Contact: David Hinxman, 01962 847339: e-mail [email protected]

1. Introduction

1.1 At its meeting in July 2006 the County Council approved new Terms of Reference for the Policy Review Committees (PRCs) and authorised the Monitoring Officer to make consequential changes to Part 3D of the Constitution, the PRCs' Rules of Procedure. The purpose of this report is to codify those changes and to draw the attention of the Cabinet, the Governance Committee and the County Council to other minor changes required to bring the Constitution up to date.

2. PRCs - establishment and membership of member/officer working groups

2.1 In approving the new arrangements for the PRCs, a consequence is the setting up of subordinate groups to do detailed review work - thematic reviews or task and finish groups which, it is suggested, be known as working groups.

2.2 Experience has shown that effective scrutiny work can be done in this environment with officers and others without the need for political proportionality across the members appointed to carry out the review. Given the close working relationships between the groups and the Scrutiny Officers in the Chief Executive's Department it is proposed that the members of the County Council appointed to carry out reviews be known generically as "working groups" and that the Scrutiny Officer assisting a particular review be formally a member of the working group in each case. In these circumstances the membership of the working groups is not required to comply with the rules on proportionality. This is reflected in the revised PRC procedure rules appended to this report which also make provision that the Chairman of each working group be appointed from within the membership of the group; the Scrutiny Officer would not be eligible.

2.3 The new terms of reference also give rise to the updating of other aspects of Part 1: Chapter 6, in particular paragraph 6.2 which summarises the role of the PRCs and paragraph 6.5.3 which specifically relates to Best Value. As all internal and external reviews will incorporate Best Value principles, paragraph 6.5.3 should be deleted as this is now addressed in the new paragraph 6.2. The revised text of Chapter 6 setting out the terms of reference approved by the Council in July and the other revisions mentioned here is attached as Appendix 1.

2 Children and Young People PRC: co-opted members

2.1 The PRC Rules of Procedure (Part 3D of the Constitution) have always governed the arrangements for co-opting people onto the PRCs. It is suggested that these should now be updated to include the working groups also. Hitherto the Children's Services PRC has included in its membership 17 co-opted members of whom 5 have voting rights: the three parent governor representatives, the Church of England representative and the Roman Catholic Church representative. There are also 5 representatives of full-time teachers, 4 persons experienced about education or knowledgeable about education in Hampshire, a representative of the Governor's Forum and a representative of the Free Churches: these have no voting powers. In the context of the emphasis on reviews by way of working groups and after consultation with leading members and the co-opted members themselves, the consensus is that the co-opted members' time can better be used by way of invitation to take an active part in relevant topic review work rather than attendance at a quarterly PRC meeting. Accordingly it is suggested that the Children and Young Persons PRC should retain in its co-opted membership only those required by statute - the Church of England, the Roman Catholic church representatives and the 3 parent governor representatives, all with their voting rights. The expertise and experience of the other, currently co-opted members would be called upon by working groups when considered necessary. They could be called to give evidence or co-opted onto a specific working group or invited to the PRC to speak on specific issues.

4. Changes to the Constitution

4.1 Approval of the updated Part 1: Chapter 6 and the draft revised PRC Rules of Procedure attached as Appendices 1 and 2 to this report will effect the changes described in sections 2 and 3 above. Other changes reported are set out in the paragraphs 5 and 6 below.

5. Part 1: Chapter 4(f) - The Role of the County Council - Committee Appointments

5.1 A further minor consequential change arises from a decision of the County Council in December 2001 which authorised the Chief Executive to allocate members nominated by the political groups to proportionate committees on the basis of the prevailing proportionality arrangements. As a result, Part 1:Chapter 4(f) should be updated to read: "Agreeing and/or amending Terms of Reference for Committees, determining proportionality on those committees which are subject to proportionality rules, and, where proportionality rules do not apply, making appointments to them."

5.2 This reflects operational practice since the Council authorised the Chief Executive to act in this respect.

6. Other changes required to give effect to any change in the law or directives issued under legal powers by government

6.1 The following changes are required to Part 3B of the Constitution - the Access to Information protocol. These arise because of changes in the law since the Constitution was first adopted and improvements in efficiency through the application of IT facilities which have come on-stream since 2001 with regard to the operation of certain democratic procedures. A draft updated version of the protocol showing the changes required is attached as Appendix 3.

6.2 It is also necessary to revise Standing Order 37 in Part 3A of the Constitution to reflect recent legal changes with regard to the categories of information which are exempt from the provisions requiring the publication of agendas, minutes and reports. The categories of exemption in the Local Government Act 1972 have been updated to take account of the implications of the Freedom of Information Act such that where Standing Order 37(a) currently refers to paragraphs 1-6, 9, 11, 12 and 14 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 the recent legislation now requires this to read "described in paragraphs 1 - 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972". These include extra exemptions applicable to the Standards Committee given its role when investigating complaints.

6.3 Finally, Appendix 4 sets out the updated version of Part 1: Chapter 11 concerning area based committees and panels so as to reflect the Council's current position. Members will note the omission of the South Hampshire Rapid Transit Procurement Panel. Given the government's refusal to support the scheme the joint committee should now be wound up.

7. Conclusion

7.1 The revised PRC Rules of Procedure appended to this report reflect, for the time being, the formal changes necessary in relation to the new style operation of the County Council's PRCs. The other changes described are consequent upon previous decisions of the County Council, changes in the law and operational improvements in democratic processes through the use of IT. The recommendations below, if approved, will be transferred to the Hantsweb copy of the Constitution as soon as possible so that the County Council's operating framework is promptly up to date and accessible. This will also include replacement text to incorporate the PRCs' terms of reference approved by the County Council in May in Chapter 6 and replacement text in Chapter 11 to reflect the rationalisation of formal site management and other advisory panels, all with effect from 1 October 2006.

RECOMMENDATION:

a) That the following be approved:

· revised Part 1: Chapter 6 (Policy Review Committees) and the Policy Review Committee Rules of Procedure (Part 3D of the Constitution) set out as Appendices 1 and 2

· revised Access to Information protocol (Part 3B of the Constitution) set out as Appendix 3

· updated Part 1: Chapter 11 (Area based committees and panels) set out as Appendix 4.

b) That Part 1: Chapter 4(f) of the Constitution be deleted and replaced by "Agreeing and/or amending Terms of Reference for Committees, determining proportionality on those committees which are subject to proportionality rules, and, where proportionality rules do not apply, making appointments to them."

c) That Part 3A of the Constitution (Standing Order 37(a) be amended by the deletion of "paragraphs 1-6, 9, 11, 12 and 14 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A" and the insertion of the words "paragraphs 1 - 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A".

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1 Published works.

2 Documents which disclosure exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.