Archived decisions

GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

PART II

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION

Following implementation of the Democratic Review, the Committee considers that it is more likely that voluntary groups and experts will be invited to contribute to the Council's scrutiny activities. To encourage such engagement, and reflecting the principles contained in the County Council's Compact with the Voluntary Sector, the Committee has approved the payment of reasonable expenses to individuals or persons representing organisations who are specifically invited either to give evidence to or be co-opted onto a member-led scrutiny working group. The provisions of the Compact promote and encourage people and organisations in the voluntary sector to engage actively with the County Council. In return the County Council acknowledges the value of that engagement through its willingness to pay the `reasonable expenses' of those participating.

The Committee has also agreed that, if requests to meet indirect costs are received from organisations which are specifically invited to assist the Council's member-led scrutiny work, then these will be determined on their merits by the Chief Executive after consultation with the respective Chairman. The Chief Executive has accordingly been authorised to make such payments as are considered appropriate.

The Committee believes that initially the costs which Policy Review Committees (PRCs) may incur through these arrangements can be accommodated within the existing Members' expenses budget. Through careful coding these costs can be monitored. For 2007/08 the Committee has set a guideline maximum of £1,000 for each PRC to stay within, in addition to an allocation already set aside within the Children's Services budget for teaching staff cover. Given that the Council's scrutiny work is still developing, the Committee considers that it would be prudent to approach this matter on a trial basis so that the impact can be assessed. Accordingly the Committee has asked for a progress report before the 2008/09 budget is considered, the report to record those occasions when the framework set out in this report has been applied and the amounts paid in travelling and related expenses and for providing cover.

TK Thornber, CBE

Chairman