Agenda item

The Committee noted that Council appointed councillors to a number of local external organisations for which they undertook a range of governance or advisory roles. The Council’s constitutional protocol provided guidance to councillors undertaking such appointments. Terms of office varied by organisation and, consequently, there was currently a need to report to Council annually to reappoint or fill vacancies.

On 10 May 2016, the Council had resolved to establish a Working Group with the following terms of reference:

(a)   to engage with those external organisations to which the Council appoints representatives to discover what they look for from such appointments;

(b)   to review the process for making appointments and, in relation to each organisation, whether the Council should continue to make such appointments; and

(c)   to submit a report on their findings to the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee, for final recommendation to Council.

In November 2016, a Working Group was established and a review of the process and engagement with external organisations commenced. The Committee considered an interim report setting out the progress of the review to date, together with a number of initial recommendations for consideration and recommendation to Council on 11 April 2017.

Having considered the interim report, the Committee

RECOMMEND:

(1)         That councillors will normally be appointed to such external organisations that:

                   (i)        support the Council’s Corporate priorities, and/or

                 (ii)        assist in delivery of Council services, and/or

                (iii)        are using Council facilities

(2)         That all appointees to external organisations shall be current borough councillors.

(3)         That, in principle, when an appointment is made there shall be just one councillor appointee and a deputy appointed to each external organisation.

(4)         That the Council shall appoint to external organisations for a four-year term of office following Borough Council elections, and that, should a vacancy arise during a term of office, the deputy appointee (where applicable) will normally assume the role of the appointee for the term of office remaining, and group leaders will be asked to submit nominations for the appointment of a new deputy appointee in accordance with the provisions of these recommendations.

(5)         That the term of office in respect of appointments to external organisations expiring in May 2017 be extended to July 2017.

(6)         That a ‘person profile’, as set out in Appendix 8 to the report submitted to the Committee shall be completed by each external organisation to ensure that the appointment is a suitable match to the requirements of the organisation and the capacity of the individual councillor in terms of skills, experience and time commitment.

(7)         That councillors shall not accept an appointment to an external organisation unless there is a full understanding of the commitments and requirements for the role between all parties.

(8)         That political group leaders shall liaise between themselves to ensure that individual councillors’ interest in specific nominations are shared between them before the meeting at which any contested appointments are to be determined.

(9)         That, in relation to contested appointments, each nominee shall have the opportunity to make either a written or an oral personal statement to the meeting in support of their nomination before the vote is taken, with any oral statement taking no longer than three minutes.

(10)     That the Democratic Services Manager be authorised to determine uncontested appointments to external organisations.

(11)     That it will be the expectation of the Council that an induction and suitable training shall be provided for the councillor appointee by the external organisation which shall include any legal responsibilities, budget and financial issues, information sharing with the council or other bodies and accountability.

(12)     That the process of appointments to external organisations shall be covered in the Council’s new councillor induction programme.

(13)     That all councillors appointed to an external organisation shall each year provide written feedback on the work of those organisations over the previous twelve months using the report template at Appendix 9 to the report.

(14)     That the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Lead Councillor for Infrastructure and Governance, be authorised to make such amendments to the Council’s Constitution as may be necessary to implement these adopted recommendations.

(15)     That these arrangements be reviewed in three years’ time.

Reason for Recommendation:

To ensure that the Council maintains and develops relationships with key local organisations and partners in the most mutually productive ways and in the best interests of local people.