Agenda item

The Manager of Democratic Services, Daniel Harry, presented a report on the Area Constituency Committees in the new North Yorkshire Council allowing Members to discuss a guide on Area Constituency Committees' ways of working for this next iteration of the committees.

He highlighted the following from the report:

·            The report was developed alongside the Executive Member for Corporate Services and the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of ACCs.

·            Arrangements for Meetings – including ordinary meetings, special meetings, additional meetings and hybrid meetings.

·            The introduction of Mid-Cycle briefings for Chair, Vice-Chair and Group Spokespersons – to be utilised for Work Programme and agenda setting but avoid using as an opportunity for an additional meeting.

·            A Corporate Director has been assigned to each Committee to assist with any issues in relation to the provision of reports or the attendance of Officers – Richard Webb has been assigned to Thirsk and Malton ACC.

·            An essential part of the local agenda will be liaison with Parish and Town Councils, and the newly developed Community Partner Networks will assist in the development of that co-ordination.

·            Liaison with Overview and Scrutiny would be an intrinsic part of the work of ACCs.

·            Funding of £50k, held by the Corporate Director of Community Development, would be available to each ACC, with an appropriate framework for obtaining this being developed. The funding would be assigned to local projects following recommendations from the ACC.

·            Details of potential areas of work for the ACCs were detailed in the report. This included identifying meaningful liaison with Community Safety organisations to ensure that there was a focus to the issues being considered, through the analysis of relevant data.

Members discussed the report and the following issues were highlighted:

·            It was clarified that issues raised through the Public Questions/Statements section would not usually be debated at that stage by Members, but the issues raised could be discussed during consideration of the Work Programme to determine whether these could be the subject of future agenda items.

·            Issues relating to the consideration of Policing matters were discussed. A Member asked that, in future, just the recounting of Police data be avoided, with information as to how they are addressing issues being provided. A Member considered that attendance at ACC meetings was also important for the Police as they gained details on local matters, and from Council provided services.

·            It was suggested that there was a need to continue to monitor Council services, with some details contained in the existing work plan being carried forward and to maintain the updates from the Constituency MP.

·            The timing of meetings and the location of venues required careful consideration, as indicated in the earlier public question. There was also a need to consider how meetings were made easier access with appropriate infrastructure in place to enable remote access and to provide live streamed meetings. It was noted that where there was ICT equipment currently available the practice of broadcasting meetings would continue. The feasibility of obtaining equipment to allow access to all meetings was under consideration, and a report would be considered in due course. Members welcomed that the position regarding remote access to meetings, as it was felt that the current situation had seen a backward step from the previous position, which saw District and Borough Councils live streaming meetings. Members emphasised that ensuring the appropriate technology and ICT was in place was essential to engagement with the ACCs.

·            It was suggested that a sharing of work programmes between the various ACCs would be of benefit, as it could be seen what issues neighbouring Constituency Committees were concerned about and determine whether there was any cross-over. It was noted that The Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the ACCs met regularly which allowed cohesive work to take place between the various ACCs.

Resolved

That the report and issues raised be noted and appropriate action be undertaken to address the areas of concern outlined, accordingly.