Agenda item

This report takes forward recommendations of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee to amend the constitution to ensure that members remain responsible for taking steps for the appointment of the Monitoring Officer and to ensure the Monitoring Officer is correctly referred to within the Constitution.

Under s100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chair of the meeting was of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances. These circumstances were so that the report submitted to the Staffing and Remuneration Committee, which provided background information on the agenda item, could be considered by the Standards Committee in a timely manner at the meeting on 29 June 2021.

The Democratic Services Manager introduced the report which took forward recommendations of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee to amend the Constitution to ensure that members remained responsible for taking steps for the appointment of the Monitoring Officer and to ensure the Monitoring Officer was correctly referred to within the Constitution. The reasons for were set out in Appendix 1 to the report, which was the report considered by the Staffing and Remuneration Committee on 16 March 2021.

It was explained that, following a change in the council officer structure, the position of Monitoring Officer now inadvertently fell outside of the recruitment process which was overseen by the Staffing and Remuneration Committee, as set out in Section K of the constitution. It was noted that members had requested an update to the constitution to require that all Directors, Assistant Directors, and statutory officers (including the Monitoring Officer) were appointed by the Staffing and Remuneration Committee.

The Chair noted that Article 3.02 of the constitution referred to European elections but that these would no longer be relevant following the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union. It was suggested that this reference should be removed; this was agreed by the Committee.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the additions to the constitution set out at Appendices 2 to 5 to the report.

2.    To recommend that the reference to European elections in Article 3.02 of the constitution be removed as the United Kingdom would no longer have European elections following its departure from the European Union.

3.    To recommend that these changes to the constitution were adopted by Full Council at its meeting on 19 July 2021.