Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Rory Colville, Robin Currie and Aileen Morton.

There were no declarations of interest intimated.

Minutes of Short Life Working Group on Political Management Arrangements held on 24 October 2016

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Short Life Working Group on Political Management Arrangements held on 24 October 2016 were approved as a correct record.

The Head of Governance and Law advised that Councillor Robb had pointed out that during the discussion at the previous meeting he did not express agreement that the option to take all decisions at the full Council meetings was not fit for purpose.  The Working Group noted that the minute reflected the general discussion and the summary provided by Councillor Walsh, with reference to previous views expressed by Audit Scotland, at the conclusion of the meeting and was not a substantive decision.

Report by Executive Director of Customer Services

The Short Life Working Group gave consideration to a report which provided them with information they had requested at the previous meeting held on 24 October 2016.

Further information was provided on a range of options in respect of Committee Structures including Area Committees, the Scheme of Delegation, the possibilities of combining the Audit and the Performance Review and Scrutiny Committee and items on an agenda purely for noting.

Discussion took place on the following points:-

• The number of items which are referred on to another Committee for decision
• Current delegations to the Service Committees and the options for streamlining decision making
• Reports for noting and options for more manageable agendas
• Changes required to the Constitution
• Localism – what will this look like and how can it be achieved?
• The options for the Scrutiny and Audit functions
• Ensuring inclusion of all Elected Members in decision making

Decision

The Short Life Working Group requested that officers draft a report for the next meeting, to include:-

(1)        further information on the different decision making models, giving an indication on quality by comparing efficiency and the cost of delivery for each model;

(2)        options for strengthening referral processes, and

(3)        ideas for improving agenda management.

 (Reference:  Report by Executive Director – Customer Services dated 8 November 2016, submitted)