After consideration of a report of the
Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services)
containing a briefing on the recently issued Government Regulations
which enable local authority meetings to be held virtually and
which remove the requirement for an Annual General Meeting to be
held; and after consultation with Executive Members, the Chief
Executive Officer agreed that:
i.The Annual General Meeting of the Council that was scheduled for
13 May 2020 be postponed. The situation to be kept under review,
depending upon the progress of the pandemic and rescheduled for
either 22 July 2020 or 18 November 2020, such decision to be made
by the Chief Executive Officer under his emergency delegated powers
in consultation with the Executive.
ii.All current appointments be rolled on until the Annual General
Meeting is held.
iii.The appointment process for the Chairman and Vice Chairman to
be reviewed and a decision to be made at a future consultation
meeting.
iv.Subject to the successful adoption of a technological solution
that enables the requirements laid out in the Regulations to be
complied with, virtual meetings be introduced for the following
committees (where the business either relates to the work being
done by the Council in response to the Coronavirus pandemic or
where a decision cannot be deferred for a compelling reason):
Executive; Planning and Regulatory functions; Audit; and a
sub-committee of the Pension Fund Committee. Only the Executive
would meet as scheduled. The Planning and Regulatory Functions
committee would meet as required to deal with urgent planning
applications, Audit would similarly only meet if required to make
an urgent decision and Pension Fund Committee would form a
sub-group to make decisions relating to changes in investment
performance. All other formal, public committee meetings would be
postponed until September 2020.
v.That authority be delegated to the Corporate Director Strategic
Resources to take all steps necessary to establish a sub-committee
of the Pension Fund Committee, to make appointments to it and to
determine the terms of reference of that sub-committee.