Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:   That Councillor J Moriarty be appointed as Vice-Chairman for the Municipal Year 2019/2020.

There were no apologies for absence.

To approve the minutes from the Corporate Performance Panel held on 3 April 2019.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 3 April 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of an interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on any item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider any business which, by reason of special circumstances, the Chairman proposed to accept as urgent under Section 100(b)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There was no urgent business under Standing Order 7.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chairman of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before the meeting commences.  Any Member attending the meeting under Standing Order 34 will only be permitted to speak on those items which have been previously notified to the Chairman.

Councillor A Rvyes attended under Standing Order 34 for item CP116.

There was no Chairman’s correspondence to report.

Presentation from Cara Jordan - Eastlaw

The Panel received a presentation from Cara Jordon, Principal Lawyer from Eastlaw on the Freedom of Information Overview and Procedure.

The Chairman thanked the Principal Lawyer for her presentation and invited questions from the Panel, which are summarised below:

·        The Principal Lawyer explained outlined what was considered as excessive cost being 18 hours or more officer time which had been set by the Information Commissioner’s Office.  The Council could then contact that requester and explain that to complete the request would exceed the cost limit or they could reduce their request.

·        There was a wide variety of people who submitted a Freedom of Information request.

·        In relation to the total cost of the Council providing responses to FOIs, it was explained that Eastlaw carried out this work on behalf of the Council and was part of the Service Level Agreement with them.

·        In response to a question regarding if there were penalties incurred for withholding information, the Principal Lawyer explained that officers were required to make reasonable enquiries to find out where the recorded information was held.  If the person who had requested the information was not satisfied, then an internal review would be held and the matter could be referred to the ICO if the matter was not satisfactorily resolved.  She added that the purpose of the Act was to be transparent and provide information.

·        The Principal Lawyer explained that someone could not ask to see all Councillor emails as they could only ask for specific information.  She also explained that Parish Councils should have their own FOI policy.

RESOLVED:   That, the presentation be noted and a copy sent out with the minutes.

The Panel noted the Cabinet Forward Decisions list.

Councillors were advised that the Cabinet Forward Decision List would be considered by each Panel and any items identified would be taken to the relevant Panel.

Councillors were further advised that they could attend any Panel meeting under Standing Order 34 and contribute to the debate but not take part in the vote.

The Leader, Councillor Long also outlined to the Panel the background to the Council Governance report.

In response to a question as to why the Council’s representative would be an observer only, the Leader, Councillor Long explained that the Club had fulfilled its funding obligations, however it was considered important to have a representative on the Sailing Club’s Sub-Committee to be able to report back to this Panel.

Both Councillors Beal and Collop, who had been the Panel’s representative on the Sub-Committee, expressed concern at the lack of invitation to meetings and involvement.

It was proposed and seconded that the item be deferred until the meeting on 22 July 2019 when a representative from the Sailing Club would be in attendance to provide an update to the Panel.

The Chairman also agreed to write to the Sailing Club outlining the Panel’s concerns.

RESOLVED:   That, the item be deferred until after the Panel had received an update by a representative from the Sailing Club.

To note the Committee’s Work Programme for 2019/2020.

The Panel’s work programme was noted.

It was agreed that an update on the Town Hall Bar proposal be requested.

RESOLVED:   That, an update on the Town Hall Bar proposal be requested.

To note that the date of the next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel will take place on 22 July 2019.

The next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel would be held on 22 July 2019 at 6pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.