Agenda item

(1)               The Committee considered a report from the Head of Democratic Services, which proposed a number of amendments to the Constitution.

(2)               The Committee was supportive of the proposed change to the Constitution in respect of the appointment of interim senior managers.

(3)               Mr Christie did not support the request to increase the length of the Leader’s reply at the end of the debate on his oral report to the County Council.

(4)               In relation to the absence of a Member through illness, Mr Sass advised that he would be submitting a decision paper to Mr King in relation to the reallocation/redistribution of individual Member grants. In relation to the Members’ highways grants money, Mr Sass advised that the 2-year trial period was coming to an end in March 2011 and that Mr Hall (EHW) would be submitting a report to the County Council for a decision as to whether the scheme should continue. If it did, the revised scheme would be amended to deal with the issue of the reallocation/redistribution of highways grants money in the absence of a Member through illness or other reason. In relation to both of these grants streams, the Committee were of the view that any reallocation/redistribution should be contained within the relevant District/Borough Council area.

(5)               The Committee supported the proposed changes to the Terms of Reference of the Personnel Committee and the Personnel Management Rules, subject to a minor amendment. The Committee were also of the view that any Members serving on Personnel Appointments or Appeals Panels should be appropriately trained.

(6)               Resolved: that the County Council be recommended to approve the following amendments to the Constitution:

(i)         Paragraph 11 (c) of Contract and Tenders Standing Orders (page 126 of the Constitution) be amended in order to deal with the reporting of interim manager appointments to Members of the Scrutiny Board as follows:

"being a named individual a 'Consultant' must, by definition, have been sourced via a non-competitive process. All contracts for a Consultant for £20,000 or more must be reported, as a non-competitive procurement, to the Head of Democratic Services within 14 days of the contract being awarded so that s/he may notify Members of the Scrutiny Board. Similarly, the appointment of an interim senior manager (defined in the Personnel Management Rules as Grade M or above) or equivalent for £20,000 or more for the period of the contract (whether undertaken as a non-competitive procurement or not) must also be reported to the Head of Democratic Services within 14 days of the appointment being made so that s/he may notify Members of the Scrutiny Board.”;

(ii)               Paragraph 1.20 (5) of the Rules applying to Council meetings (page 63 of the Constitution) be amended so that the length of the Leader’s reply to the opposition Leaders’ speeches on his oral report be extended to 5 minutes;

(Mr Christie asked for his vote against this decision to be recorded)

(iii)       Article 2 (2.3)(2)(m) (page 5 of the Constitution) be amended so that there is clarity about the reallocation of constituency work in the absence of a Member, as follows:

“…represent and support individual constituents in their dealings with the Council. In the absence of a Member for reasons of ill-health or otherwise, the Member concerned (or, if they are unwilling or unable to do that, the relevant Group Leader) should nominate another Member to act on behalf of the absent Member in relation to representing their constituents.”

(iv)       Sub paragraph (g) of the Terms of Reference of the Personnel Committee (page 26 of the Constitution) as detailed in paragraph 4 (4) of the report and the proposed addition to the Personnel Management Rules (page 50 of the Constitution) as detailed in paragraph 4 (5) of the report, to clarify the role of the Personnel Committee in hearing assimilation appeals from senior managers, as follows:

Sub paragraph (g) of the Personnel Committee Terms of Reference:

“through ad-hoc Sub Committees of Members (Panels), hearing and dealing with the final stage of unresolved grievances from Chief and Senior Officers and appeals by such officers against dismissal (including dismissal as a result of redundancy), assimilation (‘slotting-in’), transfer or downgrading”.

A new section in the Personnel Management Rules, to be inserted immediately after paragraph 18, as follows:

“Appeals against dismissal arising from redundancy, assimilation, transfer and downgrading

1.         Any appeal against a decision not to 'slot' a senior manager to a post graded M or above, a redundancy, transfer or downgrading must be lodged with the Director for Personnel and Development within ten working days of written confirmation to the officer of the decision and must include a written statement of the grounds on which the appeal is made.

2.         Appeals will be heard by the Personnel Committee, or a sub committee of that Committee. As far as is practical such hearings will be arranged within ten working days of an appeal being lodged. If the Appeal is heard by a Panel of members then the quorum of such meeting shall include a Cabinet Member.