This meeting of the Standards and Governance Committee will consider whether to approve updated terms of reference for the Planning Committee, to change the Constitution Working Group's reporting process, and to update the Council's Contract Procedure Rules in anticipation of new procurement legislation.

Update and amendments to the Council's Contract Procedure Rules

The committee will consider a report that proposes to update the Council's Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs). These rules, which dictate how the Council procures goods, works and services, need to be updated in anticipation of the new Procurement Act 2023, which will come into force on the 24th of February 2025. The report says that the Act:

brings Contract Management into legislation for the first time and increases transparency with the introduction of 17 new and additional transparency notices, some projects may need multiple notifications.

The report says that this means that:

The need to publish numerous notices will be a challenge.

The report proposes a number of changes to the CPRs, including the inclusion of a new rule, Rule 8, that governs the awarding of grants.

The report also proposes the creation of a supplemental Procurement Guidance document to accompany the CPRs and help officers understand and comply with them. It says that:

As and when the Procurement Act 2023 is interpreted by the courts or government issues new guidance, internal documents can be changed and implemented swiftly.

The report notes that there is also a need to consider the Social Value implications of the proposed changes, as the Procurement Act 2023 does not explicitly mention Social Value, but does require that regard is given to ‘maximising public benefit’. The report proposes that this will be achieved by ensuring that the Council complies with the National Procurement Policy Statement, which explicitly mentions Social Value.

Planning Committee Terms of Reference

The committee will also consider a report proposing changes to the Planning Committee’s Terms of Reference.

The proposed changes concern how members of the Council request that items be considered by the Planning Committee. The report says that currently the process of requesting items for committee consideration by councillors seemed weighed against individual councillors. and proposes to change this so that the Head of Service consults with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the committee before deciding whether the call-in request should go to the committee. The report also proposes to change the way that submissions from councillors who have requested a 'call-in' are dealt with. It says that currently:

consideration of a submission from a councillor, who had requested a ‘call in’ and was unable to attend the meeting should be at the discretion of the Chair of the Committee.

Instead, the report proposes to change this so that:

Where the councillor requesting the determination by Planning Committee is unable to attend the meeting to speak, his submission, (either in writing or by prerecorded video), will be heard, provided he has registered his submission to the Committee Clerk or appropriate administrative officer in advance of the meeting, in accordance with any specified deadlines set out in Planning Committee’s Public Speaking Procedure. In such circumstances, any letter or email can be read by the Chair, Vice Chair, officer or any member nominated by the absent member.

If a member does not submit their submissions within the required timeframe, the Chair will have the discretion as to whether a member can speak or have any letter read out or submit a prerecorded video message.

The report also says that the Planning Committee currently uses two separate documents to define its scheme of delegation and its terms of reference, which has caused confusion over the committee's responsibilities, and that:

Typically, planning committees integrate their delegation details within a single Terms of Reference, avoiding the complexities associated with multiple governing documents.

The report proposes to resolve this confusion by amending the Planning Committee's Terms of Reference so that they include the committee's scheme of delegation.

The report also proposes to change how the council uses s.16 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, which governs who can serve notices requesting information. Currently this power has been delegated to both the Planning and Regulatory Committees, and to the Chief Legal Officer and other officers, but the report proposes to remove the delegation to the committees because:

maintaining this reference within the Committee’s delegation framework is unnecessary and potentially confusing.

Constitution Working Group

The committee will consider a report regarding the reporting process used by the Constitution Working Group.

Currently, the Working Group makes recommendations for changes to the council's Constitution directly to the Standards and Governance Committee, which then decides whether to recommend to the full council that those changes be adopted, but the report proposes to change this so that the Working Group makes its recommendations directly to the full council.

The report notes that:

The Standards and Governance Committee now only meets four times a year. To enable changes to be made to the Constitution in a more timely manner it is proposed that the Standards and Governance Committee delegates authority to the Constitution Working Group to make recommendations directly to Council.