Agenda item

Report attached.

Members considered a report of the Executive Director (Legal and Democratic Services) on a review of the constitution.  The Council was required by law to have a written constitution.  The Council’s written constitution was reviewed regularly and a copy of the constitution was available on the Council’s website. 

A review of the constitution was undertaken annually to:

(i)    ensure the constitution accurately reflected the Council’s political management arrangements; and

(ii)   ensure the constitution reflected changes to the law, staffing structures and best practice guidance.

As a result of the annual review a number of amendments to the constitution had been proposed for approval as follows:

Articles of the Constitution

The “Articles” were intended to be a relatively plain English, customer friendly summary of the Council’s constitution.  The version attached at Appendix 1 had been amended to take account of the changed governance arrangements proposed at the Annual Meeting, such as the removal of Altham Parish Council representatives from the Standards Committee and the changed term of office of the Council Leader from four years to one.

Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy, Criminal Facilitation of Tax Evasion Policy and Anti-

Money Laundering Policy

These polices were reviewed and updated periodically by the Head of Internal Audit to ensure that the Council’s procedures continued to reflect good practice in preventing and detecting fraud and other financial irregularities.  A review had been undertaken recently, although the only changes needed were to reflect changes to the Council’s external auditor and to remove references to former employees, such as the previous Section 151 Officer, Mr McIntyre.

Council Procedure Rules

The new controlling group had proposed changes to the Council Procedure Rules, which were the rules of procedure for Council meetings.  The amended Procedure Rules were attached at Appendix 3 to the report, with the changes shown in red.

Members would soon be sent details of training on the rules for full Council meetings, which might be helpful for newly and recently elected councillors.

Co-optees to Audit Committee

CIPFA was urging all local authorities to appoint at least two independent persons (i.e. non-councillors) to serve on their Audit Committees to provide “technical expertise” and the CIPFA practical guidance for local authority Audit Committees suggested that this was a beneficial practice.  A number of Lancashire Districts had already chosen to appoint independent members to their Audit Committees and it was likely that it would become a mandatory requirement at some point.  The appointment of independent co-optees had also been a recommendation when the Council’s Internal Audit Team had been externally assessed against the Internal Audit Standards in November 2022.  It was therefore suggested that the Leader’s Policy Development Board be asked to consider the latest national guidance and the approach adopted elsewhere and then to report back to Council with recommendations.

Councillor Shabir Fasal encouraged all councillors to read both the scheme of delegation (Minute 12 refers) and the above documents proposing amendments to the constitution.  He also asked if councillors could receive a brief presentation on what matters were delegated to the Chief Executive.  David Welsby responded that the scheme of delegation was a wider document, which included delegations to other officers.

Resolved                                    -    That Council:

(1)    Agrees to adopt the Articles to the Council’s written constitution appended to the report at Appendix 1;

(2)    Agrees to adopt the updated Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy, Criminal Facilitation of Tax Evasion Policy and Anti- Money Laundering Policy attached at Appendix 2 to the report;

(3)    Agrees to adopt the revised Council Procedure Rules attached at Appendix 3 to the report (with proposed amendments shown in red); and

(4)    Requests the Leader’s Policy Development Board to consider the appointment of up to 2 independent persons as co-optees to the Council’s Audit Committee and then to report back to Council with a recommendation.