Agenda and minutes

To receive from Members, declarations of the existence of any disclosable pecuniary, or non-pecuniary, interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item. Please see Agenda Notes.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2014.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2014 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive any questions from members of the public provided that a question does not relate to:

·         Matters which are the subject of current or pending legal proceedings, or

·         Matters relating to employees or former employees of the Council or comments in respect of individual Council Officers

There were no questions from members of the public.

To receive any petitions and deputations provided that no such petition is in relation to:

·         Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or

·         Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings

There were no petitions or deputations.

To receive the report of the Head of Legal and Policy Development which proposes amendments to the grounds for call in and seeks formal endorsement of Procedure Rules for call in.

The Head of Legal and Policy Development presented Members with a report which set out amendments to the grounds for ‘call in’ and which sought formal endorsement of revised procedure rules for ‘call in’ following recent examination of the procedure by the Council’s Constitutional and Electoral Working Group.

The Committee discussed the following points:-

• Members commented that the addition of a proforma would make it easier to write a ‘call in’ request.
• It was confirmed that any meetings that needed to be arranged in accordance with the ‘Call In’ Protocol would be the responsibility of officers.
• It was noted that should the Chair and Vice-Chair have a conflict of interest in the matter being scrutinised that it would be necessary to nominate other Members of the Committee to perform those roles.
• It was confirmed that there no changes to the timescales for holding meetings.
• Clarification was given on what constituted a ‘proper record’.
• Members queried the need to contact the portfolio holder before calling in a decision as set out in the proforma.  The Head of Legal and Policy Development explained that this was useful additional information to aid the process.
• There was a discussion on what constituted an ‘irrelevant matter’ as set out in 3.5 of the report. 
• Members requested the addition of a flowchart to illustrate the processes.  The Head of Legal and Policy Development agreed to add this to the procedure.
• Members discussed the practicalities of ‘calling in’ any decisions taken by Cabinet in the lead up to the ‘purdah’ period.  The Head of Legal and Policy Development confirmed that decision making did not stop because of ‘purdah’ but that there were restrictions on what could be publicised during this period. 
•  

Members welcomed the report.

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL THAT:

(1)      the grounds for call-in set out in the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules be amended as set out in paragraph 3.5 of the report;

(2)      the ‘Call In’ Procedure Rules set out in Appendix 3 of this report be approved and included in the Constitution as part of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules subject to the addition of a process flowchart;

(3)      the Call-in Request Pro Forma set out in Appendix 4 of this report be approved;

(4)      the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules be amended as set out in paragraph 3.9 of the report;

Discussion item.  Members to explore possible topics for Task and Finish Groups and to decide if they wish to ask all Councillors for suggestions.

Members discussed subjects for possible Task and Finish Groups.  After debate, the Committee agreed to explore the following topics:-

·         How to manage parcels of unadopted green land

·         The Council’s Communications and Consultation Strategies.

Under this heading, Members considered involving Gloucestershire College, Hartpury College and the University of Gloucestershire in a potential Task and Finish Group to look at how Gloucester attracted potential students.  Members concluded that it would be beneficial to invite representatives from these educational establishments to a future meeting of the Committee before submitting this idea as a Task and Finish Group.

To receive the current Scrutiny Work programme for information.

Under this heading Members can consider other items they feel could be usefully explored that are not already in the programme.

The Committee considered its work programme and added other items to it following discussion.

RESOLVED:  That the Scrutiny Work Programme and matters added by the Committee be noted.

To receive verbal updates from any Members of the Committee who sit as City Council representatives on any of the outside bodies.

Members received an update on matters discussed at a recent Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel meeting.

RESOLVED:  That the update be noted.

Monday 23 June 2014 at 18.30 hours.

Monday 23 June 2014 at 18.30 hours.