Venue: Town Hall, Catford, SE6 4RU
Contact: Kevin Flaherty 0208 3149327
Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Election of Chair and Vice-Chair PDF 19 KB
Minutes:
RESOLVED
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that Councillor Hall be elected
Chair and Councillor Wise Vice-Chair of the Constitution Working
Party for the municipal year 2011/12.
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2. |
Declarations of Interests PDF 29 KB
Minutes:
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3. |
Minutes PDF 18 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
RESOLVED
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that the minutes of the meeting of
the Constitution Working Party held on
June 2010 be confirmed and signed.
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4. |
Adoption Panel Changes PDF 23 KB
Minutes:
The Head of Law introduced the
report, stating that the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005 had
been amended by the Adoption Agencies and Independent Review of
Determinations (Amendment) Regulations 2011 which had come into
force in April 2011.
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The Chair noted adoption panels
would consist of members drawn from a central list as opposed to
having a fixed membership and he asked if several elected members
would be added to the list from whom the single elected member
representative would be chosen. The Head of Law said it would be
sensible to add more people to the central list.
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RESOLVED
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that the amended provisions
relating to the Adoption Panel shown proposed in paragraph 5 of the
report be agreed for submission to the Council for inclusion in the
Constitution.
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5. |
Positive Ageing Council constitution PDF 37 KB
Minutes:
The Head of Law reported the
Mayor had pledged in 2010 to establish an ‘Elders
Council’ and that in February 2011 he agreed a model of a community based Positive Ageing
Council with four meetings per year, following the local assembly
format, which would be open to any resident over the age of 60 to
attend and give a view.
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The Mayor also noted changes to
the Council’s Constitution would be required in order that
the Positive Ageing Council could be formally recognised within the
Council’s reporting framework and agreed that suggested
changes to the Constitution would be considered by this Working
Party.
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The Working Party considered
the changes and received a representation from Councillor
Fitzsimmons objecting to the proposed limit on referrals to Mayor
& Cabinet shown in paragraph 4.4 of the report.
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The Working Party believed that
as there was only a single Positive Ageing Council holding four
meetings a year, any limit on referrals was unnecessary and they
asked the Head of Law to amend the Constitution to allow any
referral agreed at a main Council meeting to be forwarded to the
Mayor & Cabinet.
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RESOLVED
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That
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(i)
the establishment of the Positive Ageing council be endorsed;
and
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(ii) the changes set out in section 4 be agreed for
submission to the Council for inclusion in the Constitution subject
to 4.4 being amended by the Head of Law to allow the Positive
Ageing Council to make referrals to the Mayor & Cabinet as long
as they were agreed at a main PAC meeting.
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6. |
Scheme of Delegation PDF 91 KB
Minutes:
The Head of Law said changes to
the Scheme of Delegation had previously been considered by the
Council Urgency Committee on October 20 2011 and two substantive
changes had been recommended. The first allowed for changed
Directorate responsibilities given the reduction in Directorates
from five to four. The second reserved to Planning Committees all
town and country planning matters relating to the demolition of any
building that is in use as a public house, or which is currently
unoccupied but was in use as a public house immediately prior to
becoming unoccupied.
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RESOLVED
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That the Council Scheme of
Delegation be endorsed and Council be
recommended to amend the Constitution accordingly.
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7. |
Legislative update PDF 58 KB
Minutes:
The Head of Law presented a
report outlining current proposals in both the Localism Bill and
the Health and Social Care Bill and invited comments on matters
likely to affect the Council’s Constitution.
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The Working Party considered
ethical arrangements and concluded that Lewisham should retain a
Standards Committee and draw up a Local Code of conduct. The Chair
asked for proposals to be worked up and considered at a future
meeting. He added he did not expect current arrangements to be
replicated, and he urged officers to look again at the model which
existed in Lewisham before national mandatory requirements were
introduced.
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The Working Party considered at
length the implications for the Council of community empowerment
and decided that this and other aspects of the Localism Bill should
be the subject of a further report to the Working Party once the
Bill became law.
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In terms of the Health and
Social Care Bill, the Working Party noted the Bill made the formal
consultative body on health matters the authority rather than a
scrutiny body. The Working Party asked that the authority use its
discretion to authorise the Healthier Communities Select Committee
to continue to make representations on health matters. The Chair
observed that this Bill and the Localism Bill both had widespread
implications for the authority which the Working Party should
consider in greater detail once the Bills became law.
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RESOLVED
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that the contents of the Localism
Bill and the Health and Social Care Bill be noted and officers be
requested to further report once the Bills had been enacted setting
out the implications for the Council’s Constitution and any
recommendations for amendment.
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8. |
Constitutional update PDF 31 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Head of Law provided the
Working Party with a schedule of minor amendments to the
Constitution arising from various previous items and
reports.
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In discussion on the Bribery
Act the Head of Law confirmed officers, like members, followed a
Code of Conduct and that all officers graded SMG1 and above
completed a full declarations of
interest return.
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The Working Party requested
that a schedule of changes be produced for ease of reference at the
Council meeting.
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The Chair raised the issue of
Rule J11 and the Working Party agreed that the Appointments
Committee be added to the list of bodies exempted from this rule
as, owing to its small size, almost all of the membership were ineligible to be Chair owing to the
other positions they already held.
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RESOLVED
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That
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(i)
the amendments shown in Appendix 1 of the report be
approved;
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(ii) Rule J11 be amended to add
the Appointments Committee to the list of bodies exempted from the
rule;
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(iii) a schedule of changes be
produced for the November Council; and
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(iv) the Constitution be recommended to the Council for
adoption and be made publicly available.
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