Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Hugh Davies, who attended online, Christine Lawrence and Steven Pugsley, who attended online.

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

Resolved that the minutes of the Constitution and Governance Committee held on 16 August 2023 be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

Councillorspresent atthe meetingdeclared thefollowing personalinterests in their capacity as a Councillor of a Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:-

The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.

For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.

We are now live webcasting most of our committee meetings and you are welcome to view and listen to the discussion. The link to each webcast will be available on the meeting webpage, please see details under ‘click here to join online meeting’.

There were no questions submitted.

This report and its supporting presentation to the meeting provide an update on the work being undertaken to review the new Constitution of Somerset Council.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee:-

1)     provided feedback and views on the proposed approach to the review;

2)    nominated five members of the Committee to the Constitution Working Group – Council Procedures and appointed a Chair of that Working Group;

3)    supported the proposals for the Constitution Working Group – Planning Committees and its proposed membership as set out in the presentation, as amended; and

4)    supported the proposals for the Constitution Working Group – Licensing and Regulatory Committees and its proposed membership as set out in the presentation.

The Head of Governance and Democratic Services, Scott Wooldridge, presented an update on the work being undertaken to review the new Constitution of Somerset Council.

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·       Councillors highlighted that a request to update the report templates had been made at the previous meeting of the Audit Committee, which they believed would have been debated by the Constitution and Governance Committee.

The Head of Governance and Democratic Services advised that the request was being dealt with elsewhere as it did not fall within the remit of the work for the Committee.

·       Councillors agreed that the Working Groups needed to be set up as soon as possible.

·       Councillors queried how they could submit feedback for the Working Groups to consider within their work programme.

The Head of Governance and Democratic Services advised he was happy to work with councillors to ascertain their feedback.

·       Clarification was sought on the composition of the Working Groups.

·       Councillors highlighted that the members of the Constitution and Governance Committee should be involved in all the Working Groups, especially the one for Planning Committee Terms of Reference.

The Head of Governance and Democratic Services advised that there would be a joint workshop held prior to the report coming back to Committee for debate, which would involve members of the Working Group plus the Constitution and Governance Committee members.

·       Councillor Mandy Chilcott proposed the following amendment which Councillor Helen Kay duly seconded:-

In line with the Constitution and Governance Committee guidance, that the committee was to give a steer to officers before any proposals came forward, that two members of the Constitution and Governance Committee be added to the Constitution Review Working Group for the Planning Committee Terms of Reference, along with the Chairs and Vice Chairs of each Planning Committee and the Lead Member for Economic Development, Planning and Assets.

The vote was taken, with five votes for and five votes against, therefore the Chair used his casting vote against and the amendment was not carried.

·       Councillors highlighted that there should be a lot of data already gathered because of the recent consultation plus the feedback forms submitted after each Planning Committee meeting.

·       Concern was raised that only the Chairs and Vice Chairs were being used for the Planning Committee Working Group.

·       Councillors suggested that an email could be issued out to request written feedback for the Working Groups to use as part of the review.

·       Councillor Dawn Johnson proposed the following amendment, which Councillor Helen Kay duly seconded:-

That all councillors be surveyed to ask for feedback and comments on the Planning Committee Terms of Reference which would feed into work of the Constitution Review Working Group for the Planning Committee.

The vote was taken with nine votes for and one abstention, therefore the amendment was carried.

·       Councillors were pleased to see that Working Groups were being set up to assist with the work on reviewing the Constitution.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee:-

1)     provided feedback and views  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

To receive an update on the Electoral Review proposed by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee noted the update.

The Service Director for Governance, Democratic and Legal Services and Monitoring Officer, David Clark, presented an update on the proposed Electoral Review to be carried out by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE).

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·       Concern was raised on whether councillors would be given reasonable time off from employers to carry out their council business and travel time.

·       Concern was raised on whether the boundary review would change any parish council boundaries.

The Monitoring Officer understood the concerns and advised that they could all be submitted as part of the review.

·       Councillors queried how Somerset Council compared to the other larger unitary authorities.

The Elections Manager advised that based on population and area, Somerset Council was similar to Cornwall Council and after their review was carried out, they went from having 123 councillors down to 87 councillors.

·       Concern was raised on the order of the work being carried out in the review.

The Monitoring Officer advised that the LGBCE were keen to base the number of councillors on workload and population and not on the area covered.

·       Councillors queried whether the two largest unitary authorities were being reviewed.

The Lead Member for Transformation and Human Resources advised that Buckinghamshire Council were currently under review and the proposal was to reduce from 147 councillors to 97 councillors.  County Durham Council were also currently under review and the proposal was to reduce from 126 councillors to 98 councillors.

·       Councillors queried how it was justified to have such high numbers of councillors.

The Head of Governance and Democratic Services advised that Somerset Council were instructed on how many councillors to elect as part of the Structural Change Order 2022.  It was calculated by using the number of divisions and multiplying by two.  The Monitoring Officer reminded councillors that Somerset Council is a consultee and that it is the LGBCE that led the review.

·       Councillors queried what evidence the LGBCE would require for the review.

The Monitoring Officer advised that it was for the officers and councillors of Somerset Council to feed into the review by advising how many councillors we felt were required to best serve the community.

·       Councillors queried whether there was any right to appeal the proposed electoral arrangements once they were issued.

The Elections Manager advised that the only appeal route would be through a judicial review.

·       Councillors queried what the average number of constituents were per councillor within other unitary authorities.

The Elections Manager advised that the approximate number was between 3400-5000 constituents per councillor.

·       Concern was raised that once the review had been completed it would mean that the Constitution would be out of date.

The Head of Governance and Democratic Services reminded councillors that the Constitution was being reviewed and would continue to be reviewed on an annual basis.

·       Councillors queried how much work would be involved in the review and whether there was any funding available to help with the work.

The Elections Manager advised that the work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

To review the Work Programme.

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·       Councillors requested that the member briefing being held on 7 November 2023 for the Electoral Review be recorded.

·       Some members highlighted the low public attendance at the committee and therefore whether there was a need to hold future meetings around Somerset. It was suggested instead that the Committee hold its meetings in Taunton like the Audit Committee has agreed.

The Chair advised that he would discuss future meeting locations with members outside of the meeting.

·       Councillors queried who would be leading on the review of the Local Community Network (LCN) Terms of Reference.

The Monitoring Officer advised that the LCN Team would be carrying out the review.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee noted the Work Programme.