Issue - meetings

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Honor Howell presented the report which proposed that the Chief Executive resigned from the Alive West Norfolk Board.  This would leave the Board inquorate and it was recommended that Alive West Norfolk Board appoint the Managing Director of Alive West Norfolk to the Board.

Honor Howell provided an update to the Committee on Director Appointments and explained that external appointments were being looked at to avoid any conflict of interests.  Job descriptions were being looked at.  It was confirmed that appointments were unpaid, but this could also be revisited depending on interest.

Councillor Morley addressed the Committee under Standing Order 34 and asked if the appointment of the Managing Director would mean that he lost any of his executive powers.  It was confirmed that he would not and would remain as Managing Director of Alive West Norfolk.  He would not be eligible to Chair the Board of Directors as an Executive Director.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed that currently no other officers served as Board Directors.

In response to a further query from Councillor Morley it was explained that the Service Level Agreement in place for Alive West Norfolk stated that repairs, maintenance and utilities were retained by the Borough Council, therefore formed part of the Borough Council’s Capital Programme.

Councillor Moriarty addressed the Committee under Standing Order 34 and asked if the plan going forward was to not have any Councillors serving as Board Directors.  The Monitoring Officer explained that it was in the action plan to move towards removing Councillors because of their inherent conflict of interest and their duty to their constituents. 

In response to a further query from Councillor Moriarty, it explained that in the future, as part of the agreement between the Companies and the Shareholder Committee, the appointment of Directors would be a reserved matter for the Shareholder Committee.  It was also noted that the Forward Plan of the Shareholder Committee would be available to the Panels, so that they could call in any items in advance for further scrutiny.

Councillor Kemp addressed the Committee under Standing Order 34 and agreed that Councillors had a conflict and should be disengaged from Board Memberships.

The Monitoring Officer explained that Council officer membership of Boards could be increased and ethical walls and structures would be put in place to manage any conflict.

RESOLVED: That the Shareholder Committee recommend to the Alive West Norfolk Board that the Managing Director of Alive West Norfolk be appointed to the Board of Directors.