Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1 As a result of changes introduced to Governance Arrangements in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, there is a need for the Council to make some minor variations to the existing model of Leader and Cabinet style of governance operated by the Council. These changes are required to be effected by the end of December 2008.

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1. The report explains the requirements of the Act as to changes to the Constitution.

3) Recommendations:

3.1 That the proposed changes to the Constitution described in paragraphs 3.2.1 to 3.2.4 of the report be agreed and forwarded to the County Council at its next meeting for approval and adoption.

MAIN REPORT

1) Purpose of the Report:

1.1 To recommend to the County Council minor variations to the existing model of Leader and Cabinet style of governance operated by the Council. These changes are required to be effected by the end of December 2008.

2) Contextual Information:

2.1. These proposals were introduced into the Act to require Local Authorities to operate forms of governance which fell into the `strong' category. This includes the `strong' Leader and Cabinet model whereby the Council elects the Leader, with the Leader then appointing his Cabinet (as opposed to the Council appointing the Cabinet, often referred to as the weak Leader and Cabinet model) and the Mayoral model.

2.2 The Council already substantially operates the strong Leader and Cabinet Model. However, to comply with the Act's definition of a new style Leader and Cabinet model, certain changes are needed which also require to be reflected in the Constitution. In practical terms, those changes will have little real impact upon how the Leader and Cabinet style of governance has been operating at the County Council.

3) Key Issues:

3.1 These changes can be briefly summarised as follows:-

a) The appointment of the Leader by the Council to be for a four year term.

b) The Leader is required to `appoint' one of the other members of the executive as his deputy for a term of usually four years although the Leader retains the power to dismiss the deputy Leader, if he sees fit. If the position of the deputy Leader becomes vacant, the Leader must appoint a replacement. There is also an express requirement that if the Leader is unable to act, the deputy Leader must act in his or her place.

Although this is substantially how the Leader and Cabinet system has operated since its inception in 2001, these provisions are not expressly contained within the Constitution and now need to be incorporated.

c) If for any reason neither the Leader nor Deputy Leader are able to act or the positions are vacant, then there must be an express provision in the Constitution to the effect that either the Cabinet will collectively act in that role or that they will appoint a member of the Cabinet to fulfil the role.

3.2 Consequential changes to the County Council's Constitution

As a consequence of these statutory provisions, the County Council's Constitution requires to be amended as follows. All amendments can conveniently be made at Part I Chapter 7 of the Constitution under the heading of "The Executive" and one consequential change to the Council's Standing Orders at paragraph 5.

Part I Chapter 7 of the Constitution - The Executive

3.2.1 Add new paragraph 7.4 as follows

"The Leader must appoint one of the members of his or her Cabinet to be his or her deputy and he/she shall be referred to as the deputy Leader. The deputy Leader shall hold office until the end of the term of office of the Leader or until one of the following events occur:-

a. The Leader in his/her absolute discretion, removes the deputy Leader from office

b. He or she is suspended from being a Councillor under the provisions of the Local Government Act 2000 (although he or she may resume office at the end of the period of suspension)

c. He or she is no longer a councillor

d. He or she is otherwise disqualified by law

If for any reason there shall be a vacancy in the position of deputy Leader, the Leader must appoint another deputy Leader from among the members of the Cabinet.

If for any reason the Leader is unable to act or the office of Leader is vacant, the deputy Leader must act in his or her place".

3.2.2 At paragraph 7.3 amend first sentence to read

"The Leader will be a councillor elected to the position of Leader by the Council either at the first Annual Meeting of the Council following an election or if there be a vacancy in the position of Leader at the first Meeting of the Council following such vacancy for a term of office expiring on the day of the post election annual meeting which follows his or her election as Leader".

3.2.3 Correspondingly Standing Order 5 needs replacing by:-

"The Council shall, at its first Annual Meeting following an election, elect a Leader of the Council for a term of office expiring on the day of the post election annual meeting which follows his or her election. If there should be a vacancy in the position of Leader of the Council, the Council shall at its next meeting appoint another Leader of the Council".

3.2.4 Add new paragraph 7.5 as follows:-

"Absence of Leader and Deputy Leader.

If for whatever reason both the Leader and Deputy Leader are unable to act or both positions are vacant, the Cabinet must either collectively act in the Leader's place or they must arrange for a member of the Cabinet to act in the place of the Leader".

Existing subsequent paragraphs need to be consequentially renumbered.

4) Outline of Options:

4.1. Option 1:

a) Not to comply with the requirements of the Act

4.2. Option 2:

a) To comply with the requirements of the Act

5) Option Analysis / Comparison:

5.1. The Act musty be complied with.

6) Conclusions:

6.1. The Committee is asked to recommend the proposals in this report to the County Council so that the County Council's Constitution meets legal requirements.

7) Recommendations:

Please see Executive Summary for recommendations

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

COMPREHENSIVE RISK & IMPACT ASSESSMENT:

Paste the summary section from the HTML output of the on-line tool in here.....