Governance Committee
MINUTES of a meeting of the Governance Committee held at Council Chamber, County Hall, Lewes on 24 January 2023.
PRESENT Councillors Keith Glazier (Chair), Nick Bennett, Chris Collier, Rupert Simmons and David Tutt
ALSO PRESENT Councillors Stephen Shing, Trevor Webb, Bob Bowdler, Colin Belsey, Paul Redstone and Georgia Taylor.
35. Minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2022
35.1 RESOLVED - that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on 13 December 2022 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.
36. Reports
36.1 Copies of the reports referred to below are included in the minute book.
37. Adoption Agency Delegation
37.1 The Committee considered a report by the Director of Children’s Services on the delegation of powers and duties of Agency Decision Maker.
37.2 The Committee RESOLVED to delegate authority to the Head of LAC Services to exercise the powers, functions and duties of the County Council as an Adoption Agency, which includes acting as Agency Decision Maker.
38. Extension of a member's tenure on the Pension Board
38.1 The Committee considered a report by the Chief Finance Officer on extending the term of a member of the Pension Board.
38.2 The Committee RESOLVED to extend the term of Lynda Walker as member representative for 2 years to 31 March 2025.
39. Membership of the Pension Committee
39.1 The Committee
considered a report by the Chief Finance Officer, together with
exempt information contained in a later agenda item, on whether
changes should be made to the structure of the Pension Committee to
provide wider representation to Pension Fund decision making.
39.2 The following
amendment was moved by Cllr Tutt and seconded:
To implement a two-tiered membership
structure in which BHCC can be represented on the Pension
Committee.
39.3 The amendment was lost (by 3 votes to 2).
39.4 The Committee RESOLVED to:
1) maintain the current Pension Committee membership requirements after considering full legal advice in the exempt report; and
2) review the Pension Committee membership requirements following any change in the law.
40. Exclusion of the Public and Press
40.1 The Committee RESOLVED to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the remaining agenda item on the grounds that if the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as specified in paragraph 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), namely information relating to information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.
41. Membership of the Pension Committee - Exempt Information
41.1 The Committee considered a report by the Chief Finance Officer on possible changes to the structure of the Pension Committee intended to widen representation to Pension Fund decision-making which provided exempt information in support of an earlier item on the agenda.
41.2 The Committee RESOLVED to note the report.