Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Monitoring Officer

The report examines the Constitution as a whole with a view to:-

·         ensuring consistency between the various parts of the Constitution

·         reducing the size of the Constitution while ensuring that it meets legal requirements

·         improving the quality of the drafting so that it is clear and comprehensible

·         creating a companion guide to the Constitution that can quickly and easily be amended to assist elected Members and staff to understand the Council’s Constitution.

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to comment on the proposed changes set out in the report in the light of the comments of the Constitution Working Party referred to in paragraph 1.6 of the report.

Officer Contact: Celia Tierney on 0161 474 3230 or email: celia.tierney@stockport.gov.uk

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) reviewing the Constitution as a whole with a view to:-

·         ensuring consistency between the various parts of the Constitution

·         reducing the size of the Constitution while ensuring that it meets legal requirements

·         improving the quality of the drafting so that it is clear and comprehensible

·         creating a companion guide to the Constitution that can quickly and easily be amended to assist elected Members and staff to understand the Council’s Constitution.

It was reported that the Constitution Working Party at its meeting held on 8 February 2017 had recommended that:-

·         none of the proposed changes to the Constitution being implemented prior to the proposed companion document to the Constitution being prepared for consideration by the Working Party, particular the process for dealing with land transactions would operate.

·         from the start of the 2017/18 Municipal Year the ‘Executive’ should be known as the ‘Cabinet’.

·         that any individual delegations agreed by the Executive Meeting would override the general delegations in the Constitution.

The Executive Councillor for Reform & Governance (Councillor David Sedgwick) attended the meeting to answer members’ questions.

RESOLVED – That the recommendations of the Constitution Working Party be supported.

To consider a report of the Monitoring Officer

The report examines the Constitution as a whole with a view to:-

·         ensuring consistency between the various parts of the Constitution

·         reducing the size of the Constitution while ensuring that it meets legal requirements

·         improving the quality of the drafting so that it is clear and comprehensible

·         creating a companion guide to the Constitution that can quickly and easily be amended to assist elected Members and staff to understand the Council’s Constitution.

The Working Party is invited to comment on the proposed changes set out in the report and to recommend to the Leader of the Council and Council Meeting that the changes should be adopted along with any other drafting changes to ensure that the Constitution is internally consistent, compliant with the law and up to date.

Officer Contact: Celia Tierney on 0161 474 3230 or email: celia.tierney@stockport.gov.uk

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) which examined the Constitution as a whole with regard to:-

·         ensuring consistency between the various parts of the Constitution

·         reducing the size of the Constitution while ensuring that it meets legal requirements

·         improving the quality of the drafting so that it is clear and comprehensible

·         creating a companion guide to the Constitution that can quickly and easily be amended to assist elected Members and staff to understand the Council’s Constitution.

RESOLVED - That the Working Party recommends that:-

·         none of the proposed changes to the Constitution be implemented prior to the proposed companion document to the Constitution being prepared for consideration by the Working Party, particularly the process for dealing with how land transactions would operate.

·         from the start of the 2017/18 the Municipal Year the ‘Executive’ should be known as the ‘Cabinet’.

·         that any individual delegations agreed by the Executive Meeting would override the general delegations in the Constitution.