1.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2.1        At its meeting on 28 February 2018, Council recommended that some of the Council’s Outside Bodies be appointed by an appropriate Committee.  The Outside Bodies attributable to this Committee are:

·         Action with Communities in Rural Kent

·         Age UK

·         Citizens Advice Bureau

·         Cutbush and Corrall Charity

·         KCC Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee

·         Maidstone Mediation Scheme

·         Relate West and Mid Kent

·         Vinters Valley Park Trust

2.2     Some Councillors have previously been appointed as a Council Representative and have time remaining on their term of office, while others have been automatically appointed for the 2019/20 municipal year.

2.3     Despite the previous appointments and the automatic appointments for 2019/20, some positions remained vacant.  These vacancies were advertised to all Councillors, who were invited to nominate themselves as a Council Representative. 

2.4     There were six vacancies in total for Outside Bodies attributable to this Committee, one of which has received a nomination.  Additionally, Councillor Denise Joy has re-nominated herself for a second term of office on the Cutbush and Corrall Charity, as her current term of office is due to expire shortly.  Therefore, there remains outstanding vacancies on Action with Communities in Rural Kent, Age UK, Citizens Advice Bureau, the Cutbush and Corrall Charity and Relate West and Mid Kent.

2.5     The current Council Representatives, automatic appointments, nominations received and outstanding vacancies are summarised in Appendix 1. 

2.6     The Committee are asked to consider the nominations that were received and make an appointment if appropriate. The Committee are also asked to consider a suitable course of action to fill the outstanding vacancies.

REVIEWING OUTSIDE BODIES

2.7     At its meeting on 3 July 2019, the Democracy and General Purposes Committee agreed the following principles for reviewing Outside Bodies where there has been a prolonged vacancy:

a)   Democratic Services advertise all Outside Body vacancies to all MBC Councillors at least once per municipal year.

b)   If a position remains vacant for two full municipal years, this is to be submitted to the relevant Committee for consideration.

c)   The Committee must then make a recommendation to Full Council.  Unless the Committee recommends that Council retain the Outside Body position and identifies an appropriate course of action to fill the vacancy, Council will be recommended to remove the position.

2.8     It is likely that there will be instances where an Outside Body has more than one position.  If, for example, an Outside Body has multiple Council Representative positions and only some of these are consistently filled, the recommendation to Council would be to reduce the number of positions rather than to remove the Outside Body entirely from the Constitution.

3.      AVAILABLE OPTIONS

3.1     The Committee could do nothing.  This is not recommended as it would mean that no additional Council Representatives are appointed to Outside Bodies.  This could damage the relationships that the Council fosters with these organisations.

3.2     The Committee could appoint to the various Outside Bodies as appropriate and note the positions that are currently filled by Council Representatives.

3.3     The Committee could identify a suitable course of action to fill any outstanding vacancies.

4.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1     Option 3.2 and 3.3 are recommended as there is a need to ensure that these vacancies are filled as soon as possible.

5.       RISK

5.1    There are no significant risks associated with the appointment of Council Representatives.

6.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

6.1     In response to feedback from Councillors, Democratic Services are currently reviewing the information that is held for all Outside Bodies.  Throughout the course of this work, each Outside Body will be engaged to request updated contact information and Job Descriptions.  This will ensure that there is greater clarity regarding the role of both the Outside Body and Council Representative, and the expectations of the relationship between the two parties.  It will also benefit Councillors who are considering nominating themselves to a position in the future, as they will have a fuller understanding of the role that they are applying to.  This work is expected to be complete by the end of July 2019.

6.2     All Councillors have been emailed to advertise the vacancies on Outside Bodies.

7.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

7.1     Relevant Outside Bodies will be contacted to inform them of any automatic appointments or appointments made by the committee.

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:

·         Appendix 1: CHE Outside Body Summary Table

·         Appendix 2: Nomination Form - Cllr Joy – Cutbush and Corrall

·         Appendix 3: Nomination Form - Cllr B Hinder - Vinters Valley Park Trust

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

None.