Contact: The Monitoring Officer Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council CONSTITUTION November 2018 www.merthyr.gov.uk updated November 2018 Contact: The Monitoring Officer INDEX Part One SUMMARY AND EXPLANATION (Including Glossary of Terms) Part Two ARTICLES OF THE CONSTITUTION Part Three RESPONSIBILITY FOR FUNCTIONS AND SCHEME OF DELEGATION Part Four RULES OF PROCEDURE Part Five PROCUREMENT RULES Part Six CODES AND PROTOCOLS Part Seven MEMBERS’ ALLOWANCE SCHEME Part Eight MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURES www.merthyr.gov.uk updated November 2018 Contact: The Monitoring Officer Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council CONSTITUTION Part 1 of 8 SUMMARY AND EXPLANATION (Including Glossary of Terms) INDEX 1.01 SUMMARY AND EXPLANATION 1.01.01 The Council’s Constitution 1.01.02 What’s in the Constitution 1.01.03 How the Council Operates 1.01.04 How Decisions are Made 1.01.05 Scrutiny 1.01.06 The Council’s Officers 1.01.07 Citizen’s Rights 1.02 GLOSSARY OF TERMS Part One (Summary and Explanation) www.merthyr.gov.uk updated May 2018 Contact: The Monitoring Officer 1.01 SUMMARY AND EXPLANATION 1.01.01 THE COUNCIL’S CONSTITUTION Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council’s Constitution sets out how the Council operates, how decisions are made and the procedures which are followed to ensure that these are efficient, transparent and accountable to local people. Some of these processes are required by the law, while others are a matter for the Council to choose. The Constitution is divided into 16 Articles which set out the basic rules governing the Council’s business. More detailed procedures and codes of practice are provided in separate rules and protocols at the end of the document. 1.01.02 WHAT’S IN THE CONSTITUTION? Article 1 of the Constitution commits the Council to provide clear leadership to the community in partnership with citizens, businesses and other organisations; support the active involvement of the public in the decision- making process; take decisions transparently, efficiently and effectively; identify clearly those responsible for decision making and hold them to public account; and improve the delivery of services to the community. Articles 2 - 16 explain the rights of members of the public and how the key parts of the Council operate. These are: • Members of the Council (Article 2) • Members of the Public and the Council (Article 3) • The Full Council (Article 4) • Chairing the Council (the role and function of the Mayor) (Article 5) • Scrutiny Committees (Article 6) • The Executive,( the Cabinet) (Article 7) • Regulatory and other Committees (Article 8) • The Standards Committee (Article 9) • Area Committees and Forums (Article 10) • Joint arrangements (Article 11) • Officers (Article 12) • Decision making (Article 13) Part One (Summary and Explanation) www.merthyr.gov.uk updated May 2018 Contact: The Monitoring Officer • Finance, contracts and legal matters (Article 14) • Review and revision of the Constitution (Article 15) • Suspension, interpretation and publication of the Constitution (Article 16). 1.01.03 HOW THE COUNCIL OPERATES The Council is composed of 33 councillors from 11 electoral divisions elected every four years. However for the 2017 Local Government Elections the Welsh Government determined that Councillors would have a five year term of office from 2017 to 2022.. Councillors are democratically accountable to citizens of their Electoral Division. The overriding duty of councillors is to the whole community, but they have a special duty to their constituents, including those who did not vote for them. The Council has formed a Standards Committee to promote and maintain high ethical principles and these are enshrined within a Code of Conduct for Members. All Councillors have to agree to follow the Code of Conduct to ensure high standards in the way they undertake their duties. The Standards Committee is also responsible for training and advising Councillors on the Code of Conduct. All councillors meet together as the Council. Meetings of the Council are normally open to the public. Here councillors decide the Councils overall policies and set the budget each year. The Council decides the Authority’s strategic policies, as set out in Article 4 and sets the budget each year. The Council also appoints the Chairperson of the Cabinet and makes appointments to the Scrutiny Committees and other Committees, and confirms the appointment of the Chief Executive (also referred to as the Head of Paid Service) and Chief Officers. Citizens will have the opportunity to be actively engaged through a number of processes, the most notable being: • The Chairperson of the Annual ‘State of the Borough’ report prior to which the Chairperson of the Cabinet will use a variety of methods to engage citizens; • Public ‘Question Time’ at Council, Cabinet and other Committee meetings; • Forward Plan on Key Decisions; • Scrutiny Committees. Part One (Summary and Explanation) www.merthyr.gov.uk updated May 2018 Contact: The Monitoring Officer 1.01.04 HOW DECISIONS ARE MADE The Cabinet is the part of the Council which is responsible for taking most of the major decisions. The Cabinet is made up of the Leader, elected by the Council, and up to nine other Councillors whom he/she appoints. The business to be considered by Cabinet, Scrutiny Committees and the council as a whole is published in forward work programmes. Meetings of the Cabinet, Scrutiny Committees, the Council and other committees are open for the public to attend except where personal or confidential matters are being discussed, as defined by the law. The Cabinet has to make decisions which are in line with the Council’s overall policies and budget. If it wishes to make a decision which is outside the budget or policy framework, this must be referred to the Council as a whole. 1.01.05 SCRUTINY The number of Scrutiny Committees is determined by the Council. The Scrutiny Committees support the work of the Cabinet and the Council as a whole. They allow citizens to have a greater say in Council matters by holding public inquiries into matters of local concern. These lead to reports and recommendations which advise the Cabinet and the Council as a whole on its policies, budget and service delivery. Scrutiny Committees also monitor the decisions of the Cabinet. They can ‘call-in’ a decision which has been made by the Cabinet but not yet implemented. This enables them to consider whether the decision is appropriate. They may recommend that the Cabinet reconsider the decision. They may also be consulted by the Cabinet or the Council on forthcoming decisions and the development of policy. 1.01.06 THE COUNCIL’S OFFICERS The Council has people working for it (called ‘officers’ or ‘staff’) to give advice, implement decisions and manage the day-to-day delivery of its services. Some officers have a specific duty to ensure that the Council acts within the law and uses its resources wisely. A protocol governs the relationships between Councillors and officers. 1.01.07 CITIZEN’S RIGHTS Citizens have a number of rights in their dealings with the Council. These are set out in more detail in Article 3. Some of these are legal rights, whilst others depend on the Council’s own processes. Where members of the public use specific Council services, for example as a parent of a school pupil, they have additional rights which are not covered in this Constitution. Part One (Summary and Explanation) www.merthyr.gov.uk updated May 2018 Contact: The Monitoring Officer Amongst other things, members of the public have the right to: • vote at local elections if they are registered; • contact their local Councillor about any matters of concern to them; • obtain a copy of the Constitution (Copy available on MTCBC website); • attend meetings of the Cabinet, the Council, Scrutiny Committees and other Committees except where, for example, personal or confidential matters are being discussed; • participate in the Council’s question time and contribute to investigations by the Scrutiny Committees. • find out, from the Forward Plan, what major decisions are to be discussed by the Cabinet, the Council and Scrutiny as a whole; • see reports and background papers considered by the Cabinet, the Council or any of its Committees and any record of decisions made by the Cabinet, Council and Scrutiny Committees except where they contain personal or confidential information; • present a petition; • request a referendum (subject to the statutory procedure); • complain to the Council using the Corporate Complaints process; • complain to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (the Ombudsman) if they think that they have suffered an injustice because the Council has not followed its procedures properly. However, they are encouraged to do this only after having followed the Council’s internal complaints procedure; • complain to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (the Ombudsman) if they have evidence which they think shows that a councillor or co-opted member of the Council has not followed the Members’ Code of Conduct; • inspect the Council’s accounts and make their views known to the external auditor. • Any other rights afforded by law. Part One (Summary and Explanation) www.merthyr.gov.uk updated May 2018 Contact: The Monitoring Officer The Council welcomes participation by its Citizens in its work. For further information Citizens can contact: Democratic Services Team Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Civic Centre Castle Street Merthyr Tydfil CF47 8AN Tel: (01685) 725203 / 725207 / 725401 / 725284 Fax (01685) 374397 E-Mail: [email protected] Part One (Summary and Explanation) www.merthyr.gov.uk updated May 2018 Contact: The Monitoring Officer 1.02 GLOSSARY OF TERMS Articles The basic rules governing the Council’s business, which cannot be suspended. Budget All the financial resources allocated to different services and projects. Cabinet The Executive, which shall be called the “Cabinet” and shall consist of up to 9 Councillors and the Leader of the Council.