Issue - meetings

In accordance with the Council’s Scheme of Delegation to officers, this report sets out urgent decisions taken by officers in consultation with committee Chairs for the period 31 May 2023 to 3 June 2024.

In accordance with the Council’s Scheme of Delegation to officers, the Committee received a report setting out urgent decisions taken by officers in consultation with committee Chairs for the period 31 May 2023 to 3 June 2024.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Government Notice. A Member of the Committee asked how much notice Central Government normally give us for consultation responses, as most consultation responses are delegated decisions. The Chair acknowledged that often there was not adequate time for consultation responses to come to the relevant Committee Meetings and explained that although ad hoc Committee meetings can be scheduled, often the reports are only for Members to note. The Chair continued to explain that all delegated decisions are published on MemberNews, and consultation responses are in the public domain and can be accessed online.

b)            Decision 118 and 119. A Member of the Committee asked why decision 118 took two months to be authorised and then was subsequently closed alongside decision 119. The Business Assurance Manager informed the Committee that they would seek clarification on these urgent decisions and report back to Members.

c)            Decision 132. A Member of the Committee asked why this decision was not brought to the Environment Committee Meeting when it was raised 4 days prior and authorised the day following the Meeting. The Chair raised that it could have been due to a report not being able to be prepared in time. The Interim Director of Corporate Services responded to state that the comments have been noted and this was a decision that should have been taken to and agreed at the Environment Committee Meeting. 

d)            Delegated Decisions. A Member of the Committee asked how they can view the delegated decisions. The Chair informed the Committee that all decisions are published on MemberNews.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Note the urgent decisions taken by officers, in consultation with relevant committee Chairs, recorded using urgent decision forms from 31 May 2023 to 3 June 2024.