The Governance Committee of Lewisham Council is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, 10 December 2025, to discuss several proposed amendments to the council's constitution, including changes to articles, council procedure rules, scrutiny procedure rules, and the scheme of delegation. The committee will also review declarations of interest from members.

Review of the Constitution

A significant portion of the meeting will be dedicated to a review of the council's constitution. The constitution is described as:

the document that governs how the Council makes decisions, how scrutiny operates, how the public engages with the Council and how the Council operates.

The council's Monitoring Officer¹ is responsible for keeping the constitution under review. The committee is being asked to note feedback from a Constitution Workshop held on 22nd September 2025, and to recommend a number of amendments to the council for approval.

The proposed changes to the constitution include:

• Removing references to Ward Assemblies from Article 6.5 Overview & Scrutiny.
• Amending Article 6.7, which details the terms of reference for the Housing Select Committee, to specifically include the council's landlord function.
• Reinstating wording in Article 9.1 regarding the terms of reference for the Strategic Planning Committee, which was omitted from the published version of the constitution after the Annual General Meeting on 7th May 2025. The wording gives the Director of Planning, following consultation with the Monitoring Officer, the power to decide whether an application ought to be determined by the Strategic Planning Committee.
• Removing references to Deputations from the Council Procedure Rules.
• Amending the Scrutiny Procedure Rules to change the process for placing matters on the agenda, so that the Proper Officer² makes a decision in consultation with the relevant Committee Chair, rather than being required to comply with any requests.
• Reinstating provisions in the Scheme of Delegation that were contained in the previous constitution, regarding matters reserved to Planning Committees A and B. These include planning objections, development plan documents, and demolition of public houses.
• Moving rules relating to community education and Controlled Parking Zones from the 'Adult Social Care & Health' and 'Finance' headings to the 'Place' heading in the Scheme of Delegation.
• Amending Rule 31 regarding increases in charges for services, so that any increases greater than specified in the fees and charges policy are reserved to members.
• Amending Rule 46 regarding extensions, variations, or framework agreements, to clarify that the reservation to members applies to Category A Contracts.
• Including a provision in the Committee Procedure Rules stating that the start time of ordinary committees will be determined by each committee at its first meeting following the Annual General Meeting of the Council.

Declaration of Interests

The committee will consider declarations of interest from members related to items on the agenda. The report pack outlines the different types of interests, including:

• Disclosable pecuniary interests
• Other registerable interests
• Non-registerable interests

Members are required to declare any personal interest they have in any item on the agenda, and the declaration will be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. If a member has a disclosable pecuniary interest, they must not take part in consideration of the matter and must withdraw from the room. Failure to declare such an interest can result in prosecution and a fine of up to £5000.