The report asks the Committee to consider a revision of the Council’s Constitution and recommend to Council adjustments outlined in the report.

The Committee received a report that set out revisions to the Council’s Constitution.  The last review of the Constitution had taken place in October 2022 and a further review had been agreed after 12 months to assess whether the objectives of the review had been successful and to consider further revisions.

As part of the 2022 review the scope of officer delegation had been significantly broadened and a new definition of a ‘Key Decision’ agreed.  Following the new scheme of delegations and introduction of the new Constitution officers were invited to training sessions with the Legal Services Manager and Democratic Services Manager on the new system.  No issues in relation to the changes had been identified, however, the Key Decision criteria would be kept under review by the Monitoring Officer and continued training and support would be offered to officers.

It was reported that there had been progress on the review of the Financial Regulations, but due to the prioritisation of outstanding audits and the implementation of the new financial system, these were not ready for submission.  It was anticipated that the Financial Regulations would be presented to a forthcoming Policy Committee ahead of Council in January 2024.

The revision of the Contract Procedure Rules would be considered at Audit and Governance Committee on 27 September 2023 and recommended onto Council on 17 October 2023.  Revised Terms of Reference for the Audit & Governance Committee would be presented to the Audit and Governance Committee on 27 September to be considered and recommended onto Council on 17 October 2023.

A revised Article 12 of the Constitution included amendments as set out in Appendix 1.  Other amendments included in the review and outlined in the associated report were as follows:

·         Specific Officers Delegations

·         Sealing of Documents

·         Casual Appointments to Committees

·         School Admission Forum

·         Cultural Partnership Board

Recommended to Council –

(1)          That the progress to simplify decision making since October 2022 be noted;

(2)          That progress toward revised Financial Regulations be noted;

(3)          That Article 12 of the Constitution be revised in accordance with the recommendations of the associated report (as set out in Appendix 1);

(4)          That references to the School Admission Forum and the Cultural Partnership Board be removed from Article 10 (Consultative Committees and Forums);

(5)          That the revised working for Sealing of Documents be adopted as set out in paragraph 3.34 of the associated report;

(6)               That the existing power of the Monitoring Officer to make changes to Committees etc. during the municipal year, be added to Part 3 (Officer Delegations) of the Constitution.