To consider the Committee’s work programme.

Members considered a report by the Chief Legal and Democratic Services Officer which set out the Committee’s proposed work programme for the remainder of the 2014/15 municipal year.

The Committee was advised of the concerns raised by some Members the day before regarding the comprehensiveness of the minutes of meetings.  Although Members had been reminded that the forthcoming introduction of webcasting would capture any debate in full and that they already had the opportunity to influence the content of minutes it was felt that further consideration of this issue was required.  On this basis it had been agreed that Members’ concerns would be reported to the General Purposes Committee with the intention that consideration would be given to the possible inclusion of an item on this issue on the Committee’s work programme.

In response a Member reminded the meeting that this matter had already been discussed on a prior occasion.  He reminded the Committee that if a Member felt that a particular point of debate should be recorded in the minutes of a meeting then he or she could request that this be done at the time the item was being considered.  Alternatively, should a Member feel that the minutes of a meeting failed to satisfactorily reflect the debate, the Member could request, at the time that the minutes of the meeting were being confirmed, that they be amended accordingly.

The General Purposes Committee was of the view that verbatim minutes were unnecessary.

Members then turned to consider items scheduled for the next meeting of the Committee and the Chairman queried the possible submission of an update on Standards complaints. In response the Chief Legal and Democratic Services Officer explained that she would not be submitting a report to the General Purposes Committee but that she would be submitting a report to Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee regarding the costs incurred to Central Bedfordshire Council as a result of Town and Parish Council Code of Conduct complaints and the processes which had been adopted to minimise costs to Central Bedfordshire Council.

Following a query from a Member regarding the possible recouping of costs from town and parish councils for undertaking work related to standards issues the Chief Legal and Democratic Services Officer stated that there was no statutory basis to enable this to take place.  She added that an emphasis was being placed on the resolution of such issues at the local level which had the benefit of reducing costs to this authority.

A Member emphasised the need to empower ward councillors with information they could use when attending local town and parish council meetings and, in addition, placing this on the Council’s website.  In response the Chief Legal and Democratic Services Officer assured the meeting that these issues were under consideration.

RESOLVED

1          that, subject to deleting the reference to a six month update on standards complaints in January 2015, the proposed General Purposes Committee Work Programme for the remainder of the 2014/15 municipal year, as attached at Appendix A to the report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Services Officer, be approved;

2          that no further action be taken with regard to revising the style or comprehensiveness of the minutes of the authority’s meetings but that Members be reminded that they could request that specific points be included within the minutes at the time an item was under consideration and that they could also request that the minutes of a meeting be amended to include specific points at the time that the minutes were being considered for approval.