Agenda item

Constitutional Changes - Phase 2

Decision:

Councillor MOVED the report and proposed an additional recommendation that the Chairs of Planning A and B take turns to Chair the Strategic Planning Committee, with the other being Vice Chair.

It was also noted that the Monitoring Officer would ensure the terminology used in the Constitution is appropriate and also ‘tidy up’ any minor spelling, grammatical and formatting errors.

Councillor Wise SECONDED and it was RESOLVED that the following was agreed:

Petition Scheme Recommendations

1. That the Council adopts the revised petition scheme as set out in the report with immediate effect.

Amalgamation of Committees Recommendations

1. The Audit Panel be renamed the Audit & Risk Management Committee;

2. The Chair of the Audit & Risk Management Committee be paid Special Responsibility Allowance of £7151 in recognition of the remit of the committee;

3. That the Audit & Risk Management Committee meets six times a year;

4. That there are no changes to the Health & Safety Committee at present but the matter is kept under review following the transfer of the housing stock to the Council from Lewisham Homes;

5. That the Elections Committee and Constitutional Working Party are merged into a Governance Committee that meets as and when required as determined by the Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Chair of the committee.

6. A Special Responsibility Allowance of £7151 be paid to the Chair of Pensions Investments Committee.

Planning Committee Arrangements Recommendations

1. The deletion of the current four committees and the establishment of two main planning committees of equal standing;

2. The creation of a new Strategic Planning Committee, which only meets when an application falls within Parts 1-4 of the Schedule to The Town and Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008.

3. That the new Strategic Planning Committee be constituted as follows: -

a. Chairs of the two Planning Committees;

b. Vice-Chairs of the two Planning Committees;

c. Two Cabinet Members nominated by the Mayor;

d. One other member from each of the two Planning Committees.

4. That the Chairs of both committees be paid a Special Responsibility Allowance of £10,216 (an amount equal to the current SRA payable to the Chair of Strategic Planning Committee) and the Chair of Strategic Planning Committee does not get a Special Responsibility Allowance;

5. That each main committee has a membership of 8 councillors;

6. That each main committee meets bi-monthly;

7. That the threshold for referral to a main Committee be increased from 3 objections to 10 objections;

8. That amenity societies must be formally constituted and meet the terms of the London Forum for Amenity and Civic Societies;

9. That any objection from an amenity society is not automatically referred to a main committee but suitability for referral to committee is determined by the Director of Planning in consultation with the Chairs of both committees (or Vice-Chairs in their absence) in a Chairs’ Briefing.

10. That the Chairs of Planning Committee A and Planning Committee B will be Chair and Vice Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, alternating roles for each meeting.

Overview & Scrutiny Arrangements Recommendations

1. The current three-tier scrutiny structure is replaced with a simplified two-tier structure made up of an Overview & Scrutiny Committee and the current select committees;

2. That the number of councillors on Overview & Scrutiny Committee be 10;

3. That the Chair of each Select Committee must be a member of Overview & Scrutiny Committee but cannot be the Chair or Vice-Chair of Overview & Scrutiny Committee;

4. That councillors who sit on any of the Council’s regulatory committees are able to also sit on Overview & Scrutiny Committee or any of its Select Committees;

5. That the Special Responsibility Allowance payable to the Chair of Overview & Scrutiny Committee is £13,281;

6. That the Special Responsibility Allowance payable to the chairs of each of the Select Committees is £7,151;

7. That the Chair of any Task & Finish Group does not receive a Special Responsibility Allowance;

8. That the work programmes for the Select Committees are approved by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee;

9. The current Task & Finish Groups are recommended to remain provided the following provisions are put in place: -

a. The remit, scope, duration and membership of Task & Finish Groups can only be agreed by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee;

b. Any non-Executive councillor can be selected to sit on a Task & Finish Group;

c. The maximum number of councillors that can sit on a Task & Finish Group is five (5);

d. No more than three (3) Task & Finish Groups can be undertaken in any single municipal year.

10. That any post decision call-ins are dealt with by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee;

11. That any pre-decision scrutiny which has taken place is brought to the attention of the decision-maker (ordinarily Mayor & Cabinet) to ensure they are fully informed of the views of scrutiny as appropriate;

12. That, in circumstances where pre-decision scrutiny has taken place and the decision-maker has been made aware of the outcome of the pre-decision scrutiny, there is no requirement for the decision-maker to formally respond to the pre-decision scrutiny;

13. To note that the Head of Overview, Scrutiny & Policy, as the Council’s statutory scrutiny officer, will be issuing further detailed guidance following the Annual General Meeting of the Council.

Minutes: