Agenda item

(1)       Mr A King moved, Mr Bowles seconded the recommendations on page 55 and 56 of the County Council agenda.

(2)       With the approval of both the mover and seconder, recommendation 2 (b) was amended to make it clear that, in future, Locality Boards would be the most appropriate forum for dealing with petitions relating to single District/Borough Council areas.

Resolved: that the following recommendations from the Selection and Member Services Committee be approved:

(a)    no change be made to the threshold levels to trigger a debate at County Council but that this matter be kept under review by the Selection and Member Services Committee;

(b)    County Council should remain as the most appropriate forum for petition debates for the time being, but that in future, Locality Boards would be the most appropriate forum for dealing with petitions relating to single District/Borough Council areas and that the matter be kept under review by the Selection and Member Services Committee;

(c)     the definition to be used as to what constituted a “petition on the same subject” is: “a petition on the same decision/issue as one debated by the County Council within the previous six months”

(d)    petitions for a County Council debate should be submitted to the Head of Democratic Services and Local Leadership fourteen days before the meeting but that the Chairman of the County Council should have discretion to accept petitions about urgent matters following consultation with the Group Leaders;

(e)    the deadline for the receipt of the written statement should be brought forward to 5.00pm on the Monday of the week before the County Council meeting and there be a requirement for the Directorate to submit a brief position statement/briefing note to meet the same deadline, so that both pieces of information are available when the County Council agenda is despatched;

(f)      the maximum time for a petition debate at County Council should remain at 45 minutes, which is regarded as being inclusive of the Lead Petitioner, Local Member and the relevant Cabinet Member (in the event of the petition relating to an executive matter) all having a maximum of 5 minutes each, with all other speakers having a maximum of 3 minutes each.

(g)    no limit should be placed on the number of petition debates held at a single meeting of the County Council but that this matter be kept under review by the Selection and Member Services Committee;

(h)     the Chairman of the County Council should have discretion to hold a combined debate on more than one petition if the subject matters are similar;

(i)      petition debates should be placed on the agenda for the County Council immediately after the lunch break and that, if necessary, the Chairman of the County Council should re-order the remaining agenda items to accommodate this;

(j)      the deadline for the receipt of petitions that call an officer to give  evidence to a POSC, and the supporting statement, should be the same as for a County Council debate; and

(k)     to include the requirement that the lead petitioner is given a copy of the recommendation(s) arising from a debate at the County Council or a Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee