Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED to note there were no apologies.

RESOLVED to note there were no declarations made.

RESOLVED to note that no requests to address the meeting had been received.

The circulated report of the monitoring officer was received along with the appended Terms of Reference for the Democracy and Standards committee.

The monitoring officer presented the report to committee and informed members that a boundary review was currently taking place.  To enable a response to be submitted in good time, it would be necessary to reschedule the meeting due to be held on 10 August. She would keep members appraised of this and let them have further details in due course.

A councillor referenced the terms of reference and asked whether the Independent Remuneration Panel review would fall under the committee and if that was the case whether it should be included in the terms of reference. The monitoring officer confirmed that this committee would be the best place for a review to be considered and she would update the terms of reference accordingly.

Reference was also made to the training plan and the request submitted for IT training.  The monitoring officer confirmed that the current training was induction training only and that future training would be tailored to members requirements.  The issue of IT training had been forwarded to the IT section who would contact members for their individual requirements. In the coming months personal development plans (PDP’s) would be developed with specialist training for councillors and for committee members being offered.  

Members queried the location of the committee meetings, which were scheduled to be held at The Corby Cube, with some feeling it was a long way to travel.  It was also commented that the meeting dates would sometimes clash with town and parish council meetings.  Mr Goult, Interim Democratic Services Manager, responded to explain that all the council buildings across the North were being used for meetings, he also explained that the timetable of meeting dates had been presented to annual council and that it had been difficult to fit all meetings into the schedule. Generally, town and parish council meetings were held on various weekday evenings throughout the North and this was not limited to a Tuesday.  If a Member was unable to attend a meeting, such Member could always ask their substitute to step in on their behalf.

RESOLVED that the Terms of Reference for the Democracy and Standards Committee be noted with the inclusion of the Independent Remuneration Panel review

The circulated report of the monitoring officer was received along with the appended proposed terms of reference for the Constitutional Working Group.

The monitoring officer presented the report to committee and informed members that the first meeting of the Constitutional Working Group scheduled for 21 June 2021 would be postponed and rescheduled.  

Members asked if the number of members appointed to the working party could  be increased to reflect political balance and suggested that there be four Conservative councillors one Labour councillor and one Green Alliance councillor. All members agreed that this was acceptable.  It was also agreed that Councillor Lora Lawman be appointed as chairman of the working group and that Councillors Gill Mercer, Kirk Harrison, Macauley Nichol, Emily Fedorowyck and Lyn Buckingham be appointed to the working group. 

The monitoring officer explained how the group would work and asked members to let her know of any topics for discussion at the first meeting. Councillor Buckingham asked for a review of the decision relating to the chairing of Scrutiny Committee. 

RESOLVED that:

(i)            the Terms of Reference for the Constitutional Working Group be approved;

(ii)          the membership of the Constitutional Working Group be increased to six councillors, four Conservative, one Labour and one Green Alliance;

(iii)         Councillor Lora Lawman be appointed as Chair of the Constitutional Working Group for 2021/22 and that Councillors Macauley Nichol, Kirk Harrison, Gill Mercer, Lyn Buckingham and Emily Fedorowycz be appointed to the working group for 2021/22.

The circulated report of the monitoring officer was received in relation to the process required for the appointment of town and parish council representatives to sit on the Democracy and Standards Committee.   Appended to the report was the draft appointment procedure and relevant extract from the Democracy and Standards Committee’s terms of reference.

The monitoring officer presented the report to committee and confirmed that any town or parish representatives would be appointed until May 2025, or until they resigned or were disqualified to serve. She also clarified that serving North Northamptonshire Council Members, who were also town or parish councillors, would be disqualified from applying for these positions. The monitoring officer explained that these representatives would have extensive training to carry out their role on the committee.

RESOLVED that approval be given to implement the appointment procedure as detailed in the appendix to the report.

The meeting closed at 7.30pm.