Issue - meetings

The Council’s Code of Corporate Governance - ‘the Code’ - was updated and approved by the Committee in November 2022. The Code sets out the principles of good governance and the arrangements the Council has in place to ensure it conducts its business in accordance with them. As part of best practice, the Code is reviewed annually by officers. Attached at Appendix 1 is an updated Code. No major changes have been made, purely minor administrative updates.

The Council’s Code of Corporate Governance - ‘the Code’ - was updated and approved by the Committee in November 2022. The Code sets out the principles of good governance and the arrangements the Council has in place to ensure it conducts its business in accordance with them. As part of best practice, the Code is reviewed annually by officers. The Committee received the update Code as Appendix 1 to the report. No major changes were made, purely minor administrative updates.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Spelling Mistake. A Member of the Committee highlighted a spelling mistake on page 58 where the sentence included ‘offices’ instead of ‘officers’. The Interim Director of Corporate Services confirmed to the Committee that the amended line would read, ‘A code of conduct for officers is in place’.

b)            Transparency Page. A Member of the Committee asked if the line that has been removed from the Transparency Page Website bullet point on page 68, is confirmation that the project has been completed. The Interim Director of Corporate Services informed the Committee that the project has not be completed yet, but the team responsible are working on it and hope for it to be delivered soon.

c)            Urgent Decision. A Member of the Committee asked about principles B and G of good corporate governance as set out on page 55, which detail openness, stakeholder engagement, transparency, reporting and effective accountability. The Member referenced these two principles when discussing a point raised at Strategy and Resources Committee, held on the 14^th of November 2023, regarding 3 urgent decisions, of which only one had been reported in MemberNews. The Member wished to check that the right processes are in place for Members to see what decisions are being made in due time. The Interim Director of Corporate Services responded to inform the Committee that the Chair of Strategy and Resources confirmed at the 14^th of November 2023 Meeting, that a response would be provided on this matter. The Interim Director of Corporate Services continued to explain that of the 3 urgent decisions in question, only one was not published on MemberNews, and this was purely down to human error and an officer mistake. The Interim Director of Corporate Services informed the Committee that there is a process to ensure transparency and that all decisions are taken in consultation with the Chair of the relevant Committee, it is then the process to publish the decision that has been taken to MemberNews and to bring any decisions as urgent items to the subsequent Committees at the next available opportunity.

d)            Live Meeting Webcasts. A Member of the Committee asked why YouTube livestreams of Committee Meetings do not remain on YouTube indefinitely, as it is free to leave them up, and queried whether there are other considerations as to why they cannot remain online for the public to see an accurate record of the meeting.  The Interim Director of Corporate Services responded to state that Recording Retention is an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71