Agenda item

To note the information contained in the report and comments from Regulatory Committee  and indicate next steps.

The Democratic Services Manager introduced the report which provided further information and options in relation to the potential separation of the Regulatory Committee into two committees with separate planning and licensing functions. It was explained that four options were set out in the report for the Committee’s consideration. It was noted that the Standards Committee had initially considered this issue at its meeting in November 2020 where it had received a report which stated that the separation of licensing function could require an additional Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) for the second Licensing Sub-Committee. Following some investigation, it had been confirmed that it would be possible to have one Licensing Sub-Committee, with only one SRA for licensing overall, rather than two.

It was noted that the four options for separating the planning and licensing functions had been discussed at the Regulatory Committee meeting on 14 January 2021 and the comments had been circulated as a late report. It was noted that the Chair had agreed that this would be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances, namely that the comments of the Regulatory Committee could be considered by the Standards Committee in a timely manner. The Regulatory Committee considered that it would be important for the arrangements to retain the ability for regulatory policy input, that any changes should aim to reduce workload, and that additional information was required. The Regulatory Committee had agreed that a smaller group of committee members would meet informally to discuss the issue and, in particular, how the four options outlined would work in practice, the possible number of members on Planning and Licensing, meeting frequency, and the impact on the seat allocations.

The Committee enquired about the timescales for recommending any changes to Council. The Democratic Services Manager explained that the small group of Regulatory Committee members would be meeting in mid to late February 2021 and it was anticipated that their views would be considered by the Regulatory Committee on 1 March 2021; any views could then be presented to the Standards Committee on 2 March 2021 and any recommendations would be made to Council in May 2021. The Interim Monitoring Officer added that, as any recommendations would be presented to Council, it would be important to make sure that all councillors were aware of the proposals and that there was wider support for any changes.

The Committee expressed a preference for replacing the Regulatory Committee arrangements with a Planning Committee that dealt with strategic planning matters, a Planning Sub-Committee that dealt with planning applications, a Licensing Committee that dealt with strategic and statutory licensing matters, and a Licensing Sub-Committee that dealt with licensing applications.

The Chair noted that it would be useful for the Regulatory Committee and Standards Committee to receive more detailed information about any proposals, including how they would impact the number of members on each committee and the overall number of meetings per year; it was added that it would be helpful to compare the proposed arrangements with the arrangements from 2017, when there was no SRA for the Vice-Chair of Regulatory Committee.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the information contained in the report and comments from the Regulatory Committee.

2.    To receive a further update at the Standards Committee meeting on 2 March 2021.