Agenda and minutes

Venue: County Hall, Chichester

Contact: Clare Jones on 033 022 22526  Email:  clare.jones@westsussex.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

47.

Declarations of Interest

Members and officers must declare any pecuniary or personalinterest in any business on the agenda. They should also make declarations at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. Consideration should be given to leaving the meeting if the nature of the interest warrants it.  If in doubt please contact Democratic Services before the meeting.

Minutes:

47.1   No interests declared.

48.

Minutes of the last meeting of the Committee pdf icon PDF 52 KB

The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2018 (cream paper).

Minutes:

48.1  Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2018 be approved as a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

49.

Urgent Matters

Items not on the agenda which the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances.

Minutes:

49.1   The Chairman referred to a message which members had received from a member of public regarding payments made to the Chief Executive as part of his appointment in 2016 and said that he had asked the Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change to report on the matter.  The report would go to the Chairman who would decide on the appropriate action to be taken.

 

49.2   Members commented that the Council should be seen to deal with the matter fully, that some independence in the process be considered and that the work should be carried out as soon as possible.

 

49.3   The Chairman agreed to advise all members of the position and the proposed course of action.

50.

Review of County Local Committees pdf icon PDF 39 KB

Report by the Director of Law and Assurance.

 

At its meeting on 28 November 2018, the Governance Committee agreed to carry out a review of County Local Committees after May 2019.  The Committee is asked to consider and agree the proposed terms of reference for the review.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

50.1   The Committee was reminded that at its meeting on 28 November 2018 it had agreed to carry out a review of County Local Committees after May 2019.  The Committee considered a report by the Director of Law and Assurance on the proposed terms of reference for the review (copy appended to the signed minutes).

 

50.2   The Head of Democratic Services introduced the report referred to the membership of the working group as set out in paragraph 2 of Appendix 1 of the report.  She confirmed that Mrs Millson had agreed to remain a member of the group representing the Horsham district and that Mrs Mullins would be the representative for Crawley.  The Conservative Group Leader would confirm the remaining three names in due course.

 

50.3  Resolved – That the terms of reference, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved.

51.

Substitution on Select Committees pdf icon PDF 48 KB

Report by the Director of Law and Assurance.

 

At its last meeting, the Committee asked for a more detailed report to be prepared on substitution, with a view to considering whether to recommend the introduction of formal substitution on Select Committees.  The report sets out how to establish substitution and why substitution was previously abolished in 2005.  The Committee is asked to consider two possible approaches to ensuring representation of a political group at a Select Committee for recommendation to the County Council.

Minutes:

51.1   The Committee was reminded that at its last meeting it had asked for a more detailed report on substitution with a view to considering whether to recommend the a system to allow substitutes at select committee meetings. 

 

51.2   Members considered a report by the Director of Law and Assurance which set out why the previous system of substitutes on select committees had been abolished in 2005, how to establish substitution and also contained an option for presuming that a member could speak at a select committee if that member’s political group would otherwise be unrepresented (copy appended to the signed minutes).

 

51.3   The Committee considered the two possible approaches set out in section 2 of the report and supported the proposal set out in paragraph 2.2 that there should be a mechanism of formal substitution on select committees.

 

51.4   Members recommended that there should be one named substitute per political group for each select committee and that substitutes should automatically receive papers for each meeting, irrespective of whether they were likely to be called on to substitute.

 

51.5   Members noted that the Constitutional changes required to put the proposals into effect would be taken to the next meeting of the County Council in February for approval.  The Committee supported the introduction of the new system with immediate effect after the Council meeting and therefore asked that nominations for substitutes be sought for approval at the same meeting.

 

51.6  Resolved – That the County Council be recommended that a system of formal substitutes be introduced for select committees, with one named member per political group for each select committee, to be adopted with immediate effect.

52.

Governance of the Capital Programme pdf icon PDF 89 KB

Report by the Director of Law and Assurance.

 

Since the capital governance was approved in December 2015, it has been implemented across all capital programmes and projects.  The experience and learning of the last three years has led to some proposed changes in order to improve the efficiency and transparency of the capital approvals process in the following key areas.  The Committee is asked to consider the changes for recommendation to the County Council.

Minutes:

52.1   Members were informed that since the capital governance was approved in December 2015, it had been implemented across all capital programmes and projects.  The experience and learning of the last three years had led to some proposed changes in order to improve the efficiency and transparency of the capital approvals process in the following key areas.  The Committee was asked to consider a report by the Director of Law and Assurance on a number of changes for recommendation to the County Council (copy appended to the signed minutes).

 

52.2  Resolved - That changes to the governance of the capital programme, as set out in the report, be endorsed for recommendation to the County Council.

53.

Pay Policy Statement 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 39 KB

Report by the Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change.

 

The Committee is invited to consider proposed revisions to the Pay Policy Statement, as set out in the report, for recommendation to the County Council.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

53.1   The Committee considered a report by the Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change on proposed revisions to the Pay Policy Statement for recommendation to the County Council (copy appended to the signed minutes).

 

53.2  Resolved - That the proposed revisions to the Pay Policy Statement, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, be endorsed for recommendation to the County Council.

54.

Report of the Member Development Group pdf icon PDF 53 KB

Report by the Chairman of the Member Development Group.

 

To receive the regular report on the work of the Group, member development activities and member training and development priorities and plans.

Minutes:

54.1   The Committee considered the regular report on the work of the Member Development Group (MDG), member development activities and member training and development priorities and plans by the Chairman of the Group (copy appended to the signed minutes).

 

54.2   With reference to paragraph 3.1 (b) of the report and the planned visit to the Materials Recycling Facility in Ford, the Head of Democratic Services said the visit was likely to take place in May.  Numbers were limited to 14 due to the restrictions of the site.  She confirmed that more than one visit could be arranged if necessary depending on the level of interest.

 

54.3   A comment was made that it was generally the same members who attended member development activities and that it would be helpful to find out the reasons for other members not attending and if there was anything that could be done to encourage them to do so.  It was felt that the Member Day sessions provided a lot of useful background information which was particularly helpful for select committee members.

 

54.4   Mrs Mullins said that the MDG working group referenced in paragraph 3.2 of the report, which was looking at the barriers to standing for election, was producing some excellent work including looking at new technology and ways of making the content of Member Day sessions available to those who were unable to attend.

 

54.5   The Leader thanked the Head of Democratic Services and her staff for their excellent work in support of the working group and commented that the recent Local Government Association peer review had praised the work of the unit.

 

54.6   Resolved - That the report be noted.

55.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Committee will be held at 2.15 p.m. on Monday, 11 March 2019 at County Hall, Chichester.

Minutes:

55.1   The Committee noted that the next meeting would be held at 2.15 p.m. on Monday, 11 March 2019.