Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 April 2014 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

(1)       The Cabinet Member for Corporate and Democratic Services introduced a report on the successful re-assessment for the Member Development Charter Plus Standard. This report also set out the on-going work of the Member Working Group - Commissioning, which was considering the Member role.

(2)       The Cabinet Member for Corporate and Democratic Services thanked all concerned in the re-assessment, especially Mr Paul Wickenden (Democratic Services) and Mrs Coral Ingleton (HR Business Centre).

(3)       The Committee noted that the report from the Member Working Group – Commissioning on the Member Role, which was due to be reported to the County Council on 23 October 2014,  had not yet been published. The Member Working Group had indicated that it would report to Selection and Member Services Committee on a regular basis.  It was agreed that every Member of the Committee would receive a copy of the draft report which they would be able to comment on prior to publication of the County Council agenda papers.  

(4)       RESOLVED that:-

(a)                      the report be noted together with the suggested areas for improvement set out in the report of the Assessment Team in the Appendix to the report;  and

(b)                      a copy of the Member Working Group – Commissioning report on the Member Role be sent to all Members of the Committee prior to publication.

(1)       The Democratic Services officer introduced a report by the Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform which set out a strategy for compliance with the new School Governance Regulations and made recommendations for new guidelines for the appointment and removal of Authority Governors.

(2)       The Committee made two amendments to the guidelines. These were:-

(i)            an addition to the “Role and Expectations of a Local Authority Governor” (Appendix A) setting out that a good governor should be prepared to be CRB checked; and

(ii)           the insertion of a new Point 2 in the “Process for the Removal of local authority governors” (Appendix D) stating that before the remainder of the procedure commenced, the grounds for the removal request would be forwarded to the Director of Law and Governance who would advise on their legal soundness.

(3)       RESOLVED that subject to (2) above, the new guidelines for the appointment and removal of Authority Governors be approved as set out in Appendices A to E of the report.

(1)       The Committee considered a report by the Chairman of Scrutiny Committee setting out minor recommendations to the rules applying to Select Committees as set out in Appendix 4 Part 4 of the Constitution.

(2)       During consideration of this item, the Committee noted the suggestion that appropriate training should be provided, as necessary, to support Select Committee Members in carrying out their review.

(3)       RESOLVED that approval be given to the amendments requested by the Scrutiny Committee to Appendix 4 Part 4 of the Constitution as set out in Appendix 2 to the report.