Contact: Jeff Pattison, ext 01962-847321

1 Summary

At the last meeting of the Standards Committee on the 10 September 2002 it was agreed that the Committee would consider further a request by Councillor Cartwright on the rules relating to changes in HFRA and Committee Membership.

1.1 In essence the concern raised by Councillor Cartwright related to the resignation of one Member and therefore the new appointment of another Member to the Authority for one meeting of the Authority and one cycle of Committees. The position on the appointment of the Member is then reversed at the next following meeting.

1.2 Councillor Cartwright's proposal was that where a Member resigns from the Authority that Member should not be reappointed for at least six months.

2 Background

2.1 As Members will be fully aware appointments to the Authority are made directly by the three constituent authorities of Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils who nominate respectively 19 3 and 3 Members. This is as contained in the Constitution of the Authority as referred to in the Hampshire Fire Services (Combination Scheme) Order 1996.

2.1 It is therefore within the gift of the three constituent Authorities to identify their representatives on the Fire Authority and the procedure whereby this is achieved.

2.2 It is not known in detail what arrangements the two Cities have for the appointment of Members to the Authority or their arrangements for the appointment of substitute Members. Southampton City Council does however have a system of appointment of substitute Members where for whatever reason the first nominated Member is unavailable. This can be operated quickly.

2.3 The County Council also has a quick and efficient means whereby substitute Members can be appointed to outside bodies including the Authority. As a result of a change to the Constitution suggested by the County Council's Standards Committee on the 29 October 2001 and agreed by the County Council on the 13 December 2001 it was agreed that the Chief Executive should have delegated powers to approve changes in membership where proportionality rules apply.

2.4 The paragraph in the Report to the Standards Committee which recommended this procedure also contained the following sentence:-

"In the interest of stability, the political groups would not be expected to change representation for example simply to cover unavailability of a Member"

2.5 It is suggested that this principle is as applicable to appointments made by the two Cities as it is by the County Council. One significant difference however is that the two Cities appoint three Members only to the Authority and it must be borne in mind that for meetings of the full Authority the Constitution requires at least one representative to be present from the three constituent authorities.

2.6 The Authority therefore needs to be especially careful that it does not suggest a process which might increase the risks of the Authority being inquorate and therefore adversely affect the smooth running of the business of the Authority.

2.7 It would be possible to request the appointing Councils to request that substitute appointments are not made in the circumstances described above ie for one or two cycles only of the Fire Authority. However, under the political proportionality rules introduced by the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, although appointments to outside bodies such as the Fire Authority are formally made by the appointing constituent authority, the reality is that the power to recommend the appointment lies with the political groups represented on the Council.

2.8 Therefore, any attempt to inhibit the political parties in making these recommendations for appointment could be seen as being contrary to the political proportionality rules and in the case of the appointments made by the two Cities creating a greater likelihood that a meeting of the full Authority might be inquorate

2.9 Notwithstanding the greater number of appointments made to the Fire Authority by the County Council it is not suggested in the interests of fairness that a different rule should apply to appointments by the County Council.

2.10 However, the Authority does need to recognise that it is not in its best interests for Members to be substituted for a very short period of time as this may not help, for example, stability and consistency of decision making. It also needs to be borne in mind though that the circumstances referred to by Councillor Cartwright are rare so far as HFRA is concerned.

2.11 In these circumstances, it is suggested that the Standards Committee should write to all Members of the Fire Authority referring to the issue raised by Councillor Cartwright, the Chairman to the Fire Authority, expressing concern that it is not in the best interests of the Fire Authority if membership is changed in the circumstances outlined in this Report, and that furthermore if these circumstances do arise, the individual instances in which this occurs will be reported to the Standards Committee.

Recommendation

The Clerk to the Authority write to all Members expressing the Standards Committee's view that it is not in the best interests of the Fire Authority if substitute Members are appointed for a period of less than two cycles of the Authority and that any incidences of this happening should be considered by the Standards Committee.

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