Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the City Solicitor.

The City Solicitor presented the report seeking to make various amendments to the Council’s Constitution including the power to make urgent decisions as necessary. These changes were designed to allow the Council to continue to function if staff were absent as a result of the Corona Virus pandemic.

The recommendations would also enable the Council to make speedy decisions.

The City Solicitor also reported suggested changes to the recommendations following The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panel (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020, which came into force on 4 April 2020. These were the inclusion of the requirement to consult the Leader of the Council or, in his absence, the Deputy Leader of the Council in respect of the delegating of authority to officers in recommendations 1 and 2 and the removal of recommendations 6 and 7 relating to public speaking and petitions respectively. The City Solicitor also reported the inclusion of a sunset clause of May 2021 in the regulations relating to the conduct of local authority meetings.

Councillors Leadbetter and K. Mitchell, speaking as group leaders, welcomed the report with the amendments suggested by the City Solicitor.

Councillor D. Moore, having given notice under Standing Order No. 44, spoke on this item. She made the following points:-

·         thanked all involved in the response to the crisis;

·         welcomed the proposal to extend the deputising arrangements to senior Councillors and the removal of recommendations relating to public speaking and petitions; and

·         expressed reservations relating to the suspension of certain Standing Orders as proposed in recommendation 4.

The Leader moved and the Deputy Leader seconded the recommendations with the suggested amendments and they were carried unanimously.

RECOMMENDED that Council approve:-

(1)        amending the Council’s Scheme of Delegation and Financial Regulations, including those to be made in consultation with a Councillor, giving the Chief Executive & Growth Director together with the Strategic Management Board delegated authority to discharge any delegated authority already set out in the Council’s Scheme of Delegation, including those set out in the Council’s Financial Regulations, effective immediately. This shall include the power to make urgent decisions in consultation with the Leader of the Council or, in his absence, the Deputy Leader of the Council.

(2)        granting the City Solicitor delegated authority to amend the Constitution to give effect to any change in legislation brought by the Government in response to the Corona Virus pandemic in consultation with the Leader of the Council or, in his absence, the Deputy Leader. In the absence of the City Solicitor, the Corporate Manager, Democratic & Civic Support and the Litigation Solicitor may also exercise this delegated authority;

(3)        granting permission to any Councillor to be absent from Council meetings for a period over six months provided that such absence is as a result of either a requirement to self-isolate or sickness due to the corona virus;

(4)        suspending Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution and Standing Orders 47 and 48 for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45