Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from Committee Members.

Apologies were received from Councillor Ketchin and the Chief Executive.

Councillors are reminded of the need to declare any discloseable pecuniary interests that relate to business on the agenda and which have not already been included in the register of interests, before any discussion takes place on the item. Unless the interest is sensitive, you must also disclosure the nature of the interest.  In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, you must then leave the room and must not participate in any further discussion on the item.  Councillors requiring clarification should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer prior to the day of the meeting.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made.

To receive the report of the Monitoring Officer.

The Monitoring Officer requested that this item was withdrawn to allow input from party leaders.   The report would be presented to a future meeting in accordance with Council provisions.

To receive the report of the Monitoring Officer.

The Solicitor presented the report on Constitutional Changes – City Development Functions and Responsibilities stating that input had been sought from officers as well as Members, via the Governance Sounding Board. In presenting the report he made the following points:

·         at present the public and Members spoke immediately prior to debate on an item and this could often drive debate considering matters which were not material planning issues. It was proposed that Standing Order No. 19A be amended to change the speaking order. It was hoped that this would bring more informed debate and enable the committee to make lawful and good decisions;

·         the length of time which Members may address the committee for under Standing Order No. 44 was proposed to be amended, limiting Members to five minutes to represent their residents and increasing public speakers to five minutes thus equalising both parties as the current unrestricted format for questions under Standing Order No. 44 and members of the public speaking under Standing Order No. 19A had, at times, evolved into lengthy discussion or question and answer sessions which could introduce irrelevant considerations;

·         there was an updated flow chart which set out the speaking order to Members and the public;

·         the Planning Code of Good Practice would replace the Planning Code of Conduct and had been provided by a professional membership body representing local authority legal advisers and had been presented in 2003 but updated since and reflected the Localism Act amongst other relevant legislation. This would provide practical support to Members as they navigated the planning decision-making progress;

·         a site-visit protocol would be introduced;

·         changes to scheme of delegation were listed in section 3 of the report and would enhance the role of Delegation Briefing and ensure that items which came before Delegation Briefing were reported in a timely manner;

·         S106 obligations would be clarified;

·         the detail of the report stated that the financial limit for new planning agreements, which the Head of City Development had delegated authority to enter into, was £100,000. The proposed new scheme of delegations to officers at Appendix 5 stated at Part B, Section 3 that the limit was £200,000 and the Solicitor apologised for the oversight.

·         the Terms of Reference for the Planning Committee would be updated; and

·         only staff applications which were major would be brought before the committee.

The Monitoring Officer clarified that changed to the Constitution were delegated to the Monitoring Officer and Lord Mayor and he saw no reason why these changes could not be introduced ahead of the wider Constitutional Changes item being heard.

During debate the Chair of the Planning Committee, Councillor Knott spoke in support of the officer’s recommendations in light of having attended a national conference with 29 other local planning authorities where Exeter was the only authority to allow unlimited time for Members to speak. He also clarified that time limits could be extended by the Chair using their powers, where necessary.

There was reservation over changes being made to the order  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

To receive the report of the Strategic Director People and Communities.

Councillor Knott proposed that this item was deferred due to it being linked to the withdrawn item regarding Constitutional Changes. This was withdrawn following advice from the Monitoring Officer that JCNC was a freestanding part of the constitution therefore maybe considered.

The meeting was adjourned at 18:59pm

The meeting reconvened at 19:06pm

Strategic Director for Corporate Resources presents on behalf of the JCNC and Strategic Director for People and Communities, making the following points:

·         This was a small piece of the constitution;

·         The JCNC had been through a process of amending their Terms of Reference in order to strengthen them;

·         the process was that the Terms of Reference had been drafted and reviewed in consultation with Unison which was the only union currently represented on the JCNC;

·         Unison had consulted with staff representatives and gained feedback which had been shared with the JCNC

·         There was a request to review paid time after 12 months; and

·         There were no staff representatives from Unite or GMB at Exeter City Council.

The Chair stated that the other unions had members in the council and that he and the Deputy Chair would like those others to be consulted and that there should be evidence of such before this item went forward. The Chair pointed out that given Local Government Reorganisation it was important that union members had proper representation, and the other unions might want to have input.  The Deputy Chair stated that this was an important process and this was missing detail which ought to be added.

The Strategic Director for Corporate Resources responded to Members questions in the following terms:

·         That there was space on the JCNC for all unions to be represented which remained open but hadn’t been taken up recently; and

·         Further changes could be made and brought before Council via the Audit and Governance Committee.

The Chair proposed, seconded by Councillor Moore and following a unanimous vote it was AGREED:

That this matter be deferred to a future meeting of this committee and all three unions be written to, their local representatives and regional offices, and sent copies of existing and proposed Terms of Reference and a written reply to be requested by the end of June; and

For Officers to clarify:

1.    the difference in wording in points 1 and 6 regarding consultation and negotiation; and

2.    reasons for removal of reference to the national agreement on pay and conditions of service NJC National Agreement and Joint Negotiating Committee’s for Chief Officers of Local Authorities and Local Authority Chief Executives.