Governance Committee
MINUTES of a meeting of the Governance Committee held at Council Chamber, County Hall, Lewes on 26 September 2024.
PRESENT Councillors Keith Glazier (Chair), Nick Bennett, Bob Bowdler, Chris Collier, David Tutt and Anne Cross
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ALSO PRESENT |
Councillors Godfrey Daniel, Wendy Maples, Christine Robinson and Bob Standley
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Minutes of
the meeting held on 16 July 2024
18.1 RESOLVED –
that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on
16 July 2024 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.
19.
Apologies for
absence
19.1 Apologies for
absence were received from Councillor Denis. It was noted that
Councillor Cross was substituting for him.
20.
reports
20.1 Copies of the
reports referred to below are included in the minute book.
21.
Appointments
to Outside Bodies
21.1 The Committee
considered a report by the Deputy Chief Executive regarding the
appointment of a councillor to the South East Employers
Committee.
21.2 The Committee
RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Lunn as the Council representatives
on the South East Employers Committee until the date of the annual
council meeting in the next County Council full election
year.
22.
DBS Checks
for Members
22.1 The Committee
considered a report by the Deputy Chief Executive regarding the
arrangements the County Council has in place in relation to
criminal record checks for Councillors.
22.2 The Committee
RESOLVED to recommend the County Council to:
1) Agree that an
Enhanced Disclosure and Barring service check be undertaken for
Members performing the roles listed below:
a) Nominated
substitutes for the Corporate Parenting Panel (as set out in
paragraph 3.2 of the report) and;
b) Members of the
Discretionary Transport Appeal Panel (as set out in paragraph 3.4
of the report).
2) Agree that all Members are requested to undertake a basic criminal record check after the County Council elections in May 2025; and
3) That the
Council’s DBS Policy Statement is updated to include
reference to the changes proposed in Recommendations 1 and 2 as set
out in Appendix 2 of the report.
23.
Amendment to
the Constitution
23.1 The Committee
considered a report by the Chief Executive regarding amendments to
the Constitution.
23.2 The Committee RESOLVED
to recommend the County Council to agree to the proposed amendments
in the report and the appendices to the report.
24.
Customer
Experience Annual Report 2023/24
24.1 The Committee considered a report by
the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport regarding the
Customer Service Annual Report.
24.2 The Committee RESOLVED to:
1)
Note the progress of the Customer Service Experience Board in the
implementation of a series of measures to improve customer
experience.
2) Support the
Customer Experience Board’s focus in 2024/25 in utilising the
Customer Contact Dashboard to improve service delivery and to aim
to provide savings and manage demand by channel shift;
3) Support the
Customer Experience Board’s focus to adopt the Local
Government & Social Care Ombudsman’s new Complaint
Handling Code;
4)
Note the number and nature of complaints made to the Council in
2023/24; and
5) Note the contents of the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman’s annual letter to the Chief Executive.
25.
Assistant
Director Post in the Children's Services Department (To
Follow)
25.1 The Committee
considered a report by the Chief Executive regarding the
appointment to a new Assistant Director post within
Children’s Services.
25.2 The Committee
RESOLVED (by 3 votes to 2) to agree to the appointment to a new
post of Assistant Director, Commissioning and Transformation,
Children’s Services.
[Councillor David Tutt abstained from the vote].