This week in Isles of Scilly:

• The Governance Committee was scheduled to review the Capital and Properties Board Terms of Reference and discuss the Council of the Isles of Scilly Health and Wellbeing Board.
• The Governance Committee was also scheduled to discuss member training and review standing orders.

Governance Committee - Tuesday 29 April 2025

The Governance Committee met on 29 April 2025, according to the agenda. The agenda included a review of the Capital and Properties Board Terms of Reference, a discussion on the Council of the Isles of Scilly Health and Wellbeing Board, a member training overview, and a review of standing orders. The committee was also scheduled to review the minutes from a previous meeting. No transcript was provided.

Capital and Properties Board Terms of Reference

The committee was scheduled to consider and review the terms of reference for the Capital and Properties Board¹ and make a recommendation to the Full Council for approval. The original terms of reference sought to clarify the council's assets, oversee the financial profile of the asset portfolio, develop principles for asset management, align assets with corporate objectives, oversee integrated property management, provide recommendations for asset management over the next 10 years, oversee the Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP), define a prioritised work programme, and mitigate asset-related risks.

The report pack indicated that since the board's formation, the terms of reference had been under discussion and review, with clear synergies identified between the board's work and the Council’s capital investment programme. The suggestion was to extend the board’s remit to include monitoring of capital investment, so budgets and actions could be monitored in tandem.

The report pack stated that by broadening the board's scope, members would gain a better understanding of commissioned and planned works, as well as any urgent works requiring budget allocation within the context of the overall Capital Investment Programme.

Council of the Isles of Scilly Health and Wellbeing Board and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Partnership

The Governance Committee was scheduled to consider a report regarding the Council of the Isles of Scilly Health and Wellbeing Board and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Partnership. The report pack included proposed terms of reference for both. The aim was for the committee to make a recommendation to the Full Council to approve the terms of reference for inclusion in the Council’s Standing Orders, effective from 20 May 2025.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 requires both Cornwall Council and the Council of the Isles of Scilly to establish a Health and Wellbeing Board as a formal committee. Since 1 January 2022, this requirement has been met through a Joint Health and Wellbeing Board (JHWBB).

The Health and Care Act 2022 requires the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board (ICB), Cornwall Council, and the Council of the Isles of Scilly to establish a statutory joint committee known as an Integrated Care Partnership (ICP). The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICP was established in July 2022.

The report pack stated that some of the health and social care issues for the Council of the Isles of Scilly were sometimes lost in the JHWBB and would be better serviced by its own HWBB. It was therefore proposed that the current JHWBB be disaggregated and revert to two HWBB’s, one for Cornwall Council and one for the Council of the Isles of Scilly.

The new arrangement of two council HWBBs and one ICP would still need to ensure that each fulfils its statutory duties and roles.

The report pack included a summary of the key findings from the second working session between both Councils and the ICB.

The report pack also requested that delegated authority be provided to the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Director for Adult Social Services, to make any final minor amendments (including the name) to the Terms of Reference for the Cornwall Health and Wellbeing Board and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Partnership (as a Committee in Common), including accommodating minor changes as necessary received from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board and Cornwall Council resulting from their own governance approval processes.

Member Training 2025

The committee was scheduled to note an overview of councillor training legal requirements and the intended training schedule for members in 2025.

The report pack stated that a member training schedule relating to the Code of Conduct and other matters where the Council exercises decision-making functions is evidence of the Council fulfilling its statutory requirement to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by members and co-opted members of the Council, as per the Localism Act 2011.

The report pack noted that there is currently no mandatory training for councillors in law, however, there can be barriers to membership for committees and other decision-making groups that can be enshrined in a local authority’s Standing Orders.

The report pack included a table listing the intended training events for members for the Council of the Isles of Scilly.

Review of Standing Orders and Constitutional Overview 2025

The committee was scheduled to consider a report recommending changes to the Council’s Standing Orders and to endorse the approach of combining several documents into a single document called the Standing Orders of the Isles of Scilly.

The report pack stated that it is considered good housekeeping to undertake a regular review of Standing Orders to ensure that good practices are followed and that the mechanisms of decision-making are robust and lawful.

The report pack noted that no issues with Standing Orders have been raised by any councillor in the past 12 months, nor any member of the public.

The report pack stated that the main procedural Standing Orders document had been appended to the report, and some changes were recommended as set out by way of tracked changes in the appendix. In the main the changes are to correct grammatical errors, cross referencing and to clarify ambiguities in drafting. Additional changes included:

• SO12.1 Changing the time limit to receive a Motion in writing from 7 clear working days before the meeting to 9 clear working days.
• SO14.12 Changing the time limit to receive a public question from 48 hrs before the meeting to two clear working days.
• SO25.2 Making clear that the new Health and Wellbeing Board will have its Chairman appointed by Full Council by approval of its Terms of Reference.
• SO27.4 This provides greater flexibility for adjournment of a meeting where quorum is a difficulty.
• SO31.2 This provides the Monitoring Officer with the ability to amend Standing Orders in specified circumstances.
• SO35.3 This provides clarity on the process when a Member declares an interest at a meeting.

The other documents which have been amended are:

• The Terms of Reference for Council and its Committees. Some minor changes have been made to these Terms of Reference. In the main the changes are to correct grammatical errors, cross referencing and to clarify ambiguities in drafting. As previously endorsed the internal audit function has also been moved from the Scrutiny Committee to the Governance Committee.
• Members Scheme of Allowances – these have been updated generally as they were out of date and updated in accordance with the decision of Full Council in February 2025 to reflect the new allowances.
• Lead Members Role Profiles – these have been amended to make clear under which Lead Member certain Council functions sit where previously it was unclear or silent.

The report pack proposed that it be made clearer which documents constitute the Council’s wider Standing Orders by the relevant documents becoming appendices to the main procedural Standing Orders as opposed to sitting on the Council’s website alongside the Council’s main procedural Standing Orders. It is proposed that the following documents will be combined to form the Council’s Standing Orders.