30 minutes to enable that amendment to be debated before the guillotine procedure comes into operation. This will apply even if a previous extension has already been agreed.
(d) At the end of the 30 minutes if the debate is not complete, the guillotine process will come into operation in the normal way and the vote will proceed on the amendments and substantive motion the meeting will conclude, unless the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 officer advise the Speaker that the matter has not been sufficiently discussed – in this case the meeting will continue to consider any outstanding amendment(s) and any further amendments that may arise directly as a consequence of those amendments only.
(e) Nothing in the above provisions should extend the meeting beyond a total duration of five hours, at which point the guillotine process shall come into operation.
3. That the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules at Part 4.3 of the Constitution be amended as follows:-
(a) The adoption or approval of the plan or strategy is the responsibility of the full Council;
(b) The Mayor as the Executive has responsibility for preparing the draft plan or strategy for submission to the full Council; and
(c) If the Council wishes to amend the Mayor’s proposals in relation to the items included in the Budget and Policy Framework only, the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001 set out the dispute resolution procedure to be followed. The Council must inform the Mayor of any objections which it has to his proposals (i.e. the amendments it wishes to agree) and must give the Mayor at least five working days to reconsider his proposals and re-submit them (amended or not, with reasons) to a further Council meeting. If at this further meeting the Council still wishes to amend the Mayor’s revised proposals, such a decision requires a two-thirds majority of the Members present and voting. If no valid amendment at the further meeting receives two-thirds support, the Mayor’s proposals are deemed adopted in accordance with the regulations.
4. That the position of Deputy Chair of Council be re-designated as ‘Deputy Speaker’.
5. That Council Procedure Rule 27.1 be amended to state:-
‘No photography or video or audio recording of any kind by Members, guests or members of the public may take place at any Council meeting without the express permission of the Speaker. The Council may determine that the proceedings of the Council Meeting shall be audio recorded by the officers and those recordings stored in accordance with a policy agreed by the Council and accessed by any member on request, for their own use, including publication. Such requests to be made in writing to the Monitoring Officer.’
6. That Council Procedure Council Procedure Rule 17.4 at part 4.1 of the Constitution be amended as follows:
‘Recorded vote. If twenty Members present at the meeting request it by rising from their seats, the names for and against the motion or amendment or abstaining from voting will be taken down in writing and entered into the minutes.’
7. That the recommendations of the General Purposes Committee in relation to the Financial Procedure Rules as set out in Paragraphs 11.5 and 11.6 of the report be deleted; and
8. That this Council instructs the Interim Chief Executive to make arrangements for a working group comprising a representative of the Executive, the majority and the other political groupings, senior officers and an independent adviser to consider the budget making and virement arrangements of the Council and make recommendations to a meeting of the next non-budget Full Council through the appropriate channel.
9. That the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services) be authorised to amend the text of the Constitution as necessary to give effect to the changes agreed at 1-8 above.
[Note from Clerk: Following the meeting, Councillors Tim Archer, Craig Aston, Zara Davis, Peter Golds, Dr Emma Jones, David Snowdon and Gloria Thienel each requested that their vote against resolution 6 above be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.]
Time limit for the meeting
At this point, the Service Head, Democratic Services informed the Council that the time limit for the meeting had been reached. In accordance with Procedure Rule 9.2, the Council then voted on each remaining item of formal business (except motions on notice at agenda item 12) without further debate and the Speaker then declared the meeting closed.
Supporting documents:
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4.2 Constitution Report GPC 170112, item 9.3
PDF 73 KB
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9.3 Constitution addendum report GPC recs, item 9.3
PDF 143 KB