Agenda item

Report to follow.

The Chairman invited Mr Ward to introduce the report and explain the proposed amendments. Mr Ward explained that the Council has a duty to review representation of different political groups at its annual meeting. He outlined the first step of working out the overall proportion of the Council held by each political group:

·       Conservatives – 18 seats = 50%

·       Liberal Democrats – 11 seats =  30%

·       Green Party – 2 seats = 5.5%

·       Labour – 2 seats = 5.5%

·       Local Alliance – 2 seats = 5.5%

·       Independent – 1 seat = 3%

Mr Ward then explained that the second step is to take the proportions above and apply to each of the four ordinary committees. The total number of seats across the four committees is 38:

·       Conservatives – 19 seats

·       Liberal Democrats – 12 seats (rounded)

·       Green Party – 2 seats

·       Labour – 2 seats

·       Local Alliance – 2 seats

·       Independent – 1 seat

With regard to each committee:

·       Corporate Governance and Audit Committee – 8 seats:

o   Conservatives are entitled to 4 seats

o   Liberal Democrats are entitled to 2 seats

o   Minority parties are entitled to 2 seats with preference expressed for 1 seat to Green and 1 seat to Local Alliance

·       Planning Committee – 13 seats:

o   Conservatives are entitled to 7 seats

o   Liberal Democrats are entitled to 4 seats

o   The minority parties are entitled to 2 seats to which the Liberal Democrats have elected to give a seat to the Independent member)

·       Licensing Committees – 10 seats:

o   Conservatives are entitled to 5 seats

o   Liberal Democrats are entitled to 3 seats

o   The minority parties are entitled to 2 seats with preference expressed for 1 seat to Labour and 1 seat passed to the Independent member

·       Standards Committee – 7 seats:

o   The Conservative allocation has been rounded to 3 seats to ensure their overall allocation is correct

o   Liberal Democrats are entitled to 3 seats

o   The minority parties are entitled to 1 seat with preference expressed for 1 Labour seat

Although not an ordinary committee Mr Ward then explained the process for Overview and Scrutiny Committee which:

·       Overall seats – 11

·       The Conservatives are entitled to seats 5 ½ seats which is rounded up to 6 seats

·       The Liberal Democrats are entitled to 3 seats

·       The minority parties are entitled to 2 seats however the Conservatives have elected to give 1 seat to the minority parties so that the Green’s, Labour and Local Alliance all have 1 seat

Mr Ward explained that the proportionality rules also apply to the Investigation and Disciplinary Committee and Appeals Committee as set out in table 3 at section 4.9 of the report. He confirmed that proportionality rules does not apply to Cabinet or the Independent Remuneration Panel.

In a show of hands the Council voted to approve the recommendation.

RESOLVED

That the review of political balance arrangements set out in the report be approved and tables 1, 2 and 3 as amended be applied in making appointments to committees.