Agenda item

Report attached.

The Leader of the Council submitted proposals for the appointment of Committees, Sub-Committees, Panels and Working Groups for the Municipal Year 2026/27, including the terms of reference for those bodies.  In accordance with paragraphs 3.2, 4.5, 5.1 and 5.3 of the report, Appendices 1, 2 and 3 comprising the terms of reference and the proposed membership of the various bodies were tabled at the meeting, by way of an addendum to the main report.  The addendum also included updated political balance information and revised committee sizes, following the formation of a fourth political group on the Council.

 

The annual meeting of Council was required to establish Committees, Sub-Committees, Panels and Working Groups and to determine their terms of reference. 

 

The current terms of reference for the various constituted bodies were set out in Part 3 of the Constitution - Responsibility for Functions and were reproduced in the addendum to the report:-

 

            Appendix 1:     Terms of Reference of Council, Cabinet and Committees.

            Appendix 2:     Terms of Reference of Panels and Working Groups.

 

Where appropriate, any minor and consequential amendments had been made to the existing terms of reference, to incorporate revised legislation and changes to national policies.

 

Allocation of Seats

 

The Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990 required that the number of seats on committees and sub-committees reflected the overall political balance of the Council.  Section 15(1)(b) of the Act required the Council to review the representation of different political groups on those bodies at the Annual Council meeting (or as soon as practicable after that meeting).

 

The overall political balance on the Council had changed following the local elections on 7^th May 2026.  There were now four political groups across the Council and the number of seats held by each political group for the 2026/27 Municipal Year was as follows:-

 

Table 1

 

Labour & Cooperative	17 seats	48% of seats
Conservative	8 seats	23% of seats
Reform UK	8 seats	23% of sates
Progressive Hyndburn	2 seats	6% of seats

 

 

The Council comprised 35 elected members.

 

The total seats available across the Council was 87, which should, in so far as was practicable, be divided between the political parties in the ratios as set out above.

 

It should be noted that some adjustment to the ratios shown above might be required in the final allocation of seats across the Council to take into account the following principles as required by the legislation:

 

(a)   Not all seats to go to the same group;

(b)   If a group has a majority on the Council, it should receive a majority of seats on each committee;

(c)   Total number of seats across all bodies must be proportionate (subject to (a) and (b));

(d)   Seats on each body (ie. Committee, sub-committee etc) must be proportionate (subject to (a) to (c)).

 

Details of the Council’s proposed committees and sub-committees, the number of seats available and allocation of seats were set out in Table 2 below.  There were several proposed amendments to the current committees, as follows:

 

• Communities & Wellbeing Overview & Scrutiny Committee - Reduce from 8 to 6
• Management Review Committee - Increase from 5 to 6
• Planning (Trees) Sub-Committee - Reduce from 5 to 4
• Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee - Reduce from 8 to 7
• Standards Committee - Increase from 8 to 9
• Judicial Committee (Private Hire & Hackney Carriage Licensing) will now be known as the Taxi Licensing Committee

 

Table 2

 

Committee	Size	Labour	Conservative	Reform UK	Progressive Hyndburn
Communities O&S	6	3	1	2	-
Resources O&S	7	4	2	1	-
Special O&S	8	3	2	2	1
Standards	9	5	2	2	-
Planning	13	7	3	3	-
Trees Sub-committee	4	2	1	1	-
Taxi Licensing	6	3	1	1	1
Licensing	14	4	4	5	1
Licensing Sub-committee	3	2	1	0	-
Audit	6	3	1	1	1
Management Review	6	3	1	1	1
Standards Sub-committee	5	3	1	1	-
Total seats	87	42	20	20	5
% of seats	100%	48%	23%	23%	6%

 

 

The proposed membership of each committee forming Appendix 3(a) to the report was set out in the addendum to the report.  Where there were any gaps in the allocation of seats to councillors, a delegated authority to the Chief Executive to make the appointments in consultation with the relevant political group leaders was proposed.

 

Establishment and Membership of Panels and Working Groups

 

The membership of Panels and Working Groups did not need to be politically balanced.  A schedule of these bodies, including the number of seats available was set out in the addendum to the report as Appendix 3(b).  There were several proposed amendments to the current bodies, as follows:

 

·           Leaders Policy Development Board - Increase from 5 to 6

·           Local Joint Negotiating/ Consultative Committee - Increase from 3 to 5

·           Disestablishment of the Learning and Development Panel

·           Disestablishment of the Local Plan Working Group

 

The proposed terms of reference and composition of the Panels and Working Groups were set out in the addendum to the report as Appendix 2.

 

The proposed membership was also included within Appendix 3(b).  Where no names had been submitted in advance and these were not subsequently provided at the meeting, a delegated authority to the Chief Executive to make the appointments in consultation with the relevant political group leaders was proposed.

 

Cabinet

 

Cabinet membership and allocation of portfolio responsibilities was within the power of the Leader.  The Cabinet membership and positions for 2026/27 would be determined as soon as practicable and circulated for information.  The details were not available in time for the Annual Council meeting on this occasion.

 

Appointment of Co-opted Members to Overview and Scrutiny Committees

 

All appointments of co-opted members had been reviewed during 2025 and successful applicants had been appointed until the Annual Council Meeting in 2026.  Co-optees were normally appointed for a two year period.  A report on any nominations received for 2026 to 2028 would be provided to a future Council meeting.

 

Appointment of Substitute Members

 

A member of the Council who could not attend a meeting could appoint a reserve member not serving on that particular Committee, Sub-Committee, Panel or Working Group to act as a substitute, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule A26.8.

 

Members were reminded that no substitute members could be appointed in respect of the Standards Committee.

 

It was also reported that members of the Licensing Committee, Taxi Licensing Committee (formerly the Judicial Committee (Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing)) and Planning Committee and their substitutes were required to undertake specific training because of the quasi-judicial nature of the decisions taken.

 

As in previous years, it was proposed to widen the scope of the substitution arrangements to allow for any member, rather than just a reserve member, to be appointed, subject to the limitations described in paragraphs 8.2 – 8.3 of the report.

 

The Leader of the Council reported the following amendments the membership of the Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as currently set out in Appendix 3(a) of the addendum:

 

• the removal of Councillor Jodi Clements and the addition of Councillor Stewart Eaves; and
• the appointment of Councillor Stewart Eaves as Chair of the committee.

 

Resolved                                 (1)   That the terms of reference of Council, Cabinet and other constituted bodies, as outlined in Appendices 1 and 2 of the addendum to the report be approved.

 

(2)   That the political composition of Committees and Sub-Committees of the Council, as set out in the addendum to the report, be approved.

 

(3)   That, subject to the amendments identified in the final paragraph of Minute 9 (immediately above this resolution), the membership of those Committees and Sub-Committees and the proposed Chairs and Vice-Chairs, as set out in Appendix 3(a) of the addendum to the report, be approved, and in the case of those details which are not available in time for the meeting, that the Chief Executive be authorised to approve the membership in consultation with the leaders of the relevant political groups.

 

(4)   That the membership of Panels and Working Groups, together with the proposed Chairs, as set out in Appendix 3(b) of the addendum to the report, be approved, and in the case of those details which are not available in time for the meeting, that the Chief Executive be authorised to approve the membership in consultation with the leaders of the relevant political groups.

 

(5)   That a councillor unable to attend a meeting, of which he/she is a member, be authorised to appoint a councillor not serving on that particular Committee, Sub-Committee, Panel or Working Group to act as a substitute in accordance with Council Procedure Rule A26.8.