Issue - meetings

(Governance & Development Management Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report.

Mover: Councillor R Bassett, Governance and Development Management Portfolio Holder.

Councillor R Bassett submitted a report regarding the Calendar of Council meetings for 2017/18.

Report as first moved ADOPTED

RESOLVED:

That, as attached at Appendix 1, the draft Calendar of Council Meetings for 2017/18 be adopted.

Governance & Development Management Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-043-2016/17).

(1)        That, as attached at Appendix 1 to the report, the draft Calendar of Council Meetings for 2017/18 be recommended to the Council for adoption.

The Portfolio Holder for Governance & Development Management presented a report on the Calendar of Council Meetings for 2017/18.

The Portfolio Holder reminded the Cabinet that it considered the Calendar of Meetings each year prior to its final approval by the Council. The Calendar had developed over time to meet the changing needs of the authority and, where possible, meetings of a Committee had been standardised on a particular night of the week for consistency. The main changes proposed for the Calendar this year were:

            (i)         Maintaining a two week gap between Cabinet and Council meetings to        ensure that any reports from the Cabinet to the Council were not published on          a supplementary agenda;

            (ii)        a new committee had been added, meeting twice a year, for the       Overview & Scrutiny Chairmen, Vice Chairmen & Officers to discuss any        issues arising from the Council’s Scrutiny meetings; and

            (iii)       the Standards Committee had been removed rom the Calendar       following the Council’s decision last year for it to meet only ‘as and when’       required.

The Portfolio Holder requested the Cabinet to consider the suggested Calendar of Meetings for 2017/18, but cautioned that the proposed Calendar was very congested and the addition of any further meetings should be given very careful consideration.

In relation to the new Committee for the Scrutiny Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen and Officers, Cllr Mohindra queried why the first meeting had not been scheduled for May or June 2017 at the start of the new municipal year. The Assistant Director of Governance (Governance & Performance Management) explained that a meeting had been scheduled for March 2017 (and March 2018) to examine the Scrutiny Work Programme for the next municipal year; however, Cllr Mohindra highlighted that new Chairmen could have been appointed for the main and Select Committees for the new municipal year. The Portfolio Holder stated that this could be re-examined in the light of experience, and the Leader of Council reminded the Cabinet that an extra meeting in June 2017 could always be arranged if required.

Cllr Philip also highlighted that many Parish Councils arranged their meetings for the last Thursday of the month, but that all three of the Council meetings for 2018 fell on this date. The Portfolio Holder agreed to discuss this issue further with Officers prior to the despatch of the agenda for the Council meeting on 20 December 2016.

Decision:

(1)        That, as attached at Appendix 1 to the report, the draft Calendar of Council Meetings for 2017/18 be recommended to the Council for adoption.

Reasons for Decision:

To review the proposed Calendar of Meetings for 2017/18, prior to its final adoption by the Council.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

To vary the individual frequencies of meetings; however, in practice, additional meetings were scheduled as and when issues dictated, and meetings were cancelled if there was a lack of business.