Report of the Director of Law and Democracy
Minutes:
The Council considered a report of the Director of law and Democracy recommending changes to the County Council’s Constitution in the light of the following matters:
· Under the Localism Act 2011 the national Standards regime had been abolished and replaced with the requirement for a local members code of conduct and revised processes and procedures associated with that code.
· The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 reformed national policing decision making arrangements, introducing Police and Crime Panels to scrutinise and support the elected Police and Crime Commissioners.
· The ongoing review of Scrutiny Committee structures in the context of the County Councils new ways of working and focus on localism has led to the proposed establishment of five Select Committees and four Local member focus events.
RESOLVED – That the following amendments to the relevant sections of the Constitution be approved:-
(i) A Local Members’ Code of Conduct and associated actions relating to the merger of the Audit and Standards Committees, Arrangements for consideration of alleged breaches of the Code including additional delegations to the Director of Law and Democracy and the proposals in respect of two Independent Persons.
(ii) The establishment of the Staffordshire Police and Crime Panel as a Joint Committee, with Staffordshire County Council as the Host Authority .
(iii) The replacement of Scrutiny Committees with five Select Committees and the introduction of four Local Member Focus Events.
Supporting documents: