Agenda item

The Chair of the Constitution Working Party, Councillor Yeates, will present recommendations from the meeting of the Constitution Working Party held on 21 October 2024.

The minutes from the meeting are attached.  The recommendations for the Council to consider are at:

o   Minute 6 [Recommendations from the Special Meeting of the Economy Committee – 12 September 2024]

o   Minute 8 [Updates to the Council’s Constitution] – the Officer’s report is attached

o   Minute 9 [Protocol for Councillor Contact with Applicants, Developers, Contractors, Agents and Investors] – the Officer’s report with appendices is attached.

The Chair, Councillor Yeates, presented recommendations following the meeting of the Constitution Working Party held on 21 October 2024.

Councillor Yeates referred Members to the first recommendation at Minute 7 [Recommendation from the Special Meeting of the Economy Committee held on 12 September 2024] which she formally proposed.  This recommendation was then seconded by Councillor Haywood.

The Council

                    REOLVED

That the frequency of meetings for the Economy Committee in each municipal year be increased from 4 to 5 meetings with this taking effect from the Annual Council Meeting on 21 May 2025.

Councillor Yeates then drew Members’ attention to the next recommendations at Minute 8 [Updates to the Council’s Constitution] which she duly proposed with Councillor Haywood then seconding the recommendations.

In debating these recommendations, a request was made for the voting on the recommendations to be undertaken separately. This was because there were Councillors who could not agree to accepting the first recommendation regarding the West Sussex Business Rates Pool. There had been much debate on this when this had been discussed at the Policy & Finance Committee and there were Councillors who strongly disagreed with  the delegation that had been given to the Group Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer and the Chief Executive Officer. As the Business Rates Pool held tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers money, which had not always been spent, Councillors felt that the spending of any money from the pool should be decided by the Policy & Finance Committee. There was also a debate to be had in terms of the Council’s future membership of the pool.

The Group Head of Finance and Section 151 was invited to comment. He reminded Members that the decision to delegate authority to himself and the Chief Executive to decide future participation in the West Sussex Business Rates Pool had already been made by the Policy & Finance Committee meaning that the delegation referred to in Recommendation (1) already existed and was in place. This recommendation was to formally include and confirm that delegation within the Council’s Constitution. A report on the West Sussex Business Rates Pool could be brought to a future meeting of the Policy & Finance Committee if requested. There were other Councillors who spoke airing concerns about the West Sussex Business Rates pool generally. This was because it was felt that the district did not benefit greatly from the pool, though it had recently. Councillors confirmed that they needed to see  more benefit for communities within Arun arising from the pool and acknowledged that if the Council ceased to be a member of the pool, this would mean that business rates collected would automatically be returned to Central Government. This was a strong reason for the Council to remain in the pool.

Following further discussion, 

The Council

                    RESOLVED – That

(1)       The delegated Authority given to the Section 151 Officer and Chief Executive Officer in consultation with the Chair of the Policy & Finance Committee to decide future participation in any West Sussex Business Rates Pool be formalised within the Council’s Constitution as part of the Chief Finance Officer delegations within the Officer Scheme of Delegation at Part 7, Section 2 (delegations to the Group Head of Finance); and

(2)  The Joint Staff Consultative Panel be disbanded and any reference to it removed from the Constitution.

Councillor Yeates then referred to the last set of recommendations at Minute 9 [Protocol for Councillor Contact with Applicants, Developers, Contractors, Agents and Investors] which she duly proposed.  The recommendations were then seconded by Councillor Haywood.

The Council

          RESOLVED – That

(1)  It endorses and approves the ‘Protocol for Councillor contact with Applicants, Developers, Contractors, Agents and Investors’ with the Protocol being included within the Council’s Constitution; and

(2)  Future reviews of the Protocol are conducted by the Standards Committee.