Agenda and minutes

1.1

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Sioned-Mair Richards, Dawn Dale, Mark Jones and Mohammed Mahroof.

2.1

No items were identified where resolutions may be moved to exclude the press and public.

3.1

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

4.1

There were no public question or petitions received.

5.1

The Committee received verbal submissions from a range of witnesses in order to review information which would help the Committee make decisions when developing the new Committee System.

Royal Borough of Kingston Council

5.2

The Corporate Head of Democratic & Electoral Services & Deputy Monitoring Officer at Royal Borough of Kingston Council, Gary Marson, attended the meeting virtually and gave a verbal submission to the Committee.

5.3

Key points from Gary Marson’s verbal submission were-

• Royal Borough of Kingston Council had;

-       48 Elected Members who represented 16 wards.

-       3 Strategic Committees (Place, People and Corporate & Resources) that met on a cycle of 5 times a year.

-       A Local Area Committee (Neighbourhood) structure that sat beneath the 3 Strategic Committees.

-       Appointed up to 4 Co-Chairs of each Committee.

-       39 seats for Elected Members across all Strategic Committees.

-       Allowed for members of the public to present questions/petitions at any Strategic Committee.

• Cabinet Members had transitioned to Portfolio Holders.
• Portfolio Holders acted as the lead spokesperson for their service area.
• Portfolio Holders were the main point of contact for officers for policy steer.
• Consultation between the Relevant Director and Portfolio Holder was required to take urgent decisions.
• All decision-making by Elected Members was made in Committees.

• There was no scrutiny function although they do retain the ability to call-in decisions.
• Either 9 Elected Members, or 2,500 residents had to give notice to call-in a decision of a Strategic Committee.
• There was a 10 working-day stand still after each Committee where a call-in can be received.
• If a call-in was submitted, a call-in panel would be convened. The leader of the opposition would chair the call-in panel.

• Responsibility for Finance and Assets were within the same Committee. This Committee would also meet at the end of a cycle of meetings, therefore being able to sign off any key decisions.

• A Scheme of Delegation to Officers meant that Officers were able to take decisions on anything that was not reserved for Committee. Royal Borough of Kingston had concentrated on only itemising matters for Committee that they considered sufficiently important.

• Avoided looking at policy matters within Full Council.

• Suggested there was Leader’s meetings each month to prepare for upcoming meetings.

5.4

Members of Committee asked questions and the following responses were provided by Mr Marson as follows:-

5.5

He confirmed the portfolio holders, and the Chairs of Strategic Committees are the same people. Strategic Committees also had multiple Co-Chairs.

5.6

He believed that having 13 Elected Members on a Committee did not cause for bad discussion or debate.

5.7

It was mentioned that Royal Borough of Kingston Council had 4 Local Area Committees. These Committees had the power to take decisions that fell solely within their individual geographical area. This meant a Local Area Committee could find itself taking decisions on a substantial asset, although they tended to mainly determine planning applications or traffic and highway matters.

5.8

It was stated that Royal Borough of Kingston Council had 9 portfolio holders  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.1

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on 8 December 2021.