Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Centre, High Road, Wood Green, N22 8LE. View directions

Contact: Michael Kay, Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager 

Items
No. Item

25.

FILMING AT MEETINGS

Please note this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method.  Although we ask members of the public recording, filming or reporting on the meeting not to include the public seating areas, members of the public attending the meeting should be aware that we cannot guarantee that they will not be filmed or recorded by others attending the meeting.  Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on.  By entering the meeting room and using the public seating area, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

 

The Chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual, or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

Minutes:

The Chair drew attendees’ attention to the notice on the agenda regarding filming at meetings.

26.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Beacham, for whom Cllr Carter attended as a substitute.

27.

Urgent Business

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business.

Minutes:

None.

28.

Declarations of Interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

 

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

 

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

 

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

None.

29.

Minutes of Last Meeting pdf icon PDF 121 KB

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 14 September.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 14 September were agreed.

30.

Update on work programme - Procedure Rules and Members' Allowances pdf icon PDF 401 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received an update from Michael Kay, Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager, on the work initiated by the Committee to consider the Council’s procedure rules, the Protocol on Member-Officer Relations and the scheme of Members’ allowances.

 

After a discussion of whether the structure of Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution ought to be revised to better set out the procedure rules contained therein, the Committee agreed that it would be preferable to not undertake an exercise of restructuring the rules at this stage, but that the Committee should be presented with proposed amendments to improve the rules within the existing structure.

 

In a related discussion, Councillors noted that the proposed relocation of Committee meetings in the next municipal year was intended to provide greater opportunities for broadcasting of meetings.

 

On the Member-Officer Protocol, Members considered a draft developed following the structures and content agreed at the September meeting. Members noted that it had not yet been discussed by senior officers within the Council, which may lead to some small changes.

 

Members agreed that it would be helpful if the draft referred explicitly to the relationship with Homes for Haringey officers, and to the statutory role of the Director of Children’s services and the Cabinet Member.

 

Members agreed that it was helpful for the protocol to provide clarity for both Members and Officers on appropriate relations. It was suggested that other boroughs’ equivalent Protocols should be reviewed to see if there were arrangements in place for resolving concerns or grievances with the Head of Paid Service, aside from the referral to the Monitoring Officer outlined in the present draft.

 

Members agreed that, further to comments made, the document should now be presented in an all-Member briefing.

 

On the Members’ Allowances Scheme, there was a discussion of whether it was helpful to have such a review given the forthcoming Council elections and the expectation of further guidance from the Independent Panel on the Remuneration of Councillors in London. Members agreed that it was necessary to have this review, given it was often deferred and this would be as good a time as possible to agree any needed changes.

 

Members noted that some boroughs offered an allowance for group leaders based on the size of their group, based on a mixture of fixed allowance and a per-member figure. This would help accommodate any possible third group returned at the forthcoming election. Members asked that that be considered further, to be discussed at the next meeting.

 

It was agreed that the changes agreed by the Committee should be incorporated into a new Allowances scheme, which would then be briefed to Members.

 

AGREED

 

That work continue to review the Constitution’s Procedure rules

 

That the finalised draft Member-Officer Protocol be briefed to Members

 

That :

·         the Opposition Leader should move from Band 3B to Band 2B

·         the Opposition Whip, Deputy Leader and Chair of Corporate Committee should move from Band 2B to Band 1

·         a new allowance be created for the Vice Chair of Regulatory  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

31.

New Items of Urgent Business

Minutes:

None.

32.

Dates of Next Meetings

8 March 2018.

Minutes:

Noted.