Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Mr. N. Edwards (Chair) and Councillor Storey.

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

The following declarations of interest were received:-

Minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2008

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 20 November 2008 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Communications)

Further to Minute No. 11 of the Committee meeting held on 2 October 2008, the Committee considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Communications) on a draft protocol to assist Members to deal with queries from the media, which had been produced following consultation with the three Group Leaders.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)      the draft protocol be revised to provide clear guidance for Members in bullet point format on the following issues:

• Who could say what and when?
• What information on green paper is confidential?
• When does it become public?
• Who is allowed to comment on green paper items and in what context?
• Commenting during call-in periods
• Portfolio consultation

(2)      that the revised protocol be submitted to the three political groups and the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board for comments before submission to the next meeting of this Committee, the Cabinet and then Council for approval.

Report of the Legal Director

The Committee considered the report of the Legal Director which incorporated a copy of the report of the Independent Remuneration Panel in relation to the review of the Members Allowance Scheme.  The views of the Committee were sought on the recommendations of the Panel prior to the submission of the report to Council for consideration.

A Member of the Committee referred to the decision taken by the Cabinet at its meeting on 2 October 2008 (Minute No. 128 refers) with regard to Members Travel outside of the Borough being included within the scope of the Corporate Travel Policy and requested that the report be deferred for consideration at a future meeting to enable the Independent Remuneration Panel to review the Members Travel and Subsistence Scheme.

RESOLVED:

That the report of the Independent Remuneration Panel be deferred to enable the views of the three Political Groups to be sought on the Members Travel and Subsistence Scheme and a report thereon being submitted to the Independent Remuneration Panel for consideration.