Agenda item

From the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities, 18 March, 2024

Further to Minute 17 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities, the City Council considered a report of the Director of Law and Governance which set out how the Council carried out its business and made decisions. It was a living document and was reviewed and updated from time to time to ensure that it met changing legislative requirements and reflected changes in practise within the Council.

The Constitutional Advisory Panel at its meeting on 26 February 2024 considered proposed changes to the Constitution. These were:

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

b)  Amendments to the Financial Procedure Rules as set out in Part 3F of the Constitution

In relation to the Contract Procedure Rules, the report indicated that the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 (“PSR”) was a new set of rules which governed the arrangement of healthcare services in England, introduced by regulations made under the Health and Care Bill, and which came in to force as of 01 January 2024. The PSR must be followed for all applicable procurement activity by Integrated Care  Boards (ICBs), the NHS and Local Authorities. Relevant authorities must follow one of seven (7) processes when procuring health care services. In addition, there was no threshold to the PSR, meaning that all applicable activity, regardless of value, must follow the new Regulations.

The proposed amendments to the Contract Procedure Rules (“CPRs”) were the second of three changes being considered by Council following the inclusive procurement changes in December 2023 and anticipated changes with the introduction the new Procurement Act coming in summer 2024.

The proposed amendments reflected new governance arrangements specific to procurement activity captured by the PSR and was summarised in the report.

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

In relation to the Financial Procedural Rules the report indicated that Legal Services, in consultation with the Council’s Financial Services, had conducted a review of the approval requirements for grant income and grant expenditure set out in the Constitution following feedback from its officers. The Council was regularly under extreme pressure to accept and administer grants in short timescales imposed by funding bodies. If such timescales were not complied with the Council may not be able to accept the grant.

It was considered that the current constitutional requirements affected the Council in efficiently accepting and administering grant in the necessary timescales. Currently the approval requirements for grant income and grant expenditure could, at times, lead to unnecessary complication and inefficient governance. It was considered that the approval requirements for grant income and grant expenditure should be amended so that (where relevant) approval can be sought for both the acceptance of the Grant Income and delegated authority to facilitate the Grant Expenditure at the same time where possible and drive efficiency in the governance approval process. In addition, the current constitutional requirements had resulted at times in the exercise of the Chief Executive Emergency Powers where time does not permit the approval of Council. The proposed changes would help to reduce such instances.

The proposed changes to Part 3F Financial Procedure Rules could be summarised as follows and were recommended in furtherance to the Council’s on-going commitment to effective governance arrangements:

•  Administrative changes (titles).

•  Updated procedural requirements for filing of grants on the grant register.

•  Updated financial thresholds.

•  Updated officer and member approval requirements. 

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

RESOLVED that the City Council:

1)  Approves the proposed amendments to the Contract Procedure Rules (Part 3G of the Constitution) as detailed in Appendix A to the report with immediate effect

2)  Approves the proposed amendments to the Financial Procedure Rules (Part 3F of the Constitution) as detailed in Appendix B to the report with immediate effect

3)  Authorises the Director of Law and Governance to make any necessary amendments to the Constitution.