To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs Chapman and D Lawrence.

To receive the minutes of the last meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2010 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

In view of officer commitments, the order of the agenda was amended to bring forward item 4 Reference to Strategic Plan in Section 12 and item 7 Amendments to the Delegations to the Director of Customer and Shared Services before item 3 Leighton Linslade Partnership Committee.

To amend the terms of reference under Part J2 - Joint Arrangementsrelating to Leighton-Linslade Town Centre Committee.

The Advisory Group considered a report of the Head of Partnerships and Performance further to a request  for terms of reference to be included in the Council’s Constitution for the new Leighton-Linslade Partnership Committee, which would replace the Town Development Committee and the Town Centres Management Committee.

Cllr Mattthews was present as the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Skills and Regeneration and he indicated his support for the proposal.

Councillors Bowater,  D Jones, Male and Shadbolt indicated that they had a personal but not a prejudicial interest in this matter.

Further to discussion, a suggestion was made that the proposed amendment to the Constitution include additional wording at section 6.1 so that the paragraph reads:

“6.1     The annual budget shall be developed by the Committee and recommended to the Town Council and Central Bedfordshire Council for approval only where Central Bedfordshire Council makes funding available in any financial year.”

AGREED TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL:-

1.            that the existing Leighton-Linslade Town Centre Management Committee be replaced with the Leighton-Linslade Partnership Committee;

2.            that part J2 of the Constitution relating to the Leighton-Linslade Town Centres Management Committee be amended with new terms of reference as set out in Appendix A to these minutes.

To propose a minor addition to the wording of the Constitution at Section I2 Page 7.

The Advisory Group considered a report of the Head of Planning and Programme Management proposing a minor addition to the wording at Section I2 of the Constitution to include a very brief description of the Strategic Plan.

In view of the proposal including the words “medium term” a discussion ensued about whether this period should be defined. It was concluded that including the term did not add to the clarity of the amendment and it should therefore not be included.

Consideration was also given to whether this amendment fell within the category of amendments delegated to the Monitoring Officer after consultation with the Constitution Advisory Group (Part A5 paragraph 2.3 refers). The Advisory Group considered that it did so and that the amendment should be made by the Monitoring Officer and circulated to all members of the Council with the next quarterly circulation of amendments to the Constitution.

AGREED:-

1.                  that Section I2 of the Constitution be amended by the addition of a new paragraph to follow paragraph 4.2, as set out below, with all the paragraphs after it to be re-numbered;

4.3 Strategic Plan: The Strategic Plan sets out the Council’s vision for Central Bedfordshire, its values and priorities.

2.                  that this amendment fell within the category of amendments to the Constitution described in part A5 paragraph 2.3 of the Constitution and would therefore be made by the Monitoring Officer without further reference to Council, and advised to all Members through the next quarterly circulation of amendments to the Constitution.

To consider whether there is a need for two separate committees of Licensing and Regulation, or whether the functions should be carried out by one committee.

The Advisory Group considered a report of the Committee Services Manager proposing that the Licensing Committee and the Regulation Committee should become one committee, called the Licensing Committee.

It was noted that two separate committees had been created at a legacy authority in view of the expectation of a heavy workload for the Licensing Committee at the time that new liquor licensing legislation had come into force. This approach had been replicated in the Constitution for Central Bedfordshire Council, but  there was no longer  a need for two separate committees, although the term “Licensing Committee” was legally required for the body which carried out the Licensing remit.

Further to a discussion as to whether the loss of a committee would impact on the proportionality requirements across the Council, the Advisory Group determined that a recommendation should be made to Council at its January 2011 meeting for only one committee, but that the recommendation should be implemented only after the May 2011 local election.

AGREED TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL

1.            that one committee called the Licensing Committee should carry out the functions of both the Licensing Committee and the Regulations Committee, but that this should not come into effect until after the May 2011 local election;

2.            that Part E2 of the Constitution relating to the Licensing Committee and the Regulation Committee be replaced with new terms of reference as set out at Appendix B to these minutes.

To amend Part C1 of the Constitution to reflect the extension of the Leader’s Term of Office as set out at Appendix A.

This change will be required if the Council at its meeting on 25 November 2010 adopts the “new style” leader and cabinet arrangements for implementation on the 3rd day after the elections. It will be necessary to extend the Leader’s term of office to the day of the first annual meeting after the Leader’s normal retirement as a Councillor.

The Advisory Group recalled that at the meeting of Council on 25 November 2011, a resolution had been passed to adopt the “new style” leader and cabinet executive arrangements for Central Bedfordshire Council.

A consequential change to this was that the Leader of the Council  would remain in office until the day of the first annual meeting of the Council after the election. It was noted that the Constitution should reflect this, and that the Monitoring Officer had been authorised by Council to make any necessary consequential changes to the Constitution following consultation with the Constitution Advisory Group.

A discussion ensued and it was considered  appropriate, as the Constitution provided guidance for unforeseen circumstances,  wording should be included which would limit the power of a Leader during the transition if they had not been re-elected to the Council. Members considered various circumstances when this might be appropriate.

The Advisory Group wished to take the advice of the officers on appropriate wording for inclusion in the Constitution. The officers were asked to circulate appropriate wording to members of the Advisory Group after the meeting. When consensus on the wording had been reached, an amendment to the Constitution would be recommended by the Advisory Group to Council.

AGREED

1    to endorse the proposed amendment of  Part C1 paragraph 3 by the Monitoring Officer  under his delegated powers (Part A5, paragraph 2.3 of the Constitution refers) to provide for the Leader remaining in office until the day of the first annual meeting of the Council which follows his/her election as Leader, as set out in Appendix C to these minutes;

2.   that an additional amendment to the Constitution be drafted by the officers and circulated to all members of the Advisory Group seeking consensus on wording to be recommended to Council to provide for a limit to the powers of a Leader, during the transition period,  who remained in post after an election until the first annual meeting of the Council, but who had not been re-elected to the Council.

To consider the proposed amendments to the delegations to the Director of Customer and Shared Services relating to land disposal matters.

The Advisory Group considered a report of the Assistant Director Assets (Interim) which sought to amend the delegations to the Director of Customer and Shared Services in respect of assets, including :

• the requirement to secure the approval of a ward member before disposing of land in accordance with the Council’s policy
• the level of the delegated authority to the Director for capital disposals
• the addition of a delegation to cover the transfer of the Council’s interest in land to Trust Schools and Academies.

The Advisory Group noted that  the delegation at Part H3 paragraph 4.5.29 had the qualification “subject to approval of the relevant Portfolio holder and ward member(s)”. Views were expressed that this placed  unwonted pressure on the ward member(s) and that the qualification should require only consultation with the ward member(s), following which the Portfolio holder’s approval would be sought.

The Advisory Group noted that the delegated authority for the value of capital disposals had been set in line with the financial threshold for key decisions, as set out in the Constitution (Part C2 paragraph 1.2 refers). Members were unclear as to the meaning of the proposal on this matter as set out in the report  and asked that this be redrafted to achieve greater clarity. The recommendation should then be e-mailed to all members of the Advisory Group, and if there was consensus, referred as a recommendation of the Advisory Group to Council on 20 January 2011. If consensus was not achieved, the matter should be brought before the Constitution Advisory Group for further discussion.

It was noted that the February 2011 meeting of Council would be setting the budget and therefore that it would not be appropriate to make a recommendation on this matter to that meeting.

The Advisory Group noted the recommendation to insert the word “current” to describe the Asset Management Plan in Part H3 paragraph 4.5.27 but considered that this did not add to the clarity of the paragraph.

The Advisory Group noted that the Council would be required, under recent legislation, to transfer its interest in land used for operating a school if that school became a Trust School or an Academy. Members were concerned that guidance should be sought on whether for example a school with considerable land assets would be able to benefit from all of them while another school with little or no land would be unable to access any land benefits. Until the matter was clearer the Advisory Group was reluctant to add a delegation to the appropriate Director in relation to land transfers under the Academy and Trust Schools legislation.

The Advisory Group considered that a report should be submitted to the Executive to clarify this matter.

AGREED:-

1.                  to note that the minor amendment of Part H3 paragraph 4.5.29  under “Qualifications, if any” was a matter falling within the delegated authority of the Monitoring Officer and that the Advisory Group concurred to its redrafting as follows:-

“subject to the approval of the relevant Portfolio holder  ...  view the full minutes text for item 96.

To consider whether there should be express provision in the Constitution for reports from the statutory officers to be submitted to Council.

Further to comments which had been made prior to the last Council meeting when a report of the Monitoring Officer had been included on the agenda, the Advisory Group considered the question of including reports of the statutory officers on the Council agenda.

Currently there was no specific provision for reports of the statutory officers to be included. The Advisory Group considered that it should be made clear in the Constitution that the statutory officers could provide reports to Council, and that provision should be made for this to be after the Leader’s Announcements.

The Advisory Group endorsed the proposal  that, under his delegated authority (Part A5 paragraph 2.3 of the Constitution), the Monitoring Oficer would amend the Constitiution to provide for consideration of reports by the statutory officers, as set out below:-

Part B5 insert a new paragraph after paragraph 3.2.1.5 as follows:-

Reports of the statutory officers (Head of Paid Service, Section 151 Officer and Monitoring Officer), if any.

All the paragraphs which follow in that section would be re-numbered.

To receive comments from Members on the use of the book marked PDF version of the Constitution.

Members recalled that at their last meeting, they had asked for the electronic book-marked PDF version of the Constitution to be e-mailed to them and they would comment on it at this meeting.

Comments were made that this provided an e-version comparable to the paper version in terms of ease of searching. The e-version was useful in that it could be saved and used on a laptop.

A request was made that this version be provided on the Council’s website. It was also noted that hyperlinks throughout the document providing cross- referencing would make it even more accessible.

AGREED

that the officers be asked to facilitate the website version of the Constitution.

Further to a decision at the last meeting, the next meeting scheduled for 21 March 2011 will be held in reserve.

It was noted that the next meeting, scheduled for 21 March 2011, would be held in reserve.