Agenda item

Report No: AGM/SE/18/001

Council considered Report No: AGM/SE/18/001, which detailed the outcome of the Political Balance Review as at 17 May 2018 and provided an analysis of the number of seats on the various committees required to be allocated to the Council’s political groups, based on the rules of proportionality where applicable.

The table at Appendix 1 showed those bodies that were required to be politically balanced and provided the exact entitlement to places of each Group. 

Council then considered that the allocation of seats to political groups in accordance with the political balance rules, and the re-appointment of the existing membership or appointment of new membership, as applicable, to the various bodies listed in the report, would be made under delegated authority on the nominations of Group Leaders.  Proposals for the allocation of seats to non-grouped Members were also set out in this Appendix, as provisionally agreed by Group Leaders.

Appendix 2 showed the entitlement and proposed allocation of substitutes on the politically balanced committees.  It was suggested that the Council continued its precedence of ensuring that each Group had a substitute if they were represented on a committee, and, once this was achieved, if there were additional substitute places on a committee, they were distributed by political balance, as indicated.

Council agreed this was a sensible approach.

Council then noted that approval was sought to disband the Democratic Renewal Working Party due to its work largely being superseded by the Future Governance Steering Group and the Joint Constitution Review Group, as detailed in Section 1.2.5 of the report. This was agreed.

Appendix 3 contained the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the various bodies listed in the report, which were required by the Constitution to be reviewed at the Annual Meeting. 

On the motion of Councillor John Griffiths, seconded by Councillor John Burns, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED: That

(1)     the Committees and Joint Committees listed in Sections 1.2.1 and 1.2.4 of Report No: AGM/SE/18/001 continue to operate for 2018/2019  in accordance with their existing number of seats and terms of reference (ToR), as contained in Appendix 3;

(2)     the formula for the allocation of seats to the political groups on those Committees which are required by law to be politically balanced, as set out in paragraph 1.1.1, be approved;

(3)     the allocation of seats (and seats for substitute Members) on the Committees which are required by law to be politically balanced, as indicated in Appendices 1 and 2 to Report No: AGM/SE/18/001, be approved;

(4)     the allocation of full member and substitute seats on the West Suffolk Joint Standards Committee, as indicated in Section 1.2.4, be approved. This Committee is not required to be politically balanced;

(5)     as the work of the Democratic Renewal Working Party has been superseded by the informal Joint Constitution Review Group and the Cabinet’s informal Future Governance Steering Group, as outlined in Section 1.2.5, this Working Party be disbanded; and

(6)     the Service Manager (Democratic Services) be requested to exercise their existing delegated authority to re-appoint or appoint as applicable, Members and substitute Members to those bodies set out in recommendations (2) and (3) above on the basis of nominations from the relevant Group Leaders.