COSLA Governance - Election Information CEO LETTER 2022
Argyll and Bute Council · 19 May 2022
Back to Argyll and Bute Council — 19 May 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Dear Chief Executive COSLA GOVERNANCE – KEY INFORMATION REQUIRED FROM COUNCILS I write to provide formal notice of the information that COSLA requires in preparation for the process of establishing the new COSLA Administration. To assist this process, it would be helpful if you could provide us with a suitable contact person within your council. Details of information and required timelines are set out below. Leaders’ Meeting (Friday 27 May 2022) Information Required Deadline Contingency Council Leader Name Political Group Contact Details 20 May 2022 Council Chief Executive passes papers to the Leader when they are appointed and let us know as soon as possible before the meeting. • The names of all Leaders (or their substitutes) are required for a normal decision- making meeting. • Any council which has not appointed a Leader by the meeting date can send an elected member to represent the council’s views. • Substitutes are permitted for Leaders unable to attend. • This meeting will be in person at COSLA, Verity House, 19 Haymarket Yards, Edinburgh, EH12 5BH Convention Delegations and Presidential Team Nominations The President and Vice-President for the new administrative term will be appointed at Convention on Friday 17 June 2022. The deadline for nominations, which can only be made by Convention delegates, is Friday 27 May 2022. Nominations for Spokespersons and representatives on various outside bodies will also be approved at that meeting. We will confirm arrangements for voting nearer the time, but the meeting will be held in person at COSLA’s offices at Verity House. Information Required Deadline Contingency COSLA Convention Delegation Name* Political Group* Contact Detail* 27 May 2022 Only Convention delegates can make nominations for President and Vice President. We can accept details of Convention delegates after this date, but those delegates will not be able to nominate for President and Vice President.
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*(for each delegate) • Each council has a defined number of delegates. Our Constitution requires that those delegations must reflect the balance of party-political representation within the council. To avoid missing the opportunity to nominate and elect key positions in COSLA, councillors will need to be aware that: • Convention delegates (rather than councils) nominate for the posts of President and Vice President of COSLA. • The deadline for these nominations is 27 May 2022 (3 weeks in advance of the meeting) and this cannot be varied. • The outcome of the vote must result in gender balanced appointments as per the Constitution. • Nominees do not need to be Convention delegates. • Consideration should be given to the fact that eligibility of nominations for Vice- President will depend on the gender of the newly elected President. • Crucially, COSLA cannot appoint any Spokespersons until the political balance of the Convention is established. This is dependent on receiving all the council delegations for Convention. • While named delegates are preferred to allow nominations for the President and Vice President, as early as possible an indication of the proposed political make-up of your delegation would be helpful. • Once the political balance on the full Convention is clear, the Groups (via COSLA Political Group Leaders) will be advised of any Spokesperson vacancies available to them, invited to agree the division of portfolios and agree the nominations for Spokespersons. This must also be gender balanced and, in the past, this has all been achieved by consensus between Group Leaders. • We want to ensure that everyone who is entitled to vote at the Convention meeting secures that right. • This process takes time and is the reason we press for your Convention delegations as soon as practicable. Appointments to Boards and other groups and bodies Once the political posts of President, Vice-President and Spokespersons have been determined by Convention, we will write to you seeking a representative on each of our Boards. • The establishment of the Boards is subject to fewer constitutional requirements and the timescales are more flexible. It is unlikely that the Boards will start meeting before August. As in the past, though, your potential representatives can be notified at the same time as your Convention delegations. • A small number of COSLA political appointments, such as to COSLA’s Audit Group and to some outside bodies, will be handled at the Convention meeting in June. These will be discussed with COSLA Political Group Leaders in advance of that meeting. I hope that the above is helpful in submitting the required information to COSLA but if you would like any further information, please just let me know.
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Wishing you all the best for the next 2 days! Sally Loudon, Chief Executive, COSLA