Agenda item

Report attached.

The Council considered a report of Councillor Munsif Dad BEM JP, Leader of the Council, proposing a number of updates to the Council’s written constitution following the annual review of the same.

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.  The constitution set out the following:

• the terms of reference and size of each committee and working group;
• the rules that applied to Council meetings (e.g. re quorum, motions, ways of voting, length of speeches etc);
• the rules that applied to Cabinet meetings;
• the rules that applied to overview and scrutiny committee’s (e.g. call-in of Cabinet decisions, appointment of co-optees, formation of annual work programme, calling officers and members to give account);
• the Council’s code of conduct for councillors, plus the code of conduct for members of the Planning Committee and Licensing Committee, and the member / officer relations protocol; and
• the rules relating to procurement by the Council (i.e. the purchase of works, goods and services), the Council’s financial procedures and the rules relating to access to meetings, reports and background papers.

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.

Member Training

Members would shortly be offered training on the Council’s decision-making processes.  This would cover constitutional requirements (such as the rules for voting, motions, call-in etc), as well as legal requirements for sound and lawful decision making.  This training was especially useful for newly or recently elected councillors.

Officers would also offer training to any newly appointed committee chairs and vice chairs, to assist them in their new role.

Local authorities were recommended, as a matter of good practice, to supplement their member code of conduct with specific codes of practice to assist councillors involved in the planning and licensing processes.  These were complex areas, involving quasi-judicial decision-making and where there was a real risk of legal challenge, whether on appeal or via judicial review.  The Council’s Planning and Licensing codes of practice were designed to give members guidance about dealing with the difficult issues that could arise – such as conflicts of interest, dealing with applicants, possible bias and predetermination etc.  In accordance with the Council’s Member Development Strategy 2020-2027, councillors sitting on the Planning, Licensing and Taxi Licensing Committees were required to have undergone training each year before they served on their respective Committees and took part in decision making.  It is therefore intended that all members serving on the Planning, Licensing and Taxi Licensing Committees would receive training in respect of their respective code of practice as soon as possible in the new municipal year.  These sessions would be as short and informal as possible and would be delivered by Legal Services staff and their Planning and Licensing colleagues at no additional cost to the Council.

Updated policies re fraud, corruption and money laundering

Minor amendments had been made to the Anti-Fraud, Corruption and Bribery Policy.  These principally related to the appointment of a new external audit partner for the Council.  The substance of the policy remained the same.  Similarly, minor changes had been made to the Anti-Money Laundering Policy and Guidance Notes.  The changes principally related to changes in personnel and job roles within the Council since the policy was last updated.  The substance of the policy remained the same.

Member Officer Relations Protocol

This policy had not been reviewed or updated for some years, and had become out of date. An updated version has been prepared, although best practice suggested that members should be consulted about the draft before it was presented to Council for approval.

Councillor Joel Tetlow commented that the Council Procedure Rules did not provide for the submission of a Motion on Notice to the Annual Council Meeting, but that at the next ordinary meeting, the Reform UK group intended to submit a motion on public participation at Council meetings.  He noted that at present members of the public could not speak or ask questions of the Council, but could only raise issues by submitting questions in advance via a councillor.  This risked creating a barrier to public engagement.  His view was that the Council should be more accessible.  It might even be possible to allow a limited number of spontaneous questions from the public, at the Mayor’s discretion.  Accordingly, the Reform UK group would bring a Motion to the next meeting about public questions.

Councillor Khan indicated that this issue had been discussed in the Council Chamber on several occasions.  The Conservative group were in favour of reinstating the previous rules about public speaking.  He asked if the Motion could be taken now.  The Chier Executive indicated that it would be preferrable for Councillor Tetlow to put the proposal in writing to enable officers and councillors to gain a better understanding of the details of what was being proposed in advance of formally considering the matter.  The Mayor concurred that the motion should be in writing to avoid it being misinterpreted.

Councillor Tetlow replied that, since members of the public took the time to attend Council meetings, they should be able to ask a question.  However, he accepted the reasons for seeking a written Motion on this proposal and would submit this at the appropriate time.

The Leader of the Council reminded members that the public could ask questions of the Cabinet or councillors generally at any time.  There was no need to await a formal Council meeting to find out about the Council’s work.  He added that he had also served on Lancashire County Council for 12 years and their procedure was not dissimilar to this Council’s question time.  In reality, there was no barrier to public questions in Hyndburn, as recent Council meetings had dealt with questions numbering in the mid to late teens.  The Leader confirmed that he would be happy to consider and discuss the proposal from the Reform UK group.

Councillor Mohammed Younis commented that the proposals seemed sensible, but that it would be prudent to consider these through the established channels.  Councillor Judith Addison noted that it would not be good practice to open up meetings to live questioning by the public, as it was likely that the technical officers who would have the specialist knowledge to repsond were unlikely to be present at the meeting.

Resolved                                 (1)   That Council notes that training will be arranged for all members of the Planning, Licensing and Taxi Licensing Committees in respect of their respective code of practice as soon as possible in the new municipal year and requires all members of those Committees to attend training prior to serving on the relevant Committee in the new municipal year.

(2)   The Council agrees to review and update the Member Officer Relations Protocol and requests that a further report be presented to Council as soon as possible in respect of the same, following consultation with the Leaders Policy Development Board in respect of the updated protocol.

(3)   That Council approves the updated Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

(4)   That Council approves the updated Anti-Money Laundering Policy attached as Appendix 2 to the report.