Agenda and minutes

1.1       RESOLVED – that the minutes of the last meeting held on 28 April 2015 be approved as a correct record.

2.1       Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Tutt.

Disclosures by all members present of personal interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the member regards the interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.

3.1       Councillor Daniel declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in item 6 (Members’ Refreshment Provision at Meetings) as a person with diabetes.

Report by Assistant Chief Executive

4.1       The Committee considered a report by the Assistant Chief Executive which outlined a draft response of the County Council to the initial phase of the electoral review of East Sussex currently being undertaken by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE).

4.2       The Committee RESOLVED to:

1)         recommend the County Council to recommend to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) that:

a) The report and evidence on current and future member roles at Appendix 1 be agreed as the draft County Council’s submission to the LGBCE.

b) The current number of members on the County Council should remain unchanged at 49 whilst also maintaining the current number of county councillors in each of the five districts and boroughs.

c) If there is an absolute need to change the size of the Council (for example to address electoral inequalities that cannot be resolved by any other means) then the number of councillors in Hastings and/or Rother should not be reduced; instead, a marginal increase in council size to 50 would be acceptable.

d) There should, as a matter of principle, be a consistent picture of (49) single-member county electoral divisions across the county with no multi-member divisions.

e) There should be coterminosity between county electoral division and district/borough ward boundaries; under no circumstances should any county electoral division straddle a district or borough boundary.

2)         authorise the Assistant Chief Executive to produce the final version of the submission on Council size to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England taking into account any additional information requested by the Commission.

Report by Assistant Chief Executive

5.1       The Committee considered a report by the Assistant Chief Executive regarding the provision of refreshments for elected members at meetings. 

5.2       The Committee RESOLVED to agree to stop providing lunches (meals, sandwiches and buffet lunches) for elected members whether provided directly or by ‘lunch tickets’ at meetings of council bodies; exceptions to this rule may be authorised by the Assistant Chief Executive in exceptional circumstances.

Report by Chief Operating Officer

6.1    The Committee considered a report by the Chief Operating Officer regarding proposals to amend the Council’s Constitution, in accordance with Regulations, to localise the disciplinary process for the posts of the Head of Paid Service, the Monitoring Officer and the Chief Finance Officer.

6.2       The Committee RESOLVED to recommend the County Council to:

1)    agree to the Constitution being amended to reflect the provisions of the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 in relation to the disciplinary process for the posts of the Head of Paid Service, the Monitoring Officer and the Chief Finance Officer; and

2)    approve for inclusion in Part 4 of the Constitution, Officer Employment Procedure Rules provision for the proposed procedures for the Head of Paid Service, the Monitoring Officer and the Chief Finance Officer as outlined in the report and clarifying that:

·         any discussion at Governance Committee and Full Council taking place under these rules concerning an individual officer would be conducted under the exempt part of these meetings

·         the independent persons appointed to the Governance Committee under these rules shall be non-voting. 

Report by Chief Operating Officer

7.1    The Committee considered a report by the Chief Operating Officer regarding a proposed appointment to the Pension Board.

7.2       The Committee RESOLVED to agree to the appointment of the Pension Board member as set out in paragraph 2.1 of the report.