Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bhondi, Sayers and Spikings.

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 was none.

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 none.

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.

Councillors Kemp, Lintern (remotely), Nash (remotely) and Ware.

There was none.

There was none.

Appendix 1: List of Key Issues

Appendix 2: Draft Council Procedure Rules

Appendix 3: Schedule of Substantive Changes to Constitution

Appendix 4: Schedule of minor amendments to the Constitution

Appendix 5: Minutes of all CIWG meetings during 2024 (21st October minutes to follow)

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The Monitoring Officer presented the report which set out the initials proposals from the Constitution Informal Working Group.  It was noted that the Informal Working Group’s work would continue to support the process for reviewing the Constitution.

Members were presented with the draft Council Procedure rules which pulled together all the procedural rules that apply to meetings of Full Council and picked up key issues raised by the Informal Working Group including introducing a Budget Meeting, Notices of Motion, Questions to Cabinet Members and Chairs.

Also presented for consideration was an additional schedule of substantive changes to the Constitution which proposed changes to the number of Members in Planning Committee, Licensing Committee and the Licensing and Appeals Board, changes to Standing Order 34 and introducing a defined procedure around the election and removal of a Leader.

A Schedule of Minor Amendments was also presented to the Panel for consideration.

The Panel was informed that the Constitution Informal Working Group would continue to meet and in the New Year would determine its forward Work Programme.

The Chair thanked the Monitoring Officer for the report and the Panel considered the Schedule of key issues individually as follows.  The Chair firstly invited Members present under Standing Order 34 to address the Panel so that their comments could be considered during the Panels debate.

Councillor Kemp addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34 and made reference to the proposed order of Notices of Motion and the proposed time limit which she felt would limit the opportunity for smaller Political Groups and non-aligned Members to have Notices of Motions considered, which were often time critical and could not be rolled over to a subsequent meeting. She commented that this proposal would be a retrograde step and would not give some Members the opportunity to bring Council’s attention to issues raised by residents.

Councillor Kemp also made reference to the proposal to reduce the number of Members on Planning Committee, Licensing Committee and Licensing and Appeals Board and felt it would mean that Members would have less opportunity to represent their residents.

Councillor Kemp commented that this process felt rushed and Members had not had the opportunity to input into the process or be consulted.

The Chair Councillor Long commented, that this was now the time for Members to put forward their views and reminded Councillor Kemp that Members could have attended the Informal Working Group meetings under Standing Order 34 to raise issues.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Councillor Morley addressed the Panel and raised concerns relating to the timescales for proposing amendments to the Budget, which was proposed to be four working days before the Council meeting.  He felt that this timescale would not provide officers with an opportunity to analyse the amendments to ensure that they would provide a balanced budget.  He asked the Panel to consider bringing the timescale forward.

The Chair, Councillor Long commented that this had been debated  ...  view the full minutes text for item CP64

To note that the next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel is scheduled to take place on 27^th November 2024 at 4.30pm in the Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel is scheduled to take place on 27^th November 2024 at 4.30pm in the Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.