JOINT DEVOLUTION COMMITTEE – TERMS OF REFERENCE

Summary of the York and North Yorkshire Joint Devolution Committee Functions

The York and North Yorkshire Joint Committee is established under Section 101(5) of the Local Government Act 1972, as applied by Section 9EB of the Local Government Act 2000 and Regulation 11 of the Local Authorities (Arrangements for the Discharge of Functions) (England) Regulations 2012 by the Executives of City of York Council  and North Yorkshire County Council.

The Joint Committee will oversee and make decisions as required to ensure that stages of considering a Devolution deal prior to a potential creation of a mayoral combined authority is considered jointly by members of North Yorkshire Council and the City of York.  The Joint Committee will provide a venue to review collaboratively the provisions of implementing the Deal and collaborating on projects that benefit the region through Devolution.

Membership

The Joint Committee will comprise of:

Two Executive Members appointed from City of York Council; and

Two Executive Members appointed from North Yorkshire County Council

· The Executives of the two constituent councils will resolve to establish a joint arrangements to carry out the functions of the Joint Committee.  Only Executive Members can be appointed and membership of the joint committee does not need to reflect the political composition of the Council

The following shall be invited to attend and participate in formal meetings of the joint committee however they will not have voting rights and they will not have right to receive any confidential information pursuant to Schedule 12A Local Government Act 1972 which may from time to time be part of a formal agenda:

· The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner

· A nominated representative of the LEP

Substitutes

Each constituent Council may appoint substitute members from within its Executive only to attend formal meetings of the joint committee.

Appointment Chair and Vice Chair

The Joint Committee, at its first meeting, shall appoint a Chair and Vice Chair from amongst its constituent members.  The Chair and Vice Chair will not be from the same constituent Authority.

Quoracy

The four Executive Members appointed to the Joint Committee will constitute a quorum

Voting

Decisions will be made by majority vote.  In the event of a vote being required, each Executive Member (or substitute Executive) will have the ability to cast one vote.

Decisions made will be binding on both Constituent Authorities

Rules of Procedure

The Standing Orders for North Yorkshire County Council will be the relevant Standing Orders for Rules of Procedure for formal meetings.

Frequency of Meetings

The Joint Committee shall meet as and when required to do so either at the request of the respective Leaders of the Constituent Councils and or at the request of the Chief Operating Officer of City of York Council and or the Chief Executive of North Yorkshire County Council.  Each meeting shall be classed as a formal meeting supported by agenda, reports and minutes.

Administration of the York and North Yorkshire Joint Committee

North Yorkshire Council will take responsibility for the administration and support for the delivery of meetings for the joint committee.  This includes production and publication of agendas, hosting of meetings and as such the Standing Orders as they relate to North Yorkshire County Council will be adopted for the purposes of supporting the Joint Committee.

Access to Information

As all the members of a joint committee are members of the executive in each of the constituent authorities then its access to information regime is the same as that applied to the executive.

Review of the terms of reference for the Joint Committee

In the event that the terms of reference for the joint committee require review and or amendment, this will be delegated to the Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Leader of the respective Council and the Chief Executive/Chief Operating Officer of the respective Council. 

FUNCTIONS

The Joint Committee will have oversight of the development of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and ensure that it is able to be launched in accordance with the Statutory Orders issued by Government.

The Joint Committee will ensure that sufficient resources are made available to support the creation and implementation of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority which includes financial management and oversight, securing of appropriate resources (officers, technical and otherwise) to enable delivery and the development of governance and a policy framework.