Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Corporate Governance Working Group, (copy enclosed).

The Council considered the report of the Corporate Governance Working Group (the Working Group) providing information and recommendations from a recent meeting of the Working Group.

There were four main areas which had been considered by the Working Group and put forward for consideration by the Council, these were:

·                 a review of the remote meeting protocol and the updates proposed by Officers and reviewed at the Council meeting on 1 October.  As a result a further revised version of the remote meeting protocol was Attached at (Appendix A to the report);

·                 setting a maximum meeting length time and an addition to Procedure Rule 1(6) was proposed;

·                 reduction to the number of Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings following establishment of an Overview and Scrutiny Committee Working Group;

·                 clarification to Procedure Rule 1(10) regarding presiding votes for the Chairman of the Council in relation to special meetings at the annual Council meetings (set out in Appendix B to the report).

The Leader of the Council and Councillor R H Siddall introduced the report.  The Chairman then moved the recommendations as set out in the report, which were duly seconded.

In response to a question regarding the Working Group reporting to the Council and not the Performance, Governance and Audit Committee, Members were reminded that this was a Working Group of the Council and correct process had been followed.

The Chairman put the recommendations set out in the report and upon a vote being taken these were duly agreed.

RESOLVED

(i)              that the remote meeting protocol updates as revised by the Corporate Governance Working Group (CGWG) and set out in Appendix A to the report, be adopted;

(ii)            that the Council agrees a maximum Council / Committee meeting length of 2.5 - 3 hours, and adopts the associated updates to Procedure Rule 1(6) set out in Appendix B to the report;

(iii)          that the Council approves and adopts the updates to Procedure Rule 1(10) as set out in Appendix B to the report, to clarify Chairman of the Council presiding over special meetings of Committees during the Council’s Annual meeting;

(iv)          that from May 2021, Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings are scheduled as required for a scrutiny item, rather than part of the regular schedule.