7 - Governance Arrangements
Renfrewshire Council · 1 May 2025
Back to Council — 1 May 2025 and its agenda
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___________________________________________________________________ To: Council On: 1 May 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Finance & Resources ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Governance Arrangements ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 This report sets out a number of Board nominations by the Conservative Group to fill the vacancies created following the resignation of Councillors Leishman and Gray from that group. It also asks the Council to consider the remaining vacancies where no nominations have been received. 1.2 The report also proposes a change to the approved Council and Board timetable through the reduction in the number of Police and Fire & Rescue Scrutiny Sub-committee meetings each year from five to four. 1.3 The report also advises members of transitional changes that have taken place relative to the style of Council, Policy Board and Sub-committee Minutes. 1.4 In terms of the Scheme of Delegated Functions, the Council has a reserved power to determine which major events are deserving of recognition by way of the lighting up of Council buildings and property. The report details two requests that have been received to mark events in this manner. _________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations Council is asked to: 2.1 Approve the following nominations by the Conservative Group:
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Councillor McGonigle will fill the vacancy on the Leadership Board Councillor J MacLaren will fill the vacancy on the Finance. Resources & Customer Service Policy Board Councillor J MacLaren will fill the vacancy on the Communities & Housing Policy Board Councillor N Graham will fill the vacancy on the Education & Children’s Services Policy Board Councillor N Graham will fill the vacancy on the Infrastructure, Land & Environment Policy Board Councillor N Graham will fill the vacancy on the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub- committee 2.2 Agree appointments to the single vacancy that has been created on the Audit, Risk & Scrutiny Board and the two vacancies on the Licensing Board; 2.3 Agree that the timetable of meetings of the Council, Policy Boards and Sub- committees be amended by the deletion of each March meeting of the Police and Fire and Rescue Scrutiny Sub-committee; and 2.4 That the transition towards the more decision-focused Minute style be noted. 2.5 Consider a request to light up Council buildings and property green on 11 July 2025 to mark the Srebrenica Memorial Day 30th Anniversary. 2.6 Consider a request to light up Council buildings and property blue on 11 June each year to mark World Prostate Cancer Day. 3. Background Board Memberships 3.1 Councillors Leishman and Gray have resigned from the Conservative Group. This has created a vacancy on each of the Boards on which they had been nominated by the Conservative Group as a member. 3.2 Accordingly, the Conservative Group have proposed the following nominations to fill these vacancies: Councillor McGonigle to be appointed to the Leadership Board Councillor J MacLaren to be appointed to the Finance, Resources & Customer Service Policy Board
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Councillor J MacLaren to be appointed to the Communities & Housing Policy Board Councillor N Graham to be appointed to the Education & Children’s Services Policy Board Councillor N Graham to be appointed to the Infrastructure, Land & Environment Policy Board Councillor N Graham to be appointed to the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub Committee 3.3 The Conservative Group has not proposed nominations for the single vacancy that has been created on the Audit, Risk & Scrutiny Board and the two vacancies on the Licensing Board. Council is asked to agree replacement members from outwith the Conservative Group to fill these vacancies. 3.4 It should be noted that the Councillor to be appointed to the Audit, Risk & Scrutiny Board cannot also be a member of the Leadership Board or a Convener of another Board. 3.5 In relation to the Licensing Board vacancies, in terms of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 the Licensing Board shall consist of not fewer than 5 and not more than 10 members as may be determined by the Council. All members of the Board require to undertake a course of training accredited by the Scottish Ministers within three months of their appointment to the Licensing Board, whether or not they have been Licensing Board members before. Assessment of training shall be undertaken under exam conditions. Prior to the resignation of Councillor Leishman and Councillor Gray, the Licensing Board had ten elected members, being five administration members, three Labour Group members and two Conservative Group members. Should no nominations be submitted in respect of the Licensing Board, Council is asked to consider reducing the total membership of that Board from the current number of 10. Police and Fire & Rescue Scrutiny Sub-committee 3.6 The timetable of Council and Board meetings was agreed at the meeting of Council held on 9 May 2024. The Police and Fire & Rescue Scrutiny Sub- committee, a sub-committee of the Communities & Housing Policy Board, is timetabled to meet five times each year on the same day as the Communities & Housing Policy Board. The Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service representatives on the Sub-committee are able to produce quarterly reports to four of the meetings each year but only very partial statistics to the fifth meeting. They have therefore requested that the March meeting of this Sub-committee be cancelled as it does not align with their reporting periods. With the agreement of the Convener of the Sub-committee, Councillor McGurk, it is therefore proposed to drop the March meeting of the Police and Fire and Rescue Scrutiny Sub-committee with the remaining four meetings of the Sub-committee reflecting the Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire &
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Rescue Service reporting arrangements. The four remaining Sub-committee dates will continue to follow the meetings of the Communities & Housing Policy Board in January, May, August and October each year. Minutes of Meetings of the Council, Policy Boards and Sub-committees 3.7 In terms of Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, Minutes of the proceedings of a meeting of a council shall be drawn up. The Act also sets out that the names of the members present at a meeting of a council shall be recorded but there is no other substantial detail on what must be recorded. 3.8 Effective Minute taking has always focussed on brevity while ensuring that the Minute is impersonal and self-contained. In relation to the self-contained element of meeting records, Minutes of Council and Board meetings have typically contained narrative setting out in some detail the contents of each report as well as referring to procedural issues, such as motions, amendments, voting and declarations of interest. The narrative element has historically sought to summarise the subject matter of the report within a few paragraphs of text even where the substantive content of the report has run to many pages. 3.9 It has become apparent in discussions with other Scottish local authorities that there has been a move nationally towards the streamlining of Minutes, providing a greater emphasis and focus on the decisions taken and, as a result, maintaining accountability while at the same time making the most efficient use of staff resources. 3.10 The requirement for Minutes to be fully self-contained documents has diminished as background papers, principally the relevant reports, have become more readily available electronically. All reports submitted to Renfrewshire Council and its Boards can be accessed through the Committee Management Information System (CMIS) (https://renfrewshire.cmis.uk.com/renfrewshire/CouncilandBoards.aspx) and are held in the same location as the minutes of the relevant meeting. 3.11 The format of draft Board Minutes issued to the Leadership Board changed in 2023, removing most of the background narrative from each recorded item, to help provide a greater focus on the decisions taken at Boards while also retaining any reference to procedural matters which may have arisen at the meeting. More recently finalised Council and Board Minutes have started to transition to follow a format similar to the Minutes currently submitted to members of the Leadership Board. 3.12 As well as setting out the decisions taken at the Council, Boards and Sub- committees, Minutes will continue to include an introductory summary paragraph for each item, they will record fully all key procedural matters that arise at meetings including details of those members present at meetings together with the names of those members who had submitted apologies; details of motions and amendments together with the resultant votes;
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declarations of interest and transparency statements; and any other issues covered by the Council’s Procedural Standing Orders. Requests to light up Council buildings and property 3.13 The Council has received a request from the Remembering Srebrenica Scottish Board of Ambassadors asking that Council support a “light up” event. In May 2024, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution to mark 11th July as World International Day of Remembrance and Memorial Day to commemorate the first genocide in Europe since the Holocaust. 2025 will mark the 30th Anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide and Remembering Srebrenica have asked that the Council consider lighting up our buildings in green, which represents ‘peace’ on the Srebrenica Flower. 3.14 The Provost has requested that consideration be given to lighting up our buildings and property blue on June 11th each year to mark World Prostate Cancer Day. The symbol for prostate cancer is a blue Ribbon, which is a symbol of caring, compassion, grief, loss, and men’s health issues such as prostate cancer. The Provost hopes that this request will be part of wider efforts she will make to raise awareness across the Council workforce and the wider Renfrewshire population. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – none. 2. HR & Organisational Development – none. 3. Community/Council Planning – none. 4. Legal – as set out in the report 5. Property/Assets – none. 6. Information Technology – none. 7. Equality & Human Rights The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety – none. 9. Procurement – none.
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10. Risk – none. 11. Privacy Impact - none 12. Climate Risk - none 13. Cosla Policy Position – none. 14. Children’s Rights – none _________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers: Letter dated 18/12/24 from Alison Anderson MBE, Ambassador, Remembering Srebrenica Scottish Board of Ambassadors ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Dave Low Democratic Services/Election Manager 0141 487 1118 david.low@renfrewshire.gov.uk