Report on appointment of religious reps
Renfrewshire Council · 18 August 2022
Back to Education and Children's Services Policy Board — 18 August 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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___________________________________________________________________ To: Education and Children’s Services Policy Board On: 18 August 2022 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Finance & Resources ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Church Representatives on Committees Appointed by Education Authorities ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 Section 124 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 provides that where an education authority appoints a committee whose purposes include advising the authority on any matter relating to the discharge of their functions as education authority or discharging any of those functions of the authority on their behalf, three of the members to be appointed (who shall not be members of the education authority) shall be church representatives. One of the three places requires to be filled in accordance with the Act by a nomination from the Church of Scotland and one by the Roman Catholic Church. 1.2 A report was submitted to the statutory meeting of Council on 19 May 2022 advising that nominations had been submitted by the Church of Scotland and Renfrewshire Interfaith Group. Accordingly, the appointments of Mary Jane Bird and Ravinder Singh to the Education & Children’s Services Policy Board were confirmed. 1.3 The report intimated that a nomination from the Roman Catholic Church had not yet been received. It was agreed that, following receipt of a nomination, the appointment of the final religious representative be delegated to Education & Children’s Services Policy Board. 1.4 Correspondence has since been received from the Roman Catholic Church nominating Jack Nellaney to the role of religious representative.
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1.5 The Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act 2000 introduced an ethical framework which required the Scottish Ministers to issue a Code of Conduct for Councillors. The Code does not apply to non-elected members of committees. Standards Commission guidance recommends that co-opted members be guided by the Code and in the case of church representatives the Standards Commission has advised that authorities should seek confirmation from the appointing authorities that they will require their appointees to apply with the Code. 2. Recommendations 2.1 That Jack Nellaney, the Roman Catholic Church nominee, be appointed to the Education & Children’s Services Policy Board; and 2.2 That it be noted that, in accordance with advice issued by the Standards Commission, that the Roman Catholic Church be asked to confirm that they will require their nominee to comply with the Councillors’ Code in so far as it was relevant to them in their role as church representatives. Implications of this report 1. Financial - the cost of the advert will be met from existing resources. 2. HR and Organisational Development – none 3. Community Plan/Council Plan – none 4. Legal – as detailed in the report. 5. Property/Assets – none 6. Information Technology – none 7. Equality and Human Rights (a) 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 because for example it is for noting only. 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 and Safety – none
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9. Procurement – none 10. Risk – none 11. Privacy – none 12. COSLA Policy Position - none 13. Climate Change – none Author: Euan Gray, Senior Committee Services Officer, 07483410945, euan.gray@renfrewshire.gov.uk.