Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Buck (substitute: Councillor Salter), Murphy (no substitute) and Terry (no substitute).

No interests were declared at the meeting.

The Committee received a report of the Executive Director (Strategy & Change) that presented the complete draft new Constitution and associated documents that sat outside of the Constitution but would be accessible through live links.  An updated copy of all the documents were circulated to the Committee in a supplementary pack prior to the meeting.

The Committee noted that a few minor amendments would be required prior to the draft new Constitution document being recommended to Council for adoption in December, following the comments made at the review and “wash up” meeting held earlier.

The Chair took the opportunity to thank all the Councillors involved with the review, including substitute members of the Committee, and officers for their time and hard work.

Resolved:-

1.  That authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, to make the necessary appropriate minor amendments to the draft new Constitution, prior to it being submitted to Council for adoption in December.

2. That the draft new Constitution be recommended to Council at its meeting on 12 December 2024 for approval and subsequent adoption in two stages, namely:

(i) that the whole of the constitution except all those provisions relating to the numbers of Members allocated to Committees be adopted on 12 December 2024 directly after approval by Council; and

(ii) that all those provisions relating to the numbers of Members allocated to Committees be adopted at the Annual Council in May 2025.

3. That it be noted that the Financial Procedure Rules in Part 7 (Officers) has not been reviewed at this time and remains in its current from as published on the Council’s website.