The Mayor referred to the two drop in Q & A sessions on the new Constitution held on line earlier in the week, which were well-attended.

In proposing the recommendations in the report, the new Leader, Councillor Mike Baldock, said that the document had been discussed at length by the cross party working group, at many meetings over several hours and he thanked everyone involved.  He said the new Constitution would see the Council into the Committee System and make it workable.  The Leader gave particular praise to officers and to the external consultant, Sandra Prail, who had delivered a briefing earlier in the evening.

Councillor Roger Truelove seconded the recommendations and reserved his right to speak.

Councillor Alan Horton said he looked forward to working in the Committee System and he said the new Constitution would enable Members to do that.  He thanked the cross party working group and gave particular thanks to officers who had worked on the document, acknowledging the difficult task of bringing Members from different political parties together to make a Constitution that would work for everybody within the deadline. 

A Member drew attention that there should be more information on Equality and Diversity in the implications part of the report and suggested the accessibility of the Committee System in relation to the Cabinet System could be included.  She also agreed with another Member that some Members were unable to attend the drop in sessions due to work commitments.  Another Member thanked the Monitoring Officer in communicating and answering questions outside of the drop-in session times.  A Member said that as the Committee System evolved, Committees might change but the Committee structure would not, and he considered the new Constitution was a good document.

In summing up, Councillor Truelove acknowledged the long process and amount of work involved.  He agreed that Equality and Diversity was an important part of the Constitution and should be included, and he said he wanted SBC to be a more democratic Council.

The Leader said the cross party working group would continue and the Constitution would be constantly reviewed. 

Resolved:

(1)  That the text at Appendices I to X as Parts 1 to 3 of the updated constitution be adopted, to come into effect at Annual Council in May 2022.

(2)  That delegated authority be given to the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Council Leader, to make minor changes to the Constitution aimed at rectifying  typographical, formatting or paragraph numbers errors, or to resolve any residual references to the executive model.