1.   REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

1.1     The current constitution came into effect in May 2022 when the Council moved from a Committee System to an Executive and Scrutiny with Policy Advisory Committees model of governance. Council agreed in April 2022 that the Democracy and General Purposes Committee would conduct a review of the operation and effectiveness of the new constitution six months after its introduction.

1.2     The constitution should make clear to members of the Council, its Officers, and the public how the council works, what people’s rights are and how all decisions will be made in accordance with the law. It is a key document and needs to be as clear as possible and kept regularly under review and updated.

1.3     The constitution working group have met several times between January to March 2023, and they interviewed officers including the Chief Executive and Democratic Services team, reviewed a survey of Members, reviewed a “snagging list” of issues identified with the constitution and agreed changes to be proposed to the Committee. These documents can be accessed using the link in section 4 of this report.

1.4     The changes identified by the group are based on careful consideration of the issues raised with using the constitution for example where things are in the constitution itself, useability and also working practice. Issues of particular note were:

• Improving consistency throughout the constitution

• Reducing the burden on Democratic Services by making the constitution easier to use through changes from the snagging list and removing Cabinet Member meetings

• Ensuring Overview and Scrutiny have the tools for pre-decision scrutiny for example reviewing the forward plan

• Adding in procedure rules for Overview and Scrutiny for call-in and consideration of reports to the Cabinet

• Returning to the previous petition scheme, following unintended consequences with the new scheme

1.5     The changes proposed are summarised by section in the table on the next page:

2.   ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED AND WHY NOT RECOMMENDED

2.1      The Democracy and General Purposes Committee was made available of the following options, but chose to agree the changes proposed by the Working Group:

·         To not put forward any amendments to full council

·         Review and identify further amendments to those put forward by the working group in appendix A

·         Approve and recommend the changes to full council, as set out in appendix A.

3.        REPORT APPENDICES

Appendix A: Changes to the Constitution

·         Appendix A: A1

·         Appendix A: A2

·         Appendix A: B1

·         Appendix A: B2

·         Appendix A: B3

·         Appendix A: B3, Appendix

·         Appendix A: B4

·         Appendix A: B5

·         Appendix A: B6

·         Appendix A: C1

·         Appendix A: C1, Appendix B

·         Appendix A: C1, Appendix, Petitions

·         Appendix A: C2

·         Appendix A: C3

·         Appendix A: C4

4.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

Agenda Papers and Minutes for the Democracy and General Purposes Committee Meeting held on 29 March 2023:

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