Issue - meetings

The Council is requested to consider the attached report with the appended timetable and to approve the calendar of meetings for the Council year 2018-2019.

As approved by members earlier in the meeting, this item was taken before agenda item 6.

The Council considered the agenda report.

The recommendation in the report was formally proposed by Mrs Hardwick (Cabinet Member for Finance and Governance Services) and seconded by Mr Dignum (Leader of the Cabinet).

Mrs Graves indicated that there were some proposed changes to the calendar, which would be outlined by Mrs Hardwick.

Mrs Hardwick introduced the report.  She explained that this was the annual report setting out the framework under which the committee meetings for the CDC administrative year May 2018 to May 2019 would be set.  The aim was to plan ahead and to spread CDC’s business in an effective manner during the aforesaid period.  As usual it avoided insofar as possible meetings in the West Sussex County Council school holidays and the CDC elections at the start of May 2019.  Start times were indicative and would be formally agreed at the first meeting in the new CDC year.  There was a proposal to amend the calendar insofar as some of the dates for the Development Plan and Infrastructure Panel (DPIP) were concerned namely where its meetings were on the second Thursday of a month.  In those cases meetings would now start at 14:30 instead of 10:00. The seven meetings affected were: 10 May 2018, 12 July 2018, 13 September 2018, 8 November 2018, 13 December 2018, 11 April 2019 and 9 May 2019.  All DPIP members had been consulted on those timing changes and had agreed to them.  She commended the framework, as amended, for members’ approval.

There was no debate on this matter, although there was a short question about the usual day for Council meetings, which was confirmed to have been almost invariably a Tuesday for many years.

Decision

The Council voted unanimously on a show of hands in favour of the recommendation in the report as amended in the case of certain of the DPIP dates and is set out below.

RESOLVED

That the calendar of meetings for the Chichester District Council administrative year 2018 to 2019 be approved subject to the start times of the Development Plan and Infrastructure Panel on 10 May 2018, 12 July 2018, 13 September 2018, 8 November 2018, 13 December 2018, 11 April 2019 and 9 May 2019 being 14:30 instead of 10:00.