Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

(a)  To agree the Minutes of the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities meeting held on 20 April 2023

(b)  Matters arising

The Minutes of the meeting held on 20 April 2023 were agreed and signed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Report of the Chief Legal Officer

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Chief Legal Officer which outlined proposed changes to the Constitution.

The Council’s Constitution sets out how the Council carries out its business and makes decisions. It is a living document which would need updating from time to time to ensure that it reflected changes in practices within the Council.

The Constitutional Advisory Panel at its meeting on 31 October 2023 considered the following proposed changes to the Constitution: 

a)  Amendments to the Contract Procedure Rules as set out in Part 3G of the Constitution

b)  Amendments to the Council Procedure Rules as set out in Part 3A of the Constitution

c)  The establishment of Sub Committees of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee to consider Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing applications.

(a)  Contract Procedure Rules (Part 3G of the Constitution

The background and the proposed amendments to the Contracts Procedure Rules were set out in Appendix A of the report. The amendments proposed support SME’s in tendering for below threshold tenders and quotation exercises following feedback received in response to Procurement Services’ Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) survey. The proposed amendments could be summarised as follows:

·  Administrative changes (titles, up-to-date PCR thresholds)

·  Furtherance of the Council’s Social Value agenda through increasing minimum number of tenders/quotes sought and establishing minimum timescales below threshold.

·  Clear identification of legislative requirements with regards to publication of notices to ensure compliance with the regulations.

·  Explicit reference to contracting with Local Authority Trading Companies (teckal) in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

·  Reflect the recently issued revised public procurement thresholds for goods, services and works that would come into force from 1 January 2024.

The Cabinet Member noted that the proposed amendments were the first of three potential set of amendments to the Contracts Procedures Rules due to forthcoming legislative changes.

The Constitutional Advisory Panel agreed that all of the proposed amendments, as detailed in Appendix A, be recommended to the Cabinet Member for approval.

(b)  Council Procedure Rules (Part 3A of the Constitution)

The background and the proposed amendments to the Council Procedure Rules were set out in Appendix B to the report and follow a review of the Council Procedure Rules by David McGrath, an external trainer with expertise and knowledge of Council Procedure Rules, their application and best practice. The review provided a number of recommendations and items for consideration relating to the following:

·  The modernisation use of language throughout the Procedure Rules

·   A change in relation to the effect on quorum of a Member declaring an interest and leaving the meeting

·  A change in relation to Members being required to stand to address the meeting

·  The introduction of a limit on the number of supplementary questions and a time limit on the length of question Time, together with guidance to questioners to assist with precision and fairness in questioning

·  A change in relation to not allowing Motions to be submitted to the February Council Tax and Budget setting meeting

·  The clarification  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

There are no outstanding issues

There were no outstanding issues.

To consider any other items of business which the Cabinet Member decides to take as a matter of urgency because of the special circumstances involved.

There were no other items of public business.