Meeting documents

Constitution Sub Committee
Friday 20 February 2015 9.30 am


To listen to an audio recording of the Part I section of this meeting, go to:
http://www.rbwm.gov.uk/web/41923.htm
i
CONSTITUTION SUB COMMITTEE

20 FEBRUARY 2015

PRESENT: Councillors David Burbage, Phillip Bicknell and John Fido.

Officers: David Cook, Maria Lucas and Kevin Taylor.
PART I

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

None

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

None

MINUTES
    RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Sub Committee held on 21 January 2015 be approved.

CONSTITUTION AMENDMENTS

The Sub Committee considered a number of proposed amendments to the Constitution, these were:
    Development Control and licensing panels’ exclusion from rule C25 Duration of Meetings be removed.
    Part 7 Appendix 1 and B3.3, declaration of pecuniary interest, Members must declare all gifts over £100 be reduced to over £25.
    Part 6 F17, reference to the Olympics working group be removed.

Councillor Burbage reported that there had been a number of lengthy Development Control meetings and it seemed sensible to give Panels the discretion on if it was prudent to adjourn the meeting at 10pm or to conclude business.

Councillor Fido asked if this rule should also incorporate Task and Finish meetings, however it was noted that as these were not constituted meetings it would be at the Chairman’s discretion when they started and finished.

It was noted that the recommendation to reduce the value that gifts should be declared was to amend the current level of £100 to £25 to ensure the Constitution was in line with the Council’s Anti Fraud and Corruption Guidance. The Constitution would be amended accordingly to reflect this change.

As the Olympics Working Group was no longer required, it was sensible to remove reference to this from the Constitution.
    RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the amendments to the Council’s Constitution as set out in Appendix A to the report be approved.

CONSTITUTION AMENDMENTS – LOCAL PENSIONS BOARD

The Sub Committee considered an amendment to Part 6 of the Constitution to recognise the formation of a Local Pensions Board as required by Regulation 106 of the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013.

Kevin Taylor explained that the Pension Board had to have its constitution approved by April 2015. It was noted that no Member or officer of the administering authority who was responsible for the discharge of any function under the Scheme regulations could be on the Pension Board.

Councillor Bicknell raised concern that this was another layer of bureaucracy and questioned if it was possible to have one board covering the South East. Kevin Taylor replied that in England and Wales, the Local Government Pension Scheme was split into 89 administering bodies and each of these were required to have a Pension Board. Councillor Bicknell felt that this regulation should be changed in the future.

Councillor Fido requested that on page 11 of the agenda, appendix A of the report, the first four roman numerals should have ‘To’ removed from the start of the sentences and that under iv) ‘beaches’ should be changed to breaches.

Councillor Bicknell asked if the Board members would be remunerated and was informed that the Berkshire Pension Fund Panel had discussed this and recommended that any remuneration should be kept at a minimal level. Councillor Burbage said that there had to be a balance between ensuring the remuneration package attracted the correct calibre of potential Board members whilst not paying too high a level.
    RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the amendments to the Council’s Constitution as set out in Appendix A to the report be approved subject to the amendments made at the meeting.

MEETING

The meeting, which began at 9.30am, ended at 9.45am.

CHAIRMAN……………………………………


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