Issue - meetings

To consider the following motion, submitted by Dr Walsh, which was referred to the Governance Committee at the meeting of the County Council on 19 July 2019.

‘The County Council has been found ‘inadequate’ by HM Inspectorate, in respect of the Fire and Rescue Service, as well as in its provision of Children’s Services by Ofsted, where the Government has appointed a Commissioner to run the service.  The Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government expressing his “grave concerns about the governance of this authority”, and asking him “to investigate why things have gone so wrong”.

It is abundantly clear to all that there is a systemic failure of political leadership of West Sussex County Council encompassing all our major services, and further evidenced by the high turnover rate of most senior officers at Director level including Chief Executive over the last few years, and the churn of Cabinet Members.

The Council therefore resolves to scrap the current Cabinet system of governance, where most major decisions are taken either by individual Cabinet Members, or occasionally by the whole Cabinet, and to replace it with a Committee-based system, where all councillors play a part in decision making, and for this to be in place by May 2020.’

and the report by the Governance Committee.

57.1     At the County Council meeting on 19 July 2019 the following motion had been moved by Dr Walsh, seconded by Mrs Millson, and referred to the Governance Committee for consideration. A report from the Committee was included with the agenda (pages 55 and 56).

‘The County Council has been found ‘inadequate’ by HM Inspectorate, in respect of the Fire and Rescue Service, as well as in its provision of Children’s Services by Ofsted, where the Government has appointed a Commissioner to run the service.  The Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government expressing his “grave concerns about the governance of this authority”, and asking him “to investigate why things have gone so wrong”.

It is abundantly clear to all that there is a systemic failure of political leadership of West Sussex County Council encompassing all our major services, and further evidenced by the high turnover rate of most senior officers at Director level including Chief Executive over the last few years, and the churn of Cabinet Members.

The Council therefore resolves to scrap the current Cabinet system of governance, where most major decisions are taken either by individual Cabinet Members, or occasionally by the whole Cabinet, and to replace it with a Committee-based system, where all councillors play a part in decision making, and for this to be in place by May 2020.’

57.2     An amendment was moved by Mr Jones and seconded by Ms Sudan, as set out below, and accepted by Dr Walsh.

‘The County Council has been found ‘inadequate’ by HM Inspectorate, in respect of the Fire and Rescue Service, as well as in its provision of Children’s Services by Ofsted, where the Government has appointed a Commissioner to run the service. The Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government expressing his “grave concerns about the governance of this authority” and asking him “to investigate why things have gone so wrong”.

It is abundantly clear to all that there is a systemic failure of political leadership of West Sussex County Council encompassing all our major services, and further evidenced by the high turnover rate of most senior officers at Director level including Chief Executive over the last few years, and the churn of Cabinet Members.

The Council therefore resolves to review scrap the current Cabinet system of governance, where most major decisions are taken either by individual Cabinet Members, or occasionally by the whole Cabinet, and to replace it with either the Committee-based system or an alternative arrangement which leads to far more transparent and collective decision-making, where all councillors play a part in decision making, and for this to be in place by May 2020.’

57.3     The motion, as amended, was lost.

Report by the Director of Law and Assurance.

The County Council at its meeting on 19 July 2019 referred a motion by Dr Walsh on the system of Council governance to the Governance Committee for consideration.  Members are asked to consider a response to the motion for submission to the meeting of the County Council on 18 October 2019.

22.1     The Committee was reminded that the County Council, at its meeting on 19 July 2019, had referred a motion by Dr Walsh on the system of Council governance to the Governance Committee for consideration.  Members considered a report by the Director of Law and Assurance (copy appended to the signed minutes) and were asked to consider a response to the motion for submission to the meeting of the County Council on 18 October 2019.

22.2     Dr Walsh said that his reason for bringing the motion was that, in his view, there was cross-party dissatisfaction with the system of council governance.  He had worked under both the cabinet and committee systems.  He believed there are shortcomings to the cabinet system and, at Arun District Council, where he was now leader, there are plans to return to the committee system from May next year. He said he did not feel it was democratic that the majority of the County Council’s decisions were taken by Cabinet Members. Scrutiny is ineffective as its recommendations are frequently ignored or disregarded. Members of the public expect their elected representatives to be involved in decisions on their behalf and are puzzled to hear that one member makes a decision.  A return to the committee system would allow all members to play a part in decision-making and be held to account for those decisions.  Dr Walsh said, in his view, this would improve the image of the County Council and the quality of decision-making.

22.3     Members expressed a range of views on the pros and cons of the two systems.  Mr Burrett commented that Crawley Borough Council had considered reverting to the committee system but had concluded that the cabinet system was a faster and more efficient system of decision-making and easier to understand. He noted that very few councils had reverted to the committee system, particularly at county-level.

22.4     Mr Jones said he was open-minded about the two systems.  The cabinet system streamlined decision-making but in his view Cabinet Members too often ignored the comments of select committees and Business Planning Groups rejected too many call-in requests.  The recent Ofsted inspection had raised a question as to the effectiveness of scrutiny.

22.5     The Leader said that under the old committee system it had often taken a long time to take decisions and there had been negotiation behind the scenes before meetings.  In her view, reverting to the committee system would be a retrograde step. In relation to scrutiny she felt the issue was around the members not being curious or outward looking enough. She felt some improvements could be made without changing the whole system. The Forward Plan of key decisions had not existed under the committee system and there should be an earlier review of these decisions to improve transparency of decision-making.  In her view it would be indulgent, given other priorities, to consider the disruption of reverting to the old system.  Instead the Council should concentrate on the review of scrutiny and an earlier  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22

To consider the following motion, submitted by Dr Walsh, notice of which was given on 1 July 2019.

‘The County Council has been found ‘inadequate’ by HM Inspectorate, in respect of the Fire and Rescue Service, as well as in its provision of Children’s Services by Ofsted, where the Government has appointed a Commissioner to run the service.  The Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government expressing his “grave concerns about the governance of this authority”, and asking him “to investigate why things have gone so wrong”.

It is abundantly clear to all that there is a systemic failure of political leadership of West Sussex County Council encompassing all our major services, and further evidenced by the high turnover rate of most senior officers at Director level including Chief Executive over the last few years, and the churn of Cabinet Members.

The Council therefore resolves to scrap the current Cabinet system of governance, where most major decisions are taken either by individual Cabinet Members, or occasionally by the whole Cabinet, and to replace it with a Committee-based system, where all councillors play a part in decision making, and for this to be in place by May 2020.’

37.1  The following motion was moved by Dr Walsh and seconded by Mrs Millson:

‘The County Council has been found ‘inadequate’ by HM Inspectorate, in respect of the Fire and Rescue Service, as well as in its provision of Children’s Services by Ofsted, where the Government has appointed a Commissioner to run the service.  The Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government expressing his “grave concerns about the governance of this authority”, and asking him “to investigate why things have gone so wrong”.

It is abundantly clear to all that there is a systemic failure of political leadership of West Sussex County Council encompassing all our major services, and further evidenced by the high turnover rate of most senior officers at Director level including Chief Executive over the last few years, and the churn of Cabinet Members.

The Council therefore resolves to scrap the current Cabinet system of governance, where most major decisions are taken either by individual Cabinet Members, or occasionally by the whole Cabinet, and to replace it with a Committee-based system, where all councillors play a part in decision making, and for this to be in place by May 2020.’

37.2   The motion was referred to the Governance Committee for consideration.