The Selection and Member Services Committee is scheduled to meet to discuss a review of the council's committees, and to note a report on combined member grants for 2024/25. The meeting will also include a review of the minutes from the meeting held on 4 September 2025.

Committee Review

The committee is scheduled to discuss a report that puts forward proposals to change the number of committees, adjust their terms of reference, and confirm arrangements for managing the transition of required activity.

The Committees Review Paper notes that the council is required to have a number of statutory committees, but there is some flexibility in how the council manages these. The report explores options to deliver the same functions via fewer committees.

The report states that the following committees must remain due to their specific functions and requirements:

• Scrutiny Committee
• Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Governance & Audit Committee
• Pension Fund Committee

The report says that the following committees could be amended, but it is recommended that they continue unchanged at this time:

• Personnel Committee
• Flood Risk and Water Management Committee
• Standards Committee

The report suggests that the following ordinary committees may be merged:

• Selection and Member Services Committee & Electoral and Boundary Review Committee
• Planning Committee & Regulation Committee

The report states that the functions currently undertaken separately by the Selection and Member Services and Electoral and Boundary Review have a reasonable connection to arrangements relating to members. It suggests that a single Electoral and Member Arrangements Committee could be established to undertake all the functions, including making appointments to outside bodies, reviewing and recommending changes to the Constitution, monitoring member grants, determining election arrangements and responding to boundary reviews.

The report notes that the chair of the Selection and Member Services Committee receives a Special Responsibility Allowance¹ (SRA), and that this would continue under the proposals, pending any future Member Remuneration Panel review. The report also recommends that the Member Development Sub-Committee be discontinued, as it has played an important role in reviewing member development arrangements in 2023/24 and assisted in the preparation of an effective Member Induction Programme following the May 2025 election, and the requirement for formal committee consideration of these plans has now passed.

The report notes that the council has legal requirements to manage planning application matters for relevant strategic issues via a non-executive process, either through formal planning committee meetings or via delegated officer decisions. It says that Kent County Council (KCC) already operates an effective level of delegation.

The report states that the Regulation Committee has an important formal responsibility as it exercises functions in relation to enforcement of the control of development under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and related statutory instruments. However, the majority of these decision-making functions are, in practice, exercised via officer delegation or through ad hoc sub-committees, such as those that determine matters such as school transport appeals, public rights of way issues and village green applications.

The report recommends that the Planning and Regulation Committees functions be merged into one overarching committee, and that the current required sub-committee/panel arrangements for Regulation and Planning Committees are established under the new merged committee.

The report also notes that the Leader of the Council has undertaken a review of Cabinet Committee arrangements, and is proposing to consolidate all Growth, Environment and Transport (GET) related Cabinet Committee activity within a single GET Cabinet Committee, by the Environment & Transport Cabinet Committee absorbing the GEDC activity and disbanding the GEDC Cabinet Committee.

The report claims that the proposals would result in a reduction of at least 15 meetings per year, and a saving of approximately £75,000 per annum.

The report recommends that the committee recommend to the County Council that the proposed changes to the ordinary committees be adopted, note the proposed changes to cabinet committees, note that detailed committee membership will be determined via the Proportionality Arrangements via Full Council, and delegate authority to the Democratic Services Manager, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and Political Group Leaders, to progress detailed Terms of Reference updates for the affected committees.

The Public reports pack includes two appendices, containing the revised terms of reference for the proposed Electoral and Member Arrangements Committee, and the proposed Planning and Regulation Committee.

The Electoral and Member Arrangements Committee - Draft ToR states that the committee would be responsible for:

• Developing the role of members, particularly within their local community
• Keeping the Constitution under review and making recommendations to Council on any changes that may be required
• Contributing to the development of the council's response to developments in government policy impacting local democracy as a whole
• Keeping the committee structure under review and making recommendations to Council on the number, names, terms of reference, size and political proportionality of committees
• Making recommendations to Council on the political proportionality of the Council's representation on other authorities, joint committees and partnership bodies
• The removal of Local Authority Governors to school governing bodies, nominees to the Management Committees of Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), and governors to Academies
• Making or arranging appointments and nominations for parent governor members of council committees, independent appeal panels, independent members of Social Services Complaints Review Panels, the selection panel for the Independent Person, members of the Member Remuneration Panel, and any other non-council members on council committees
• Making appointments and nominations on behalf of the council to serve on outside bodies
• Monitoring expenditure on members allowances, expenses and services, and any members' grants schemes
• Overseeing all member accommodation, facilities and support services
• Agreeing arrangements for member attendance at conferences
• Determining requests from a lead petitioner for a review of the council's response to a petition in accordance with Petition Scheme
• Receiving reports from informal Member Working Groups where they do not report elsewhere
• Dealing with all matters delegated to it by full Council relating to KCC elections and the Council's Electoral Boundaries.

The Planning and Regulation Committee - Draft ToR states that the committee would be responsible for:

• The determination of planning applications and related matters in relation to the control of development under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and related statutory instruments.
• The council's functions in relation to the enforcement of the control of development under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and related statutory instruments
• Exercising any of the powers of the County Council so delegated as set out in the Delegation Table.
• Permitting members of the public interested in their decisions to address their meetings, in accordance with the principles of decision-making set out in 8.5.
• Ensuring that political groups only nominate members as regular members or as substitutes on the Planning and Regulation Committee (and on any Panels of the Committee) if they have had training in the relevant procedures.
• Recording the votes of each individual member of the Planning Applications Committee (whether for, against, or in abstention) whenever the committee votes against the Head of Planning Applications Group's recommendation for permission or refusal of a planning application, together with the grounds and reasons for overturning the recommendation.
• Considering appeals against refusal to approve premises for the solemnisation of marriages, all Commons Registration functions under Part 1 of the Commons Act 2006, the creation, stopping up, diversion of any footpath or bridleway or restricted byway or the reclassification of any public path where substantive objection has been raised or a Political Group or the Local Member requests, appeals by pupils and parents against school-related decisions that are not considered by an external appeal committee, and the discharge of persons who are subject to guardianship, pursuant to Section 23 of the Mental Health Act 1983.

2024/25 Combined Member Grant Report

The committee is scheduled to note the 2024/25 Combined Member Grant Report, which provides an overview of the grants processed during the 2024/25 period.

The report states that the publishing of details of grants to the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector is mandatory under the publication scheme (s19 FOIA) and Local Government Transparency Code 2015.

The report notes that a new Member Grant system is currently being piloted which has the ability to provide members with real time grant spend using Microsoft Power BI, and that, subject to the successful conclusion of the pilot, it is anticipated that the new system will go live for the 2026/27 financial year.

The Appendix - Combined Member Grant Recipient List 2024-25 lists all of the grants made by councillors during the 2024/25 financial year.

For example, Councillor Paul Bartlett, who represents Ashford Central, made grants to Shedkwick CIC, Repton Community Trust, South Ashford FC, Ashford Malayalee Association (AMA), Friends of Bybrook Nature Reserve, Ashford Photographic Society, Ashford Volunteer Centre and Central Ashford Forum.

Councillor Mike Hill, OBE, who represents Tenterden, made grants to Tenterden Folk Festival, Tenterden & District Museum Association, Smallhythe Parochial Church Council, Rolvenden Primary School, Sustainable Tenterden and Appledore Parish Council.

Councillor Alister Brady, who represents Canterbury City North, made grants to Canterbury and District Early Years Project, Northgate Ward Development Group, Prince of Wales Youth Club, Pride Canterbury CIC, Canterbury Theatre and Festival Trust, St Steven's Resident's Association, Bemix, All Saints Church Canterbury, St Dunstan's Residents' Association and Dads Unlimited.

Councillor Mel Dawkins, who represents Canterbury City South, made grants to KCC - Plan Tree, Canterbury Chamber Choir, Canterbury Theatre and Festival Trust, Canterbury Baptist Church (CBC), Spring Lane Veterans Hub and Kent Highways.

Minutes of the Meeting Held on the 4 September 2025

The committee is scheduled to review the Minutes of the Meeting Held on the 4 September 2025.

The minutes record that Councillor Brian Collins was elected as Chair of the Committee, and that apologies were received from Councillor Linden Kemkaran and Councillor Andrew Kennedy, with Councillor Spencer Dixon and Councillor Harry Rayner acting as substitutes respectively.

The minutes also record that the committee received a verbal update from Mr Ben Watts, General Counsel, on the induction of new members, and that members noted the update.

The minutes record that the committee delegated to the Monitoring Officer the authority, in consultation with the Leaders of the Political Groups, to carry out a recruitment exercise for up to two Independent Persons for the Standards Committee, and make recommendations for appointment to County Council.

The minutes also record that the committee discussed outside bodies member appointments, and that the Monitoring Officer would notify members in writing of the criteria and responsibilities of outside body appointments, prepare an updated report for the next meeting of the committee with information of which appointments remain to be made, and formally confirm appointments, once the nominee has confirmed their acceptance.