Agenda and draft minutes

There were no declarations of interest at the meeting.

To agree as a true record the minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2023 were agreed as a true record of the meeting.

To review the survey and consultation proposals.

David Kitson set out his proposals for consultation. He advised that the consultation would concentrate on public participation.

Members of the Working Group made points including the following:

·       Permitting questions to be asked at all Committee Meetings could result in a large amount of additional work for officers and Members.

·       Allowing questions at the two main service committees (i.e., Resources and Community & Environment) would enable the public to have input into the committees. This could be time limited.

·       Would there be a change to Councillor question and answer sessions?

·       Could there be a limit to the number of public questions asked at committee meetings? The option of asking supplementary questions could also be removed.

·       The current portfolio holder updates at Council meetings were really useful, and Committee Chairs could be given an opportunity to give updates to Council meetings.

·       Only 7 public questions had been asked at council at the last three meetings. Allowing questions at committee meetings would be unlikely to increase the number of overall questions, but may possibly just disperse them.

·       How many meetings would each committee have?

·       Members of the public should be consulted for their input in terms of potential restrictions on questions.

·       Tweaks could be necessary after the arrangements were introduced in May.

David responded to some of the issues raised and made points including the following:

·       Having a time limit on a questions and answer session would not reduce the amount of administration involved, as answers would need to be provided to all questions.

·       The Councillor question and answer session would remain at Full Council, but the nature would change, as there would not be Cabinet Members but questions could be asked of Committee Chairs.

·       It would be possible to put a time restriction on the Q&A session, and limit the number of questions.

The Chief Executive also added the following points:

·       It was necessary to retain the provision for the Monitoring Officer to determine whether a question was permitted, and where it should be routed to.

·       The number of meetings was being considered at present. The Working Group had already indicated they did not wish to increase the number of overall meetings, so the team would seek to keep within the current total number of meetings.

·       The urgency provision still needed to be finalised, to ensure that decisions could be expedited quickly when needed.

·       It was vital to ensure a clear remit for each of the service committees.

David indicated that he would update the consultation questions to reflect the discussion, and recirculate to the Working Group Members.

David then outlined suggestions for the community event. He advised it would be part of the consultation process, and would give the public another opportunity to feedback on the consultation if they had not already done so. The format would be a presentation, and input would be sought in respect of public participation in the new structure.

The Working Group Members commented on various issues and made points including the following:

·       This was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.