Agenda item

To consider a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services (copy enclosed) on the statutory review of political balance and to consider committee membership requirements.

A copy of a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services (HL&DS), which facilitates the statutory review of political balance and considers Committee membership requirements, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

The Democratic Services Manager introduced the report which contained information to assist the Council and the political groups to allocate seats on various committees, in accordance with the statutory political balance provisions of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and Regulations.  The statutory obligation being to give effect, so far as reasonably practicable, to the four principles set out in the Act aimed at avoiding single party committees whilst allowing a majority party the majority of the seats on a committee.

Details of the Committees and Panels of the Council, and the total number of “available” seats which required distribution on a politically balanced basis, had been included in Appendix 2.  The Local Government Measure (Wales) 2011 required the establishing of 2 new committees; an Audit Committee and a Democratic Services Committee.  The Measure also stipulated how the positions of Chairs of the Scrutiny Committee would be allocated, reflecting a position in favour of scrutiny chairs being, as far as possible, independent from the leadership of a Council and linked to political balance.

A summary of issues for the Groups to consider when appointing their Members to Committees had been outlined in the report and included:-

·        Cabinet Members could not be Members of a Scrutiny Committee, the Corporate Governance Committee or the Democratic Services Committee.

·        Membership of the new Democratic Services Committee to be 11 Councillors, not to include a Cabinet Member, with the Committee being politically balanced.

·        The Corporate Governance Committee to be the new Audit Committee consisting of 6 elected Councillors, not to include a Cabinet Member, and a lay-member, all to be appointed by full Council.  Membership to include the Vice Chairman of the Council and Corporate Governance Members should not be Members of a Scrutiny Committee.

·        The Local Joint Consultative Committee to include 1 Cabinet Member, preferably the Cabinet Member with responsibility for HR matters.

·        The Corporate Health, Safety and Well-being Committee to include 8 Councillors, appointed by the political groups, and 8 trade union representatives.

·        A Member to be appointed to the Fostering Panel and the Joint Adoption Panel.

·        The Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) membership to include 8 Councillor Members and representatives from religious denominations, teacher associations and co-opted members.

·        The Standards Committee membership to include 2 County Councillors.

Councillor J. Butterfield referred to the excellent work undertaken by Councillor J. Chamberlain-Jones as a member of the Fostering Panel and the Joint Adoption Panel and supported her appointment to the post.  She challenged the allocation of seats on the Corporate Governance Committee and requested that the figures be reviewed and that the Labour Group be allocated 3 seats and the Independent Group 1 seat on the basis that the Labour Group were the largest Group on the Council.

In response to a question from Councillor D.I. Smith regarding the allocation of Chairs for Scrutiny Committees, the HL&DS explained that this matter had been clarified with Welsh Government officials who had confirmed that the Local Government Measure (Wales) 2011 set out how to determine the number of Scrutiny Committee Chairs the Groups would be entitled to allocate, but did not specify a process for allocating Committees to Groups.  This would be a matter for the respective political Groups to determine and not an issue for determination by Council.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services (HL&DS) explained that prior to consideration of the recommendations in the report Members would be required to consider the proposal put forward by Councillor Butterfield, that the figures pertaining to the distribution of seats of the Corporate Governance Committee be reviewed, on being put to the vote the proposal was lost. 

Nominations for the appointment of 2 Members to the Standards Committee included Councillors R.J. Davies, W.L. Cowie, M.L. Holland and C. Hughes.  Each Member was invited to provide a brief presentation and at this point Councillor R.J. Davies withdrew his nomination.  A secret ballot was held and Councillors W.L. Cowie and C. Hughes were appointed to the Standards Committee.

Council considered the recommendations in the report and following a full discussion, including consideration of nominations from Group Leaders, it was:-

RESOLVED – that Council agrees:-

(a)   the allocation table used to achieve a politically balanced allocation of Committee seats as included in Appendix 1 to the report.

(b)   the distribution of seats as set out in Appendix 2 and that the political groups notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services of named Members to their allocated seats at the earliest opportunity, with the exception of Cabinet appointments.

(c)   the following appointments:-

to delegate to the Corporate Governance Committee the role of interviewing candidates for the position of lay-member on the Committee and to make recommendations on the appointment to full Council.