Venue: Town Hall, Sheffield, S1 2HH. View directions
Contact: Jay Bell, Committee Secretary
Email: jay.bell@sheffield.gov.uk
Media
Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Apologies for Absence
Additional documents:
Minutes:
1.1
|
Apologies for Absence were received by
Councillors Penny Baker, Mark Jones and Kaltum Rivers.
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2. |
Exclusion of Public and Press
To identify items where resolutions may be
moved to exclude the press and public.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
2.1
|
No items were identified where resolutions may
be moved to exclude the press and public.
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3. |
Declarations of Interest PDF 129 KB
Members to declare any interests they have in
the business to be considered at the meeting.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
3.1
|
There were no declarations of interest made at
the meeting.
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4. |
Minutes of Previous Meeting PDF 255 KB
To approve the minutes of the meeting of the
Committee held on 20 September 2021.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
4.1
|
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the
meeting held on 20 September 2021 be approved as a correct
record.
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5. |
Public Questions and Petitions
To receive any questions or petitions from
members of the public.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
5.1
|
There were no public questions or petitions
received.
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6. |
Approach to Designing a Committee System PDF 581 KB
Report of Director of Legal and
Governance.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
6.1
|
The Committee received a report of the
Director of Legal and Governance concerning the approach to
designing a committee system. The Assistant Director (Governance),
Alexander Polak, explained the purpose of the report as per the
papers.
|
6.2
|
The Assistant Director (Governance) explained
that the Committee System Discussion Framework, highlighted in the
report at Appendix 1, was a draft and would be likely to undergo
many changes. The Committee was invited to discuss and suggest any
alterations before agreeing the framework.
|
6.3
|
Members were referred to paragraph 4.7 of the
report which highlighted that additional meetings of the Committee
would need to be included before the end of 2021. These would
appear as inquiry style workshops which would be scheduled in
consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair.
|
6.4
|
The Assistant Director (Governance) explained
that two stakeholder engagement events had taken place since the
publication of the report. It was mentioned that both events
received a relatively high interest and positive feedback from the
public, although some attendees felt that not enough had been done
to publicise the events.
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6.5
|
Members of the Committee raised questions and
main points to note were-
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6.6
|
A question was asked concerning whether a
record had been taken of which wards members of the public were
attending from and whether there was an option to change the venues
of where stakeholder engagements take place. The Assistant Director
(Governance) confirmed that no information had been recorded from
the previous sessions and that venues would be alternated to
different areas in the city.
|
6.7
|
A question was asked asked if the stakeholder
events had presence from people who didn’t vote for the
change to a committee system. The Assistant Director (Governance)
stated that a wide range of stakeholders from various groups
attended, and it wasn’t felt that there was a dominant group
within each of the sessions.
|
6.8
|
A Member of the Committee suggested that some
form of communication be directed to the business communities
within the city, with the aim to improve engagement.
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6.9
|
A Member of the Committee suggested that
engagement should also be carried out with Sheffield City
Partnerships.
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6.10
|
A Member of the Committee raised concerns, as
Appendix A in the report stated between 3-10 Committees be
organised in the new model. It was mentioned that this factor of
the new model could be seen as pre-determined, although it is yet
to be considered. The Assistant Director (Governance) agreed to
remove the numbers referred to in the framework if the Committee
wished.
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6.11
|
Members discussed the impact on political
decision-making of operating a committee system while the Council
was in ‘no overall control’. It was suggested that
there should be an option to call-in and scrutinise decisions even
if they had been made by politically proportionate committees. It
was also suggested that if a scrutiny function was to be
incorporated into the new model, then Sheffield City Council
decision-making processes should be made visible and
understandable. The Assistant Director (Governance) explained that
...
view the full minutes text for item 6.
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7. |
Engaging and Involving Sheffielders in Transforming the City's Governance PDF 663 KB
Report of Director of Legal and
Governance.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
7.1
|
The Committee received a report of the
Director of Legal and Governance concerning engaging and involving
Sheffielders in transforming the city’s governance. The Head
of Policy and Partnerships, Laurie Brennan, highlighted that the
report provided an overview of the proposed approach to ensure that
Sheffielders had a strong and active role in the development of the
city’s new modern Committee System.
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7.2
|
It was mentioned that the report highlighted
an engagement approach, including upcoming activities that would
interconnect citizens, communities and city partners between
October and December 2021. The report also outlined that Sheffield
City Council had brought in an independent charity with engagement
expertise (Involve) to help the Council define its future ways of
working with regard to the engagement of residents in the
formulation of policy and decisions.
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7.3
|
The Head of Policy and Partnerships asked the
Committee to review the draft principles set out at section 10 of
the report, which would be integrated with the draft Design
Principles going forward.
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7.4
|
Sarah Allan, The Director of Capacity Building
and Standards at Involve, attended the meeting to give an overview
of some work Involve had been part of and to answer any questions
the Committee had.
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7.5
|
Sarah Allan explained that Involve had worked
with the UK Government, UK Parliament, Local Governments, Private
Organisations and Community Groups on improving how they engage
with members of the public. Sarah explained that a variety of
engagement methods were used to ensure the public can contribute to
decisions that impact their lives.
|
7.6
|
Sarah Allan assured the Committee that Involve
would work with Sheffield City Council to meet its needs and engage
with the people the Council sought to reach.
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7.7
|
She gave an insight on how three workstreams
would improve engagement with stakeholders. These were-
- Looking Inwards
– working with Sheffield City Council to ensure a strong
alignment is formed between engagement and the new model.
- Looking Outwards
– working with Sheffield City Council to develop and deliver
public engagement activities.
- Training, Mentoring
and Support – to pass on skills and knowledge to Sheffield
City Council for future engagement.
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7.8
|
Members of the Committee asked questions and
the key points to note were-
|
7.9
|
Reference was made to the Training, Mentoring
and Support workstream and that training needed to be carried out
and accessible to both Councillors and Officers.
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7.10
|
A question was asked if an example could be
given of how Involve intend to reach out to community groups that
do not usually engage. Sarah Allan informed the Committee that all
of Involve’s projects aim to reach out to groups that
Sheffield City Council do not usually engage with.
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7.11
|
It was asked whether It’s Our City had
shared insight on how they engaged and carried out so many
conversations with the public. The Head of Policy and Partnerships
stated that It’s Our City had not yet shared their methods
with Sheffield City Council however a key aspect of their approach
was to carry out a transfer ...
view the full minutes text for item 7.
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8. |
Transitional Committees Update PDF 158 KB
Report of Director of Legal and
Governance.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
8.1
|
The Committee received a report of the
Director of Legal and Governance concerning an update on
Transitional Committees. The Chair, Councillor Julie Grocutt,
explained the purpose of the report was to provide an opportunity
to share information about the Transitional Committees early
composite work plans. Each Transitional Committee Chair also had
the opportunity to give initial feedback on their first
Transitional Committee meetings.
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8.2
|
A Member of the Committee believed the Our
Council Transitional Committee first meeting went well. It was
mentioned that working groups would be set up to target specific
issues within the work programme, although these still needed to be
set up in advance of the next Committee meeting.
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8.3
|
A Member informed the Committee that the
Communities and Neighbourhoods Transitional Committee had looked at
Housing Repairs System at their first meeting. They also discussed
setting up working groups which tenants would be able to attend.
The Communities and Neighbourhoods Transitional Committee agreed to
have an item on each agenda which would allow the Committee to
review issues that had been referred to them from a Local Area
Committee.
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8.4
|
It was stated the Education, Health and Care
Transitional Committee had been rescheduled due to technical issues
therefore this Committee had not met yet.
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8.5
|
RESOLVED:
That the Committee:
(1)
notes the Transitional Committee work programmes and verbal
feed-back; and
(2) requests that a written update from the Transitional
Committee Chairs be brought to the November meeting of the
Governance Committee, on cross-party engagement so that a broad
view and range of ideas can be considered; in accordance with their terms of
reference, and any proposals they have for pilot ways of working
that can inform the work of the Governance Committee in its
consideration of a future committee model.
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9. |
Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Committee will be held
on 30 November 2021.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
9.1
|
It was noted that the next meeting of the
Committee would be on 30 November 2021 at 3.00 p.m.
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