The Constitution and Governance Committee of Cornwall Council met on 10 June 2025, and elected Councillor Dick Cole as Chairman and Councillor Jordan Rowse as Vice-Chairman. The committee approved the minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2025, the Committee Work Programme for 2025-2026, and noted a report on the council's governance review.

Governance Review

The committee noted a report from Paul Grant, Service Director for Legal and Assurance (Monitoring Officer), regarding a review of the council's governance arrangements. The review was initiated in preparation for the Local Government Association (LGA) Corporate Peer Challenge¹ scheduled for March 2026, and to address concerns raised during an Audit Committee meeting in February 2025 about decision-making processes related to the Built Environment Professional Services 2 (BEPS2) contract.

The review will include a self-assessment of current governance structures and practices, and a review of officer decision-making processes to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. Councillor Grant clarified that the review would focus on officer work before an issue comes to members, and that changes to the Constitution were unlikely at this stage.

A member asked Councillor Grant for his view on the Council's scrutiny arrangements and the impact of the review. Councillor Grant responded:

as he was still relatively new to the Council, he had yet to attend an Overview and Scrutiny meeting, however it was clearly something that had followed a well thought out process and had taken on recommendations from external partners. The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS) were experts in the field and were best placed to make their recommendations. That said, he intended to attend some meetings in future in order to make an assessment. There would clearly be some bedding in to do

The committee agreed that Councillor Grant would keep members informed of the progress of the discovery phase of the review.

Committee Work Programme 2025-2026

The committee approved the Committee Work Programme for 2025-2026. The Democratic Lead and Statutory Scrutiny Officer, Anita Searby, outlined the report, emphasising the consultation and benchmarking undertaken to inform the reports and ensure well-rounded recommendations.

During the discussion, a member questioned the criteria used for benchmarking with other councils. Anita Searby explained that the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) community was used for consultation, and that Wiltshire and Durham Councils were often consulted due to their similar unitary status. The size and type of other councils were also considered.

A member queried the rationale behind reviewing the rules around substitute councillors, given that the current system was considered to work well. Anita Searby explained that the review had been requested by the Council following issues raised about members with voting rights wanting to attend remotely. She noted that the government was considering legislation to permit remote and proxy voting, but the timeline was unknown. She added that the government was seeking to enable remote and proxy voting, and that there would be no opt out for councils.

The approved work programme includes a review of the Member Development Strategy, Council Procedure Rule 4.2.2 regarding the allocation of substitutes, and Article 21 concerning the governance arrangements of council-owned entities.