Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor George Potter, Murray Litvak, Julia Osborn, and Simon Schofield.

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In accordance with the local Code of Conduct, a councillor is required to disclose at the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) that they may have in respect of any matter for consideration on this agenda.  Any councillor with a DPI must notparticipate in any discussion or vote regarding that matter and they must also withdraw from the meeting immediately before consideration of the matter.

If that DPI has not been registered, you must notify the Monitoring Officer of the details of the DPI within 28 days of the date of the meeting.

Councillors are further invited to disclose any non-pecuniary interest which may be relevant to any matter on this agenda, in the interests of transparency, and to confirm that it will not affect their objectivity in relation to that matter.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the special meeting of the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee held on 15 May 2024 (to follow).

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 May 2024 were confirmed as a correct record.  The chairman signed the minutes.

The Chairman to respond to any questions received from members of the public of which notice has been duly given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.

The deadline for receipt of questions is 5pm on Tuesday 25 June 2024.

There were no questions from the public.

The Chairman to respond to any questions received from Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.

The deadline for receipt of questions is 5pm on Tuesday 25 June 2024.

There were no questions from members.

The Committee noted that the review of the Officer Scheme of Delegation and Proper Officer Scheme had been undertaken by the Joint Constitutions Review Group (JCRG), at their meetings held on 25 April, 29 May and 20 June 2024.

Each Council’s Executive had also considered this matter in the context of the Officer Scheme of Delegation which related specifically to Executive functions.  Both Executives had given formal approval to the delegation of Executive functions set out in the revised Joint Officer Scheme of Delegation and Proper Officer Scheme.  The Executive had also authorised the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Leader, Deputy Leader, and Portfolio Holder, to include any changes to the Scheme of Delegation in respect of Executive functions recommended by this Committee.

At its meeting on 20 June 2024, the JCRG had agreed to recommend approval of the new Officer Scheme of Delegation and Proper Officer Scheme, copies of which were appended to the report, to this Committee and to Waverley’s Standards & General Purposes Committee, with a further recommendation that the Committees recommend the adoption of the new Officer Scheme of Delegation and Proper Officer Scheme to the respective full Council meetingsin July 2024.

During the debate, the following points were made:

·      It was suggested that the exercise of the delegation to the JSD – Housing Communities & Environment to take a decision as to whether the Council would tolerate unlawful encampments for a specified period and purpose, and to keep that decision under constant review (ref: 2.3.1) should be in consultation with the relevant portfolio holder.

·      It was suggested that the delegation to the Assistant Director – Community Services to take any action under the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984 and the related public health protection regulations (ref 3.2.5) should be in consultation with the Leader of the Council.

·      In relation to the General Principles (ref: 1.4.4), it was suggested that the wording should be clarified as follows:

“The exercise of a delegated power shall not amount to a new policy or extension or amendment to an existing policy unless the officer has specific delegated authority to do so. create a new policy or extend or amend an existing policy.”

·      In response to a question as to whether the proposed revised scheme of delegation addressed the various lessons learned from the governance related investigations undertaken to date in respect of Guildford, it was confirmed that a key recommendation arising from the SOLACE reports was that scheme of delegation should be reviewed.  In working up the revised scheme of delegation, officers had looked at both councils and it was noted that one of the critical points that had been addressed was to reduce the financial limits that officers were able to spend to under delegated powers without coming back to the Executive, which was a critical safeguard and the scope of certain delegations had been dramatically reduced.

·      In response to a further question seeking assurance that the necessary resources would be allocated to officer training in  ...  view the full minutes text for item CGS21

The Committee considered a report on the recent review of the Financial Procedure Rules, which had been undertaken by the Joint Constitutions Review Group (JCRG), at their meetings held on 29 May and 20 June 2024. The JCRG had recommended approval of the revised Financial Procedure Rules, which were appended to the report, with a further recommendation that this Committee recommends the adoption of the revised Financial Procedure Rules to the full Council.

During the debate, the following comments were made:

·      In response to a question as to what, if any, difference the proposed revised Financial Procedure Rules would have made in respect of the issues relating to the overspend on Guildford’s housing maintenance contracts, the Strategic Director of Finance indicated that in terms of both the proposed new Financial Procedure Rules and Contract Procedure Rules, adjustments had been made to some of the financial limits therein which would require officers to seek proper approvals at times when expenditure was exceeding those limits.  It was noted that a combination of the proposed new scheme of delegation and the new financial and contract procedure rules would provide a level of safeguarding for the Council that had not been present before, so any expenditure over £200,000 would require Executive approval.

·      In response to a further question which sought reassurance on the process for approval of batches of invoices the Committee was informed that following a change in process and procedure within Housing Services for the batching of invoices, which had been worked up by the officers separately to the new Financial Procedure Rules, they would go through the workflow of Business World and would each require express approval of the relevant Strategic Director. 

·      It was suggested that the Executive summary of the report should make it clear that the revised Financial Procedure Rules were designed to strengthen governance within the Council and to mitigate some of the shortcomings in governance which had been uncovered as part of the recent investigations.  In response to a question as to whether the proposed Financial Procedure Rules should be reviewed externally by internal/external auditors to establish whether they were in line with best practice, officers confirmed that there were frequent discussions and meetings with the internal auditors, and that they would be asked to comment on the new procedure rules.

Having considered the report, the Committee

RESOLVED: That the full Council at its meeting on 23 July 2024, be requested to adopt into the Council’s Constitution, the revised Financial Procedure Rules as set out in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Committee.

Reasons:

·      Financial Procedure Rules which are materially the same for both Councils, whilst being owned by each Council in respect of their services, will help to promote more efficient joint working and will support the transformation programme by aligning officer decision making across both Councils.

·      The recommended changes will improve the governance procedures for each Council and will ensure that there is greater clarity over financial decision making.

·      The reductions in financial  ...  view the full minutes text for item CGS22

The Committee noted that Contract Procedure Rules were a statutory requirement under s135 Local Government Act 1972, and they set out the framework by which the Council procured all of its services and works carried out on its behalf. In addition, they also provided guidance to officers as to how such services and works were to be procured. The new Contract Procedure Rules had been updated to reflect not just the lessons learned from the recent governance issues at Guildford but also to align and to bring into force some of the changes that would be coming into force in October 2024 as a consequence of the Procurement Act 2023.  The Government had been very clear that the purposes of the Procurement Act 2023 were not only to simplify the rules and regulations around procurement, but also to increase transparency.

During the debate, the following comments were made:

·       In response to a suggestion that, in relation to procurement below £5,000, there should actually be a requirement to verify that local suppliers have been given an opportunity to quote, and to establish the reasons for not being able to quote, officers indicated that it would be very difficult within the proposed rules to set up a separate system of monitoring of such procurement, particularly given that the Procurement Act would provide greater accessibility for small and medium enterprises into local authority procurement.  The purpose of the requirements regarding procurement below £5,000 was about making sure that officers remember to obtain quotes from local suppliers where possible with a view to dealing with such matters promptly to ensure that there was greater focus on the more regulated higher value contracts.

·       In response to a suggestion that processes for potential local suppliers for lower value procurements should be a great deal simpler and straightforward than those for more complex higher value procurements, officers reiterated that one of the key principles of the new legislation was to require councils to consider how accessible their procurement processes were for small and medium enterprises.

·      In terms of presentation, officers confirmed that when this matter was referred to the full Council meetings of both authorities, “clean” versions of the proposed Contract Procedure Rules would be provided (i.e., a version tailored for each Council to approve).

Having considered the report, the Committee

RESOLVED: That the full Council at its meeting on 23 July 2024, be requested to adopt into the Council’s Constitution, the revised Contract Procedure Rules as set out in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Committee.

Reasons:

·      Contract Procedure Rules which are materially the same for both Councils, whilst being owned by each Council in respect of their services, will help to promote more efficient joint working and will support the transformation programme by aligning officer decision making across both Councils.

·      The recommended changes will improve the governance procedures for each Council and will ensure that there is greater clarity and oversight over procurements.

·      The reductions in Contract limits will ensure that key decisions  ...  view the full minutes text for item CGS23

The Committee considered a report on the recent review of a proposed new Joint Councillor/Officer Relationship Protocol, which had been undertaken by the Joint Constitutions Review Group (JCRG), at its meeting held on 29 May 2024. A good relationship based on mutual trust, respect and courtesy, between Councillors and Officers was essential for the smooth running of the Council.

The proposed Joint Councillor/Officer Relationship Protocol would govern the different roles and responsibilities of Councillors and Officers and set out expectations and provide a framework for how they should work together.

The JCRG had recommended approval of the new Protocol, a copy of which was appended to the report and, if approved, would replace the existing Protocol on Councillor/Officer relations in the Constitution.  The JCRG had further recommended that this Committee recommends the adoption of the new Protocol to the full Council.

The Committee, having noted that there would be training on the Protocol for councillors and officers,

RESOLVED: That the full Council at its meeting on 23 July 2024, be requested to adopt into the Council’s Constitution, the proposed Joint Councillor/Officer Relationship Protocol, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Committee.

Reasons:

·      It is imperative, for the benefit of those who live, work and do business in our Borough’s, that Councillors and Officers are clear on their differing roles and responsibilities and have good working relationships between them based on mutual trust and respect.

·      It is good practice for Councils to have a Protocol in place setting out the

expectations arising from the relationship between Councillors and Officer.