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Democracy Committee

14 November 2018

 

Reference from Council – Outside Bodies

 

Final Decision-Maker

Council

Lead Head of Service

Angela Woodhouse – Head of Policy, Communications and Governance

Lead Officer and Report Author

Sam Bailey – Democratic and Administration Services Manager

Classification

Public

Wards affected

All

 

Executive Summary

 

This report outlines the reference made to the Democracy Committee from Council, and highlights some suggested changes to the scheme of Outside Bodies.

 

 

This report makes the following recommendations to this Committee:

 

That Council is recommended to agree the amended scheme of Outside Bodies.

 

 

Timetable

Meeting

Date

Democracy Committee

14 November 2018

Council

12 December 2018



Reference from Council – Outside Bodies

 

 

 

1.      INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

 

1.1     During the 2016-17 and 2017-18 municipal year, the Democracy Committee carried out a review of Outside Bodies, with a reviewed scheme agreed by Council on 7 March 2018. As a result of the review a number of Outside Bodies were deleted, and the remaining Outside Bodies were aligned to either a Service Committee or Democracy Committee and these Committees are now responsible for appointments to the Outside Body.

1.2     At the Council meeting of 26 September 2018 a further amendment was made to the scheme of Outside Bodies – the deletion of the Quality Bus Partnership. Council also resolved to re-consider the scheme of Outside Bodies due to perceived inconsistencies in how Outside Bodies had been allocated to Committees. The example given was that parks, open spaces and nature reserves had been allocated to a variety of Committees and not just Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee. The Council minute and resolution are included at Appendix 2.

1.3     Attached at Appendix 1 is a new version of the Outside Bodies scheme which addresses the inconsistencies raised by Council. The proposed changes to the scheme have been tracked for transparency.

 

 

2.        AVAILABLE OPTIONS

 

2.1     Democracy Committee could agree to recommend the changes outlined in Appendix 1 to Council – this would improve the consistency in the scheme of Outside Bodies.

 

2.2     Democracy Committee could amend the scheme in a different way, and recommend this scheme to Council. This would give the opportunity for the Committee to make changes to the scheme of Outside Bodies.

 

2.3     Democracy Committee could choose to do nothing and leave the scheme of Outside Bodies as it is. However this will not address the inconsistencies highlighted by Council.

 

3.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

3.1     The preferred option is option 2.1. This option addresses the inconsistencies raised by Council in the allocation of Outside Bodies.

 

 

4.       RISK

4.1    The risks associated with this proposal, including the risks if the Council does not act as recommended, have been considered in line with the Council’s Risk Management Framework. We are satisfied that the risks associated are within the Council’s risk appetite and will be managed as per the Policy.

 

5.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

 

5.1     As highlighted in paragraph 1.1 of this report, the issue of Outside Bodies has been the subject of extensive consultation with members over the last 2 and a half years through the Outside Bodies review.

 

 

6.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

 

6.1    If the Committee agrees changes to the scheme of Outside Bodies they will be recommended to Council for adoption at its meeting of 12 December 2018.

 

7.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

 

Issue

Implications

Sign-off

Impact on Corporate Priorities

No implications

Democratic and Administration Services Manager

Risk Management

No implications

Democratic and Administration Services Manager

Financial

No implications

 

Democratic and Administration Services Manager

Staffing

No implications

 

Democratic and Administration Services Manager

Legal

Under the paragraph 2.2.12 of the Constitution the Democracy Committee can review the Constitution in conjunction with

the Monitoring Officer and may recommend proposed changes, to the Council. As Schedule 2 List of Outside Bodies is within Part 5 of the Constitution it is within the Committee’s remit to recommend the proposed changes set out in the report.

The changes suggested have no impact on the Council exercising its functions, and are purely administrative changes.

 Team Leader (Corporate Governance),

MKLS

Privacy and Data Protection

The data will be held and processed in accordance with the data protection principles contained in the Data Protection Act 2018 and in line with the Data Quality Policy, which sets out the requirement for ensuring data quality.

There is a program for undertaking data quality audits of performance indicators.

 Team Leader (Corporate Governance),

MKLS

Equalities

The Equalities implications were considered as part of the reviewed scheme. It is important the way in which the scheme operates is consistent and transparent to ensure its accessibility to all Members.

Equalities and Corporate Policy Officer

Crime and Disorder

No implications

Democratic and Administration Services Manager

Procurement

No implications

Democratic and Administration Services Manager

 

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

 

Appendix 1: Amendments to the Scheme of Outside Bodies

Appendix 2: Minute and resolution from Council

 

 

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

None