Decision details

To take the following urgent decision:

(1)  That, from the Civic Year 2020/21, an Independent Member is co-opted on to the Audit and Governance Committee on a non-voting basis;

(2)  That the appointment of the Independent Member is delegated to the Audit and Governance Committee;

(3)  That the process for selecting and recommending an appropriate candidate is delegated to the Head of Policy and Resources in consultation with the Chair of Audit and Governance Committee;

(4)  The appointment panel will comprise of cross party representation from within the Audit and Governance Committee and supported by the Chief Financial Officer, Monitoring Officer and Chief Internal Auditor as required;

(5)  The Independent Member will be required to observe at all times the Members Code of Conduct as set out in Part 5 of the Constitution and will be provided with an appointment letter which will include a provision for either party to terminate the arrangement on 1 months notice;

(6)  That, from the Civic Year 2020/21, the Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee shall not be a member of the political group or groups forming the administration; and

(7)  The Audit and Governance Committee’s Terms of Reference as set out in Attachment 1 (Appendix 2).

Ordinarily this decision would be taken by Council, however, an urgent decision is being taken by the Managing Director because it is not possible for Council to meet due to the restrictions resulting from the covid-19 outbreak and it is necessary to have an approve the decision.

The reasons for approving the Appointment of an Independent Member to the Audit and Governance Committee and Changes to the Terms of Reference of the Audit and Governance Committee are set out in the report previously prepared for Council.

The Managing Director could not take the decision and instead wait until Council is able to meet, however, it is not currently clear when this may be, and the decisions must continue to be made to ensure the day to day business of the council can continue.