The Constitution Working Party met to discuss proposed amendments to the council's constitution, including updates to financial procedure rules and the monitoring officer protocol. They were also scheduled to discuss and comment on the proposed work programme for the working party for the 2025/26 municipal year. The working party was expected to recommend that the report proceeds to the CRMG Scrutiny Committee meeting on 14 October 2025, and then to the cabinet meeting on 4 November 2025.

Proposed Amendments to Financial Procedure Rules and Monitoring Officer Protocol

The report pack included a report from the Assistant Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer regarding proposed changes to the constitution.

The proposed amendments to the Financial Procedure Rules (FPRs) were intended to complement changes to the Contract Procedure Rules, which the working party had previously agreed to at its meeting on 19 August 2025. These changes were recommended by the cabinet on 16 September 2025, and were scheduled to be considered by the council meeting on 9 October 2025, following the introduction of new procurement legislation.

The report pack stated that the current Financial Procedural Rules needed updating in limited areas to reflect the proposed amendments to the Contract Procedural Rules.

The report pack also detailed proposed amendments to the Monitoring Officer Protocol to reflect the Local Government Association (LGA) Guidance on Member Model Code of Conduct Complaints Handling dated 2021. The aim of these amendments was to strengthen the protocol where appropriate.

The report pack stated that the Monitoring Officer Protocol would benefit from being updated to reflect the LGA guidance in order to improve the process and protocol for how the Monitoring Officer deals with complaints for Members, members of the public and officers.

The working party was asked to consider the proposed amendments to the Finance Procedure Rules and the Monitoring Officer Protocol, provide any comments, and recommend that the report proceeds to the CRMG Scrutiny Committee meeting on 14 October 2025 for recommendation to the Cabinet Meeting on 4 November 2025.

Financial Procedure Rules

The Financial Procedure Rules (FPRs) are intended to advise councillors and employees of Stockport Council of the standards required in the management of the council's financial affairs. The rules are referenced in Article 15 of the council's constitution.

The rules cover a range of topics, including:

• The role of the Chief Finance Officer
• Financial management
• Closure of accounts and statutory financial returns
• Income and purchasing
• Payments, banking and financing
• Salaries, wages and pensions
• Taxation
• Internal audit
• Retention of financial records

The proposed changes to the Financial Procedure Rules included updates to reflect the new Contract Procedure Rules.

The Financial Procedure Rules state that:

All officers and agents responsible for the financial matters covered by these rules are required to maintain and promote the highest standards of financial management, integrity and administration. Chief Officers are responsible for ensuring that all relevant officers in their departments understand their responsibility for taking reasonable action to provide for the security of any assets under their control, and for ensuring that the use of these resources is legal, properly authorised and provides value for money.

Monitoring Officer Protocol

The Monitoring Officer Protocol describes how Stockport Council and Stockport Council's Standards Committee expects the Monitoring Officer to discharge their functions as set out in the Scheme of Delegation.

The Monitoring Officer has a number of facilities to support them in carrying out their functions, including:

• The right of access to all documents and information held by the authority
• The right of access to any meetings of members or officers of the authority
• The right to require any member or officer of the council to provide an explanation of any matter under investigation
• The right to report to the Council Meeting, the Standards Committee, to the Cabinet and the Corporate Leadership Team
• The right to require the assistance of any officer of the authority in carrying out an investigation
• The right to agree the local resolution to any complaint of maladministration or of breach of the authority's code, including power to agree a compensation payment of up to £5,000
• The right of access to the Chief Executive and to the Borough Treasurer
• The right to notify the Police, the authority's auditors and other regulatory agencies of his/her concerns in respect of any matter

The Monitoring Officer's ability to discharge their duties depends on members and officers complying with the law and relevant codes of conduct, complying with guidance issued by the Standards Committee or the Monitoring Officer, making lawful and proportionate decisions, and not taking action that would bring the council or their office into disrepute.

The proposed changes to the Monitoring Officer Protocol were intended to reflect the LGA Guidance on Member Model Code of Conduct Complaints Handling dated 2021.

Work Programme 2025/26

The report pack also contained a report from the Assistant Director for Governance outlining the proposed Work Programme for the Working Party for the 2025/26 municipal year.

The report stated that it is a requirement under Section 9P of the Local Government Act 2000 for a local authority to prepare and keep up to date its constitution. The council has codified within Article 16 that as a minimum, it should be reviewed at least every two years, however in practice, the constitution is subject to review and revision on a more regular basis.

Items within the Work Programme are derived from a number of sources, including Monitoring Officer referrals, suggestions from other officers and elected members, and items requested by the Working Party itself.

At the last meeting of the Working Party on 19 August 2025, a draft programme was discussed and agreed, and the table below aims to schedule the various elements of the review across the remainder of the municipal year.

The proposed work programme included the following items:

• December 2025: Review of Part 3 (Section 8) Officer Delegations, including the range of delegations available to Assistant Directors, the delegation and sign off process for Grant Agreements / Memorandums of Understanding / Collaboration Agreements, and the level of delegations required for sign off for new leases as opposed to variations/renewals of leases.
• December 2025: Review of PR4 – Scrutiny Procedure Rules, including clarification of the remit of the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee and the timeframe for the submission of responses to scrutiny reviews.
• December 2025: Review of Article 11 – Area and Ward Committees, including a summary of the views of area committees expressed in relation to the Remit of Area Committees report that this Working Party had referred to all area committees in September 2024.
• February 2026: Review of PR1 – Council Meeting Procedure Rules, including the arrangements for the conduct of business at the Council Meeting including the order of proceedings and cabinet question time, and consideration of mandatory named votes on development applications and the introduction of public speaking at the Planning & Highways Regulation Committee.
• April 2026: Review of CP4 - Confidential Reporting Policy, including the mechanism to report the outcome of any relevant reports, the frequency of such reports and to who or which committee.
• April 2026: Review of Article 14 – Decision-Making, including consideration of defining 'significant' in the context of value for a Key Decision¹.

The Working Party was asked to comment on the report.