Agenda item

A.34/16          

The Committee considered a report that presented the annual review of the Council Constitution. 

In his introduction, the lead Executive Member for Support Services wished to put on record his gratitude for the amount of work and effort that the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel had put in during this review.  Furthermore, the Monitoring Officer also wished to thank the Council’s Corporate Procurement Officer for the work that she had undertaken to review the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules.

In the subsequent discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)   the European Union (EU).  A Member emphasised a number of his detailed concerns over the degree of reference to the EU in the Council’s draft Contract Procedure Rules.  In particular, it was agreed that the Member would be provided with more information relating to State Aid outside of the meeting;

(b)    the proposed increase in the delegated authority limit of asset disposals.  In accepting the reason for the proposed increase from £50,000 to £300,000, the Committee felt that the Leader should also be included in the list of consultees.  Therefore, an addition was PROPOSED and SECONDED and on being put to the vote declared CARRIED that:

‘The COP Lead for Assets be given delegated authority, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, the lead Executive Member for Assets and the Leader of Council to dispose and/or acquire assets up to a limit of £300,000, with any acquisitions and/or disposals above this limit being referred to the Executive for decision.’

(c)    the Members’ Planning Code of Practice.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed that it was her intention for the Code of Practice to be reviewed in the upcoming months;

(d)    the South West Design Panel.  Having been informed of the establishment of the South West Design Panel, some Members requested more detailed information regarding how it operated; 

(e)    access to information relating to the LACC Joint Steering Group (JSG).  In response to Member criticism that the wider membership were unable to see the JSG agenda papers, it was agreed that this issue would be given further consideration at the next JSG meeting on 28 March 2017;

(f)     the importance of all newly elected Members being sent a link to the Council Constitution;

(g)    officer delegations.  A Member queried what control measures were in place to ensure that officers who had utilised their delegated powers were informing the Executive of their decisions.  In reply, the Committee was advised that the Council had an informal Executive Briefing forum at which such matters were reported.

Furthermore, in respect of reporting exemptions, it was noted that these were included in the Council’s Annual Governance Statement that was formally considered by the Executive.  As a further assurance, the lead Executive Member for Support Services confirmed that, on occasion, he did challenge and seek greater clarity on the legitimacy of some of the exemptions that were reported to him;

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.   That authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer to make any further amendments to the Contract Procedure Rules as a result of consultation with the Corporate Procurement Officer; and