Agenda item

6.1

The Committee received a report of the Director of Legal and Governance which began the process of planning for a review of the new governance arrangements which the Council had implemented from May 2022.

6.2

The Assistant Director (Governance) Alexander Polak thanked the Governance Committee for their hard work and time spent on this transition to a Committee System.

6.3

The Assistant Director (Governance) referred to the report’s recommendations. It was mentioned that recommendation 1 was a re-instatement from a previous meeting in which Full Council had already agreed. Recommendation 2 was to approve the addition of 2 extra meetings in November. Recommendation 3 would form the main substance of the meeting as it was directed for Members to discuss their experiences, following the launch of the new system and introduction of Policy Committees.

6.4

The Assistant Director (Governance) explained that it was down to Members to input on how the 6-month review process should feel. Members were asked to consider the report and then give Officers a steer on how the 6-month review should be carried out.

6.5

In the meantime, if there was something urgent that Members felt needed amending, prior to the 6-month review, then Members of the Committee could put forward a motion to Full Council, to amend the Council’s constitution. 

6.6

Members of the Committee discussed the plan for the 6-month review and the key points to note were: -

6.7

The Assistant Director (Governance) explained it was intended for the Governance Committee to hear from a range of witnesses at the November meetings, if the Committee approved that recommendation.

6.8

It was suggested that an additional meeting be arranged to look at how Full Council operated in the new system and issues around Job-Share/Co-Chair. The allocation of 30 minutes for Public Question/Petitions also needed to be re-considered whilst considering the publics views.

6.9

A Member of the Committee raised the importance of consulting with other external organisations, different to those who were consulted at the last inquiry. It was believed that witnesses who should be called upon to give evidence, should be members of the public and other organisations who were involved in Council functions and attended meetings.

The Chair mentioned it would be useful to consult with those who were consulted at the last enquiry to see how they thought the transition was going.

6.10

A Member of the Committee referred to wording around sub-committees’ ability to take urgent decisions. It was mentioned that the Council needed to have more capacity to take urgent decisions.

6.11

It was suggested that Policy Committees met on consistent days of the week, for each of their meetings.

6.12

A Member of the Committee raised concerns around the volume of business at some Policy Committees. It was suggested that either, the length of meetings needed to be extended or, the format of agendas needed to be changed.

It was suggested that formal decision-making items be taken in meetings. All other standard items be taken after the meeting.

6.13

A Member stated the current arrangement around dates and times of meetings could be preventing people of the city from being a part of decision-making at Sheffield City Council. It could also be preventing people from pursuing the career of becoming a councillor.

6.14

The Assistant Director (Governance) suggested some wording to amend 5.11 of the Council’s procedure rule, that a Committee Member could propose if they thought it dealt with the issues raised around length of Policy Committees.

It was as follows ‘5.11 Meetings of Policy Committees shall be conducted according to the following procedures:- (a) Meetings shall last no longer than 2.5 hours, subject to the proviso that Members may, by agreement, continue beyond such time limit by a period of not more than 30 minutes. (b) Any unfinished business after the period of 2.5 hours (or 3 hours by agreement) shall be deferred to the next meeting of the Body, or be voted on without debate’

6.15

A Member of the Committee suggested that each Policy Committee took a vote to extend the meeting time once they reached their time limit of 2.5 hours.

6.16

Another Member agreed that Policy Committees should have the ability to extend their meeting time, although had reservations around leaving meetings open ended, as they could become hard for the Chair to manage. It was stated that meetings needed to be time limited if a Policy Committee agreed to extend their meeting time.

6.17

A Member of the Committee referred to 5.12 of the Council’s procedure rules, in which it stated that ‘Meetings of all other Bodies, with the exception of Regulatory Committees, shall be conducted according to the following procedures:- (a) Meetings shall last no longer than four hours, subject to the proviso that Members may, by agreement, continue beyond such time limit by a period of not more than 30 minutes. (b) Any unfinished business after the period of four hours (or four hours and 30 minutes by agreement) shall be deferred to the next meeting of the Body, or be voted on without debate.

The Member thought a similar principle to extend by 30 minutes, should be adopted for Policy Committees.

6.18

A Member believed that meetings should only be extended to finish the item of business that the Committee was currently discussing. The Member was cautious that by extending meetings for 30 minutes that it could become a frequent occurrence. 

6.19

The Director of Legal and Governance, Gillian Duckworth, suggested a proposal that meetings could be extended by 30 minutes, twice. The Policy Committee would have to vote to extend by 30 minutes and then vote again once the initial 30 minutes was reached.

6.20

After the discussion, the following amendment was proposed by Councillor Sue Alston, seconded by Councillor Christine Gilligan.

To replace 5.11 of the current council’s procedure rules with ‘5.11 Meetings of Policy Committees shall be conducted according to the following procedures:- (a) Meetings shall last no longer than 2.5 hours, subject to the proviso that Members may, by agreement, continue beyond such time limit by a period of not more than 30 minutes on up to two occasions in any one meeting. (b) Any unfinished business after the period of 2.5 hours (or up to 3.5 hours by agreement) shall be deferred to the next meeting of the Body, or be voted on without debate.’ 

6.21

On being put to the vote, the amendment at paragraph 6.20 above were carried.

6.22

RESOLVED:

(1) That as per Council’s resolution, the Governance Committee’s review of the new governance system commences six months after its implementation (November 2022) with a view to recommending improvements to Full Council in May 2023. This review will:

a. Use the previously agreed ‘strategic aims’ and ‘design principles’ as its success criteria

b. Actively seek and use feedback from residents, stakeholders, partners, councillors and officers to inform its assessment against those criteria, in line with the new ways of working expected of all decision-makers within the new system

c. Take account of any changes to the local and national context

(2) That two extra provisional dates be added to the Governance Committee’s programme in November to provide time for the review

(3) That members discuss their experiences of the launch of the new system and first round of Policy Committees, and in doing so begin collating a list of issues which may need consideration in November.

(4) That an amendment to the Councils Procedure Rules be taken to the next meeting of Full Council as set out at paragraph 6.20 above.