Agenda item

Procedure for Moving Amendments at Council Meetings

To consider whether to recommend the proposed constitutional amendment to Council.

Minutes:

The Assistant Director – Governance and Legal Services presented the report recommending a change to the Council Procedure Rules to prevent the moving of amendments without notice and with no prior discussion at Council meetings.

 

The Assistant Director – Governance and Legal Services said the change was an improvement on the Council’s constitutional arrangements and would provide a platform for high quality decision making. He said there was an issue with amendments being moved without notice at Council meetings, as no advice could be given to Members on the implications of such an amendment. Furthermore, such changes led to confusion and made the Council appear unprofessional when conducting its business.

 

To ensure amendments had been properly considered the Assistant Director – Governance and Legal Services said advance notice should be given by noon on the day preceding the Council meeting. Amendments would then be circulated to all Members giving them time to inform themselves of any implications that the amendment may have.

 

The exceptions to this rule were in cases where the Chairman was satisfied that the need for the amendment could not have been anticipated before the deadline, or notice for the amendment was given as soon as practically possible. The exception rule could also come into effect when the Chairman was satisfied that the amendment was necessary to improve the wording, or correct factual inaccuracies of motions/recommendations. In both cases it would be at the Chairman’s discretion whether a late amendment could be moved.

 

Members discussed the proposed change to the Constitution and the implications it would have on full Council meetings and the democratic process.

 

Councillor Hargreaves said he had three objections to the change. The first was that of the nine amendments tabled at Council since August, seven had been defeated and the two that passed had no negative implications. The second was that there would be no ‘wrecking’ motion on the final vote for the Local Plan. Thirdly, the mechanism by which exceptions to the rule were allowed was unsatisfactory as it would be dependent on the Chairman’s discretion.

 

Councillor Light said full Council was a dynamic decision making body and if amendments were no longer allowed on the night of the meeting the importance of debate would be negated. She said this would damage the democratic process and she would be voting against the recommendation.

 

Councillor Rolfe said he believed the change would improve the democratic process and the professional image of the Council, as Members would have time to inform themselves of the implications of amendments, which in turn would improve the quality of decisions being made. He added that no items were brought to Council without already being through the committee and scrutiny process.

 

Councillor Barker said he had doubts over the exception mechanism in cases where badly written motions were presented to Council and the Chairman had to be convinced to allow an amendment to be tabled. He said a process needed to be found by which full Council could avoid the chaotic moments when an amendment was tabled, but without negating the dynamism of Council meetings.

 

Councillor Jones said he accepted the sentiment behind the change in procedures but thought this was not the right answer. He said there was scope for debate which could lead to a sound amendment being tabled, particularly if the motion was poor.

 

The Assistant Director – Governance and Legal Services said there were three options before Members; to agree to the proposed changes to the Council Procedure Rules; to reject the proposed changes; to propose the changes have merit but require further work and to bring back a modified Rule 12.6.6 and 12.6.7 to the next meeting.

 

If the latter option was preferred, Members were asked to send their comments to the Assistant Director – Governance and Legal Services.

 

RESOLVED that the changes to the Council Procedure Rules set out in the Appendix to the report require further work and are to be resubmitted to the Committee at its next meeting in May.

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