RIBBLE VALLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL please ask for: OLWEN HEAP Council Offices direct line: 01200 414408 Church Walk CLITHEROE e-mail: [email protected] Lancashire BB7 2RA my ref: OH/EL your ref: Switchboard: 01200 425111 Fax: 01200 414488 date: 17 September 2018 www.ribblevalley.gov.uk Dear Councillor The next meeting of the POLICY AND FINANCE COMMITTEE is at 6.30pm on TUESDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2018 in the TOWN HALL, CHURCH STREET, CLITHEROE. I do hope you can be there. Yours sincerely CHIEF EXECUTIVE To: Committee Members (copy for information to all other Members of the Council) Directors Press AGENDA Part 1 – items of business to be discussed in public 1. Apologies for absence. 2 Minutes of the Sub-Committee meetings held on 23 and 24 April 2018, minutes of Policy and Finance Committee held on 19 June 2018 and the Emergency Committee held on 28 June 2018 – copies enclosed. 3. Declarations of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests (if any). 4. Public Participation (if any). DECISION ITEMS 5. Revisiting Member Officer Protocol – report of Chief Executive – copy enclosed. 6. Members’ Allowance Scheme – Appointment of Independent Panel – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. Chief Executive: Marshal Scott CPFA Directors: John Heap B.Eng. C. Eng. MICE, Jane Pearson CPFA 7. Capital Monitoring 2018/2019 – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 8. Performance Management Framework Review – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 8a. Redevelopment of Clitheroe Market Site Update – report of Director of Economic Development and Planning – copy enclosed. 9. 75% Business Rates Pilot – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 10. Attendance at LGA Conference – report of Chief Executive – copy enclosed. 11. Rental of former Physiotherapy Centre to Foundation for Ribble Valley Families – report of Chief Executive – copy enclosed. 12. Report from Social Mobility Working Group – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 13. Local Taxation Write-Offs – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. INFORMATION ITEMS 14. 100th Anniversary of Commemorating the Armistice in 1918 – report of Chief Executive – copy enclosed. 15. Corporate Peer Challenge – Action Plan Update – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 16. Corporate Strategy Performance Report – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 17. 2017/2018 Year End Performance Information Report – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 18. Timetable for Budget Setting – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 19. Overall Capital Monitoring 2018/19 – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 21. Revenue Outturn 2017/2018 – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 22. Revenue Monitoring 2018/2019 – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 23. Overall Revenue Monitoring 2018/2019 – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 24. Treasury Management Monitoring 2018/2019 – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 25. Local Government Finance Settlement 2019/2020 – Technical Consultation Paper – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 26. Insurance Renewals – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 27. Revenues and Benefits General Report – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 28. Minutes of Budget Working Group – 28 June 2018 and 8 August 2018 – copy enclosed. 29. Reports from Representatives on Outside Bodies a) Rural Services Network Conference - report from Councillor R Sherras. b) Armed Forces Community Covenant Report 2018 – Councillor Jim White. Part II - items of business not to be discussed in public DECISION 30. Local Taxation Write-offs – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. 31. Discretionary Rate Relief Application – report of Director of Resources – copy enclosed. INFORMATION NONE DECISION RIBBLE VALLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL REPORT TO POLICY AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Agenda Item No. 5 meeting date: THURSDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2018 title: REVISITING MEMBER/OFFICER PROTOCOL submitted by: CHIEF EXECUTIVE principal author: DIANE RICE, HEAD OF LEGAL AND DEMOCRATIC SERVICES 1 PURPOSE 1.1 To revisit the Member/Officer Protocol. 1.2 Relevance to the Council’s ambitions and priorities: • Community Objectives - } The Protocol is a public document which • Corporate Priorities - } providers the framework within which Members and officers should operate. • Other Considerations - } 2 BACKGROUND 2.1 In November 2017 the Council was the subject of a Peer Challenge Review, one of the recommendations of the Review was that the Council should re-visit its Member/Officer Protocol. No details about the issues that had been identified was provided. 2.2 A copy of the Protocol is attached as Appendix 1. 2.3 The Council’s Chief Executive has asked that the Protocol be presented as a standing item to each Committee to remind Members and Officers of the guidance contained within the Protocol about the respective roles of Members, officers and how the relationship between Members and officers should be managed. 2.4 it is also an opportunity to make suggestions to the Accounts and Audit Committee on how the protocol could be strengthened and improved. 3 ISSUES 3.1 Any issues identified in relation to the Protocol by Committee, will be collated at each meeting and, if necessary, form the basis of changes to the Protocol as required, which will be considered by the Accounts and Audit Committee at their meeting in October. 4 RISK ASSESSMENT 4.1 The approval of this report may have the following implications: • Resources – N/A. • Technical, Environmental and Legal – N/A. • Political – N/A. • Reputation – N/A. 1 • Equality & Diversity – N/A. 5 RECOMMENDED THAT COMMITTEE 5.1 Note the terms of the Council’s Protocol for Member/Officer Relations. 5.2 Consider whether to suggest any changes to the Protocol to the Accounts and Audit Committee DIANE RICE MARSHAL SCOTT HEAD OF LEGAL & DEMOCRATIC SERVICES CHIEF EXECUTIVE BACKGROUND PAPERS (If any) For further information please ask for Diane Rice, extension 414418. REF: DERtCMS/H&H/130918 2 Part 7 of the Constitution, New Version 3 RIBBLE VALLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL A Protocol for Member/Officer Relations May 2014 RIBBLE VALLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL MEMBER/OFFICER PROTOCOL 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Ribble Valley Borough Council recognises that the relationship between its members and its officers is of vital importance in its work on behalf of the people of the Borough. The purpose of this Protocol is to guide both members and officers of the Council in their relationships with each other. It sets out and stresses the need for mutual respect between councillors and officers, based on an understanding of their respective roles and on the need to maintain the highest standard of personal and professional conduct at all times. 1.2 Given the variety and complexity of Member/Officer relations, the Protocol does not seek to be prescriptive or comprehensive. The intention is simply to offer guidance on some of the issues which most commonly occur and which, in turn, may help and serve as a guide in dealing with other situations which might arise. 1.3 The Protocol is largely a statement of current practice and convention, but by collating and emphasising these principles it is hoped to promote greater clarity and certainty. 1.4 The Protocol forms part of the Council’s constitution and as such is available for public inspection. 2. PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING MEMBER-OFFICER RELATIONS 2.1 Both members and officers are servants of the public, and they are indispensable to one another. However their responsibilities are distinct. Members are responsible to the electorate and serve only so long as their term of office lasts. Officers are responsible to the Council. Their job is to give advice to Members and the Council and to carry out the Council’s work under the direction and control of the Council, its committees and sub-committees. 2.2 Mutual respect between Members and Officers is essential to good local government. 3. ROLES OF MEMBERS [document/protocol member.officer, May 2014] 3.1 All members have important roles under the Council’s constitution and all are subject to the same ethical framework and code of conduct. These roles include: • representing the views of their constituents; • acting together as the full Council; and • membership of committees, sub-committees and working groups. 3.2 The Council and its committees are responsible for setting policies, service and performance targets and ensuring that they are delivered. They are accountable to the electorate for the delivery of policies and services. It is important to note that the law only allows for decisions to be taken by the Council, a committee or sub-committee or by an Officer. The law does not allow for decisions to be taken by a committee Chairman or by an other single member. 3.3 Members are not normally expected to be involved in the implementation of policies or the day-to-day management of services, but can expect reports on progress. 3.4 It is appropriate, however, for Members to propose initiatives and ideas about how things can be done better. It is essential that existing ways of doing things are challenged and reviewed. This needs to be done in a professional and constructive environment. Where Members have initiatives and ideas they should discuss them with the Director concerned and a way forward agreed by the parties concerned. This will usually be through the appropriate committee. 3.5 The Code of Conduct for Members has a number of provisions