The Council has a statutory duty to maintain an up to date Constitution, Local Government Act 2000, the Constitution must cover standing orders, delegations and code of conduct for members, it can also have local conditions and rules that reflect its own area and how to make decisions.

The Monitoring Officer (MO) has the responsibility to ensure that the Council’s Constitution is up to date. To facilitate this the Council under Article 12 has convened a Constitution Working Group (CWG) which is a cross party working group that consults with the MO on changes necessary to ensure an effective and up to date Constitution is maintained by the Council.

After a full discussion, Cllr Hossack MOVED and Cllr Poppy SECONDED the recommendations in the report. A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED.

Members are asked to:

R1. Agree the nominations for the Constitutional Working Group set out in paragraph 9 for the next municipal year.

Reasons for Recommendation

The Council has a statutory duty to have a written Constitution which sets out how the Council will operate and make decisions. The Constitution must be kept up to date and must be published.

The principle of proportionality is key to making decisions in that the action must be proportionate to the desired outcome due consultation and the taking of professional advice from officers; respect for human rights; a presumption in favour of openness; and clarity of aims and desired outcomes.

The Council has agreed that in order to promote good governance that there should be a CWG which reports to Council to recommend changes to the Constitution.