Agenda item

To consider a report of the Democratic Services Manager

This report invites the Working Party to consider issues previously identified by the Working Party in relation to the Council Meeting Procedure Rules, namely Public and Member Question Time, the ability to question other Council bodies, Motions of No Confidence and Social Media. In addition, the Working Party is invited to consider other issues raised by Members in relation to amendments and presentations.

The Working Party is invited to consider any proposed changes it wishes to recommend to the Council Meeting Procedure Rules.

Officer Contact: Craig Ainsworth on 0161 474 3204 or e mail: craig.ainsworth@stockport.gov.uk

The Democratic Services Manager submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) inviting the Working Party to consider issues previously identified by Members in relation to the Council Meeting Procedure Rules, namely Public and Member Question Time, the ability to question other Council bodies, Motions of No Confidence and social media. In addition, the Working Party was invited to consider other issues raised by Members in relation to amendments and presentations.

The Working Party considered each of these issues and made recommendations which would be considered by the Corporate, Resource Management & Governance Scrutiny Committee, Executive and Council Meeting.

In addition to the recommendations of the Working Party, the following issues were discussed by Members under the section ‘the ability to question other Council bodies’:-

•           Whether it was appropriate to hold the Council’s companies to account at Council Meetings by having a nominated Councillor to answer questions.

•           Whether there should be an enhanced role for the Audit Committee in holding the Council’s companies to account.

•           If the scrutiny committees considered performance reports from the Council’s companies more regularly, this would enable questions to be asked on the Minutes at the Council Meetings.

Whilst debating the Council Meeting Procedure Rules with regard to Presentations, Members considered whether there would be merit in groups or organisations making displays in the committee suite corridor prior to the Council Meeting or making presentations in the Council Chamber prior to the commencement of the meeting, say between 5.30pm and 5.50pm.

RESOLVED – That the recommendations of the Working Party be as follows:-

Public and Member Question Time

(a) Public Question Time

That the Council Meeting be recommended to amend the Council Meeting Procedure Rules so that a separate procedure is established for Area Committees enabling public questions to be submitted prior to the commencement of the meetings, but that the procedure for the Council Meeting, Executive, Executive Committees and Ordinary Committees remain the same.

(b) Executive Question Time

That the Council Meeting be recommended to amend the Council Meeting Procedure Rules as follows:-

•           Any Councillor to be permitted to ask up to 4 questions of an Executive Councillor, this to including supplementary questions and questions requesting clarification of the answer to a previous question (the period for each question shall not exceed 3 minutes).

•           Each question to be answered individually by the Executive Councillor.

•           Following questions to each Executive Councillor, Councillors to be permitted to make comments on Executive business for up to 3 minutes.

•           The appropriate Executive Councillor(s) to have a right of reply.

In addition, any Councillor to be permitted to ask up to 4 questions of the Chairs of the Scrutiny, Ordinary, Area and Ward Committees.

The ability to question other Council bodies

The Working Party recommended that:-

·         a governance review be carried out of each of the Council’s companies and a report submitted to the next meeting of the Working Party.

·         clarification be provided of the legal basis of the Council companies (Solutions SK, ISSK, Stockport Homes and NPS Stockport), and Stockport Sports Trust (Life Leisure), Pure Innovations and Borough Care.

·         a mapping exercise be carried out of the different type of outside bodies to which the Council appoints and clarification provided of the role of the Council appointees.

Motions of No Confidence

The Working Party recommended that there be no amendment to the Council Meeting Procedure Rules.

Social Media

The Working Party recommended that a protocol be drawn up requesting that Councillors do not ‘tweet’ whilst Council and Committee Meetings are in progress and that the contents of this protocol be agreed with the Group Leaders.

Amendments

That the Council Meeting be recommended to amend the Council Meeting Procedure Rules as follows:-

(a) (4 for, 2 against) all amendments to be submitted in writing and a copy provided to the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer before they are debated.

(b) clarification in the Procedure Rules to make it clear that any further amendments moved at a meeting cannot be such as to have substantially the same effect as an amendment previously moved at the same meeting and having already been dispensed with by the Council Meeting.

Presentations

That the Council Meeting be recommended to amend the Council Meeting Procedure Rules so that presentations, including questions, at Council Meetings last no longer than 20 minutes.