Issue - meetings

Please refer to the relevant reports circulated in the supplementary pack that will be published on the website.

A – Audit and Governance Committee, 23 January 2020

Clause 63 – BCP Constitution

RECOMMENDED

(a)      That the following additions and amendments to the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council Constitution be approved and incorporated within the Constitution.

Statutory Officers Disciplinary arrangements

    i.           That an ‘Investigation and Disciplinary Committee’ be established as a Committee of Council with the Terms of Reference and membership as set out in appendix A of the report to the Audit and Governance Committee;

   ii.           That an ‘Independent Persons Panel’ be established consisting of three Independent Persons appointed pursuant to the Localism Act requirements;

  iii.           That the Terms of Reference of the existing Appeals Committee be amended to include responsibility for determining appeals relating to disciplinary action in respect of the relevant Statutory Officers;

All Councillors to sit on a least one Committee

 iv.           That there should be an expectation that all Councillors will sit on at least one Committee or Panel of the Council;

Minutes in Council agenda

   v.           That the requirement to agree and publish Minutes of all Committees at meetings of full Council be deleted;

‘Calling-in’ planning applications to Planning Committee

 vi.           That the ‘call-in’ period for Councillors should commence from the time at which the planning application is electronically published on the Bournemouth, Christchurch and PooleCouncil website;

vii.           That, where there are amendments to plans which require a further publication period, Councillors maycall in the application during that further publication period;

viii.           That a planning application be ‘called in’ to the Committee where there have been 20 representations, based on planning grounds, from separate addressed that are contrary to the recommendation of the planning officer and that the Head of Planning has the authority to the make the decision as to whether the contrary objections are based on planning grounds;

 ix.           That the Head of Planning have a wide discretion to refer planning applications to the Committee himself where he considers that it is appropriate to do so;

Public participation and access

   x.           That the new Appendix 6 and the new Petition Scheme as set out in appendices B and C of the report to the Audit and Governance Committee be approved and adopted;

Recording votes

 xi.           That the provision allowing 25% of members present at a meeting to request a recorded vote be extended to all Committees;

Terms of Reference for Audit and Governance Committee

xii.           That the revised Terms of Reference for Audit and Governance Committee as described in appendix D of the report to the Audit and Governance Committee be approved and adopted;

Interim arrangements for the Shadow Authority

xiii.           That the arrangements in Article 14 of the Constitution relating to the Shadow Authority be deleted.

B – Cabinet, 27 May 2020

Clause 172 – Holes Bay, Poole (former power station site) acquisition strategy

RECOMMENDED that Council:-

Amend the Capital Programme to include provision for this purchase, to be funded  ...  view the full agenda text for item 8

A - Audit and Governance Committee 23 January 2020

The recommendations arising from the meeting of the Committee held on 23 January 2020 relating to the BCP Constitution were considered and approved acknowledging the proposed review referred to below:-

Minute No 63 – BCP Constitution

The Chairman of the Committee presented the report on amendments to the Constitution and proposed approval as set out on the agenda.

Councillors commented on the recommendations including the process and criteria for ‘Calling-in’ planning applications to Planning Committee.  A Member raised concerns on aspects of the process which they would feedback to the Constitution Working Group including the 30-day limit.  The Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee reported that he had written to all Councillors asking for feedback on any issues. 

A Councillor expressed her concern relating to recommendation v – minutes in Council agenda which she did not agree with. That view was also supported by another Councillor. A Councillor explained that all minutes were available on the Council’s website and the option may be to provide a link to the minutes on the Council agenda.  The Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee reported that there was no intention to make the minutes inaccessible.  He indicated that the suggestion to provide a link could be considered and taken forward with officers.

Councillors also commented on the proposed number of representations required to call-in a planning application and the importance of allowing residents to have a say. Members were reminded of the current provisions in the Constitution which included a call-in being undertaken via a Ward Councillor.  A Councillor emphasised that it was the value of the objection that matters but felt that call-in should still be through the Ward Councillors.

A Councillor referred to recommendation vi concerning the call-in period which she indicated was 30 calendar days from when the application was published on the Council’s website and should be referenced in the Constitution. The Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee confirmed his discussions with the Portfolio Holder and Officers about some of the issues raised and the need to fine tune the detail.  He referred to the proposed number of public representations of 20 for automatic referral and the need for this to be monitored alongside the other issues.  The Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee explained that it was proposed following any review that recommendations would be submitted to Council by the end of this calendar year.

It should be noted that as a result of the changes agreed by the Council the necessary and consequential technical and formatting updates and revisions to the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council Constitution would be made by the Monitoring Officer in consultation with relevant members and officers in accordance with the powers delegated to her.

Voting: Agreed.

Councillor Diana Butler requested that her dissent be recorded in respect of recommendations (v) and (viii) as detailed on the agenda

B – Cabinet 27 May 2020

The recommendation arising from the meeting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8

To recommend changes to the Constitution of the Council.

The Monitoring Officer presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'G' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The report included a summary of the recommendations of the Constitution Issues Working Group which had been formed by the Committee in October 2019 and which had subsequently met on three occasions. The Group had particularly considered a schedule of issues identified since the formal establishment of the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (‘BCP Council’). The Group also consulted with Councillors across the Council.

There was discussion and debate about the recommendations from the Working Group.

Statutory Officers Disciplinary arrangements

In response to questions, it was confirmed that it was the full Council which would determine which Councillors would be appointed to the Investigation and Disciplinary Committee in accordance with nominations from Political Groups and it was suggested that Council would want to ensure that those nominated had experience which was appropriate for the role. It was also confirmed that the new Committee, a Committee of Council, would be Politically balanced, annually appointed and have an annually elected chair.

All Councillors to sit on one Committee

The view of the Committee was that although there should be a clear expectation to this effect, it should not become an absolute requirement.

Time and venue of meetings

The Committee noted that within the context of the Calendar of meetings set and agreed annually by Council there would still be some occasions when, still subject to the agreement of the Chairman, the venue of a meeting would be changed.

‘Calling-in’ planning applications to Planning Committee

The Committee considered a wide range of issues and heard from the Head of Planning about the likely impact of any changes on both duration of Committee meetings and on professional advice and processing resources within the Planning service. It was noted that a similar provision had applied in at least one of the legacy Councils.

There was also discussion about introduction of a policy whereby planning applications would be referred for determination by the Committee if subject of a set number of representations from members of the public that were contrary to the recommendation of the Planning Officer. The view of the Committee was that these representations should not be restricted by being limited to persons within the BCP Council area.

It was proposed and seconded that the reference to Committee should be triggered when there were 15 representations from different addresses. By way of an amendment, it was proposed and seconded that reference to Committee should be triggered when there were 20 representations from different addresses and, on being put to vote, the amendment was carried (Voting: For the amendment 6; Against 3). As a Substantive motion, the motion was carried (Voting: For the motion: Unanimous).

There was a recognition that the Head of Planning and the Monitoring Officer would need to work closely together on the implementation of this change.

It was also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63