A report was presented which highlighted necessary updates as part of the annual review of the Council’s Constitution and recommended other changes to aid decision making. On the motion of Councillor Witherford, seconded by Councillor Bray, it was
RESOLVED –
(a) the following changes be made to the Constitution as recommended in paragraphs 3.2 to 3.6 and 3.9 to 3.10 of the report:
(i) Changes agreed previously by Council including Chief Officer structure and titles and Scheme of Members’ Allowances;
(ii) Grammatical and typographical changes and those to ensure consistency;
(iii) Changes in relation to finance including finance definitions and financial limit on variations;
(iv) Legislative updates relating to Environmental Health;
(v) Amendments to onward limits of delegation with regard to Building Control and Private Sector Housing to make provisions for taking immediate action when necessary;
(vi) Operational responsibility and delegated authority amendments within Street Scene Services as a result of Chief Officer restructure and for clarity and removal of duplication;
(b) In relation to members and committees (paragraph 3.7 of the report):
(i) seating arrangements at planning committee be updated to reflect layout of the De Montfort Suite;
(ii) Grammatical and textual corrections be made to the code of conduct.
(c) Regarding member development (paragraph 3.8 of the report), mandatory training on Licensing, Planning and Appeals be changed from an annual requirement to ‘as appropriate and identified by officers in consultation with the lead members for that service’;
(d) Changes to Planning Committee procedure be made as follows:
(i) the Member of Parliament and County Councillor may speak on matters affecting their constituency or division for a maximum of two minutes;
(ii) amendment to paragraph 27.6(d) of the Constitution to allow speakers to speak again when a deferred application returns to committee.