Governance Committee
MINUTES of a meeting of the Governance Committee held at Council Chamber, County Hall, Lewes on 21 October 2025.
PRESENT: Councillors Keith Glazier, OBE (Chair), Nick Bennett, Bob Bowdler, Chris Collier, Johnny Denis and David Tutt
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ALSO PRESENT: |
Councillors Cross, Hilton, Maples and Scott
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26. Minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2025
26.1 RESOLVED – that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on 24 September 2025 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.
27. Reports
27.1 Copies of the reports referred to below are included in the minute book
28. Amendment to the Constitution - Budget Setting Meeting
28.1 The Committee considered a report by the Deputy Chief Executive regarding proposed amendments to the Constitution to the process for presenting Budget Amendments to Full Council.
28.2 Councillor Tutt proposed recommendation 3 set out below, this was seconded.
28.3 The Committee RESOLVED to recommend the County Council to:
1) agree the proposed process for presenting Budget Amendments to Full Council as set out in paragraph 2.6 of the report;
2) agree the proposed amendments to the Constitution as set out in Appendix 1 of the report;
3) agree that this process only applies when Cabinet makes no changes to its budget recommendations prior to Full Council consideration, and
4) to update the Constitution accordingly.
29. Scrutiny Call-In Process
29.1 The Committee considered a report by the Deputy Chief Executive regarding the call-in process for any future scrutiny call-in requests.
29.2 Councillor Tutt proposed a change to the call-in period from 4 days to 5, this was seconded.
29.3 The Committee RESOLVED to:
1) agree the call-in request checklist as set out in Appendix 2 of the report; and
2) recommend the County Council to:
i. agree a change to the call-in period from 4 days to 5 days; and
ii. agree that the constitution be amended accordingly.
30. Customer Experience Annual Report
30.1 The Committee considered a report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport regarding the Customer Experience Annual Report.
30.2 The Committee RESOLVED to agree to:
1) note the progress of the Customer Experience Board in the implementation of a series of measures to improve customer experience;
2) note the Customer Experience Board’s ongoing focus on using the Customer Contact Dashboard to improve service delivery, reduce costs, and support channel shift;
3) agree the new ESCC Complaints Policy with an implementation date of 1 January 2026, in order to be compliant when the new Complaint Handling Code is applied to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman processes in April 2026;
4) recommend that the County Council amend the Terms of Reference of the Governance Committee to include within them the Governance Committee undertaking the role of “Member Responsible for Complaints” to comply to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code;
5) note the number and nature of complaints made to the Council in 2024/25; and
6) note the contents of the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman’s annual letter to the Chief Executive.