INFORMAL MEETING OF COUNTY COUNCIL

 

17 November 2021

 

Appointments to Committees and Outside Bodies

 

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services)

 

1.0

 

PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

 

1.1

To enable appointments to Committees and Outside Bodies to be considered.

 

 

 

2.0       BACKGROUND

 

2.1       Under his delegated decision making powers in the Officers’ Delegation Scheme in the Council’s Constitution, the Chief Executive Officer has power, in cases of emergency, to take any decision which could be taken by the Council, the Executive or a committee.

 

2.2       Following on from the expiry of the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020, which allowed for committee meetings to be held remotely, the County Council resolved at its meeting on 5 May 2021 that, for the present time, in light of the continuing Covid-19 pandemic circumstances, remote live-broadcast committee meetings should continue as informal meetings of the Committee Members, with any formal decisions required being taken by the Chief Executive Officer under his emergency decision making powers and after consultation with Officers and Members as appropriate and after taking into account any views of the relevant Committee Members. The Council further resolved to review this approach in November 2021.

 

2.3       County Council is asked to consider the following appointments.  Where a decision is required, that a recommendation is made to the Chief Executive Officer for consideration under his emergency delegated powers.

 

2.4       Due to the number of appointments made and to be considered and for the sake of clarity, a separate report has been written rather than simply including this in the Executive Report.

 

3.0       APPOINTMENTS AND CHANGES TO OUTSIDE BODIES FOR INFORMATION

 

3.1       The following appointments have been made by the Leader and are included here for information:

 

·         County Councillor Andrew Lee has been appointed the Executive Member for Public Health, Prevention and Supported Housing, in place of County Councillor Caroline Dickinson

 

·         County Councillor Derek Bastiman has been appointed the Executive Member for Open to Business, including growth, economic development, planning, waste management, trading standards unit and business relations, in place of County Councillor Andrew Lee

 

·         County Councillor Cllr Dickinson has been appointed to the position of Older People’s Champion.  As Older People’s Champion, County Councillor Caroline Dickinson, is appointed to Scrutiny Board.

 

3.2       The following appointment was made by the Chief Executive Officer using his emergency delegated powers in consultation with the Executive:

 

·         County Councillor Andrew Lee (as the new Executive Member for Public Health, Prevention and Supported Housing), was appointed to the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Integrated Care System Partnership Board.

 

3.3       The following appointments to the Area Constituency Committees have been made since the last County Council meeting on 21 July 2021, by the Chief Executive Officer using his emergency delegated powers in consultation with the committees:

 

·         Selby and Ainsty Area Constituency Committee

County Councillor Richard Musgrave stood down from his position as Chair and County Councillor Andy Paraskos stood down from his position as Vice Chair.  An election was held at the meeting of the committee on 24 September 2021 and County Councillor Karl Arthur was elected to the position of Chair and County Councillor Mike Jordan was elected to the position of Vice Chair.

 

·         Thirsk and Malton Area Constituency Committee

County Councillor Keane Duncan stood down from his position as Vice Chair.  An election was held at the meeting of the committee on 1 October 2021 and County Councillor Robert Baker was elected to the position of Vice Chair.

           

3.4       Following changes to the governance arrangement for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the panels listed below have been removed and replaced with new decision-making committees that cover those policy areas, as below.  The membership of the new committees that have replaced them is limited to West Yorkshire councillors only.

 

·         West Yorkshire Combined Authority - Business Innovation and Growth Panel – County Councillor Andrew Lee had been appointed to this position

·         West Yorkshire Combined Authority - Education and Skills Panel – County Councillor Patrick Mulligan had been appointed to this position

·         West Yorkshire Combined Authority - Place Panel – County Councillor Andrew Lee had been appointed to this position.

 

3.5       The membership of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership Board has been reviewed and limited to councillors from West Yorkshire only, as the geographical area of that Board no longer covers any part of North Yorkshire.  County Councillor Carl Les had previously been appointed to this position.

 

3.6       The following appointments have been made to the North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Panel since the last County Council meeting on 21 July 2021:

 

·         Fraser Forsyth appointed as an independent co-opted member

·         Martin Walker appointed as an independent co-opted member.

 

4.0       APPOINTMENTS FOR COUNTY COUNCIL TO CONSIDER

 

4.1       The following appointments are for County Council to consider and then make a recommendation to the Chief Executive Officer for consideration under his emergency delegated powers:

           

Corporate and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee

County Councillor Andy Paraskos be appointed to the position of Chair of the Corporate and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee, filling the vacancy left when County Councillor Derek Bastiman stood down having been appointed to the Executive.

 

If appointed, then County Councillor Andy Paraskos will then take a seat on Scrutiny Board.  Scrutiny Board is made up of the Chairs of the Council’s five thematic overview and scrutiny committees and the Older People’s and Young People’s champions.

 

 

Transport Economy and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee

As part of the consideration of changes in proportionality brought about by two by-elections that were held in May 2021, County Councillor John McCartney stood down from his position on the Transport Economy and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  He was the Vice Chair of that committee.

 

It is proposed that County Councillor Don Mackay be appointed to the positon of Vice Chair of the Transport Economy and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

Pension Board

It is proposed that the following appointments be made to the Pension Board:

     

·         Scheme Member Representative – Sam Thompson (Hambleton DC)

·         Employer Representative – David Hawkins (York College).

 

5.0       EQUALITIES

 

5.1       There are no equalities implications arising from this report.

 

5.0       FINANCE

 

6.1       There are no direct financial implications arising from this report.

 

7.0       LEGAL

 

7.1       There are no legal implications arising from this report.

 

8.0       CLIMATE CHANGE

 

8.1       There are no climate change implications arising from this report.

 

9.0

 

9.1

 

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

That the County Council is asked to recommend to the Chief Executive Officer that under his emergency delegated powers he approves the appointments as outlined in para 4.0.

 

 

Barry Khan

Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services)

County Hall, Northallerton

9 November 2021

 

 

Report Author: Daniel Harry

 

 

Background documents:

 

North Yorkshire County Council Constitution - New Council Constitutions (northyorks.gov.uk)