Supplementary Agenda Document Pack - Moray Council - 19/02/2025
Moray Council · 19 February 2025
Back to Moray Council — 19 February 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Moray Council Wednesday, 19 February 2025 The undernoted report(s) has been added to the agenda for the meeting of Moray Council at 09:30, in terms of Section 50B (4)(b) of the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 by reason of special circumstances on the Chair accepting the report as urgent business. NOTE REFERRED TO:- 4d. Minute of Special Meeting of 19 December 2024 3 - 8 Page 1
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MORAY COUNCIL Minute of Special Meeting of the Moray Council Thursday, 19 December 2024 Council Chambers, Council Office, High Street, Elgin, IV30 1BX PRESENT Councillor James Allan, Councillor Peter Bloomfield, Councillor Neil Cameron, Councillor Tracy Colyer, Councillor Theresa Coull, Councillor John Cowe, Councillor John Divers, Councillor Amber Dunbar, Councillor Jérémie Fernandes, Councillor Donald Gatt, Councillor David Gordon, Councillor Juli Harris, Councillor Sandy Keith, Councillor Elaine Kirby, Councillor Scott Lawrence, Councillor Marc Macrae, Councillor Paul McBain, Councillor Neil McLennan, Councillor Shona Morrison, Councillor Bridget Mustard, Councillor Kathleen Robertson, Councillor Derek Ross, Councillor John Stuart, Councillor Draeyk van der Horn, Councillor Sonya Warren, Councillor Ben Williams IN ATTENDANCE Interim Chief Executive; Depute Chief Executive (Education, Communities and Organisational Development); Depute Chief Executive (Economy, Environment and Finance); Head of Governance, Strategy and Performance and Caroline O'Connor, Committee Services Officer. 1. Chair The meeting was chaired by Councillor Kathleen Robertson. 2. Declaration of Group Decisions and Members Interests * In terms of Standing Orders 21 and 23, the Council noted that there were no declarations from group leaders or spokespersons in regard to any prior decisions taken on how members will vote on any item on the Agenda or any declarations of Member’s interest in respect of any item on the Agenda. 3. Notice of Motion - Members Conduct in relation to the Budget Process In terms of Standing Order 35(a) there was submitted a Notice of Motion by Councillors Lawrence and Warren in the following terms:- Background At a meeting of Moray Council on the 22nd of October 2024 Council democratically agreed to • Note the transformation work undertaken by the Libraries, Learning Centres and Heritage service to date and the future service strategy to meet changing demand/need. • Note the proposal in regard to future provision of the service which aligns with the savings hierarchy of transformation and service reduction to aid the Council’s short to medium term financial strategy. Item 4d. Page 3
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• Proceed with consultation on the proposed future service provision • Agree a report due back to Council in January 2025 on consultation responses. Moray Council has an agreed Budget protocol this includes - • A Budget development Group • Strategic Leadership Forum The agreed Budget Protocol principles are set out around the best value process around collaborative working. On Monday 9th December at 3pm, meetings of the Strategic Leadership Forum and Budget development Group took place at which an updated position on Library proposals was on the agenda for both meetings as part of the agreed budget process. Immediately prior to these meetings a press statement was released containing quotes from the Council Leader and Depute Leader and in which an position of the Council was stated around Library closures. This Position had not gone through due democratic process therefore should not have been portrayed as the position of Moray Council by the Council Leader. This statement also disrespected Council Officers by abdicating the responsibility of the administration group and the democratic process of full council, incorrectly attributing full responsibility to council officers for the library consultation process. Furthermore, employees affected by these proposals were not consulted before the statement was released. By putting out an inaccurate press release and then having to withdraw it not only caused confusion and upset with the public but also called into question the competence and reputation of Moray Council. Most worryingly of all following the redaction and subsequent “correction” of the original press release, It was revealed that neither the Council Leader nor Depute leader had prior sight of a press release containing quotes from both and a falsely stated council position. Action • Council notes these actions have led to a lack of confidence in the Council Leader and the administration group in their handling of the budget process – in relation to disrespect to council, councillors and officers. • Seeks assurance that there is a recognition of failings and genuine willingness to learn and change and respect the principles of collaborative working as previously agreed. • Seeks further assurance that the position of council goes through the correct democratic procedure and any press release relating to such decisions is issued through the correct process. • Requests further training is scheduled on the Code of Conduct to address these issues and affirm the role of all councillors in relation to the budget process. • In the absence of agreement to any of the above, Council asks that the Council Leader and Depute Leader refer themselves to the standards commission for breach of the code of conduct. Page 4
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Proposed By: Councillor Scott Lawrence Seconded By: Councillor Sonya Warren In introducing the motion, Councillor Lawrence stated the Notice of Motion was not a vote of no confidence but was intended as actionable and in line with the procedures of the Council. He further stated that the purpose of today's meeting was not to discuss libraries as that decision would be taken when proper information was available at a future Council meeting. Councillor Lawrence advised the Group had called the meeting as they considered they had a responsibility to callout what they felt went against Best Value guidance regarding collaborative working, disrespected officers, councillors and the proper democratic procedure and as Chair of Audit and Scrutiny Committee, felt he had a personal responsibility to call the meeting. What was deeply concerning was that any press release could be issued containing quotes from the Leader, Depute Leader and a Council position without any prior sight of the leadership of the administration group and the Council. It is important that the stated position of the Council is one that reflects the majority of Elected Members having gone through correct procedure, not by the Conservative party national media team attempting to play party politics poorly. The press release has damaged the reputation of the administration and the council, disrespected officers, the agreed budget procedure and two years of collaborative working. He concluded by stating that the Notice of Motion represented a fair ask of the administration group and the council leadership and if accepted, an opportunity to re-establish trust and good working relationships following the damage done by their party. In seconding the motion, Councillor Warren referred to the Audit Commission's previous concerns regarding the Council's financial position however in terms of areas of success, they had noted there had been collaborative working to improve the position of the Council and stated that she was uncomfortable that the press release had shown disrespect to Councillors and officers. She further stated it was important to accept accountability for the processes and for actions the officers have been asked by Councillors to undertake. In response the Chair made a statement on behalf of herself as Leader and Councillor Gatt, Depute Leader:- "Both Councillor Gatt and I regret the mixed messages given to the staff and the public arising from the press releases. The history of which has been clarified in the media by Councillor Gatt and me as well as the Conservative Party. Whilst we all recognise mistakes happen, I want to reiterate that once we realised the Party’s mistake we reacted as quickly as possible to remedy the situation including our sincere apology to the public through the media, a written apology to staff as well as a written apology to all elected members. Unfortunately, we cannot undo this regrettable event; however, I can guarantee that Councillor Gatt and myself as well as members of the wider Conservative Party have learnt lessons from this and have pro-actively taken steps to ensure that it does not happen again. We totally understand the distress caused by our actions and for this we are terribly sorry. Both Councillor Gatt and I have already committed to undergo refresher training on the code of conduct which came out last week from the Improvement Service. We hope others will join us for the training. Page 5
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For me personally, I am deeply sorry that my trust with elected members, staff and the public has been eroded. Going forward I sincerely hope that my track record of collaborative working with you, which I thoroughly enjoyed and hold dear, is not marred indefinitely by this one act by our Party. I would not like my reputation to be unfairly tarnished with the Party’s mistake to the detriment of the council and our collegiate working for the best of Moray. I will pledge to the council that I will do my upmost to work with you to rebuild the trust. The Notice of Motion we have before us sets out four asks of us with the proviso that if not agreed the fifth one would be initiated. In discussion with Councillor Gatt and on behalf of the Administration Group, I would state that we will comply of the asks of the first four bullet points of the Action in the effort of restorative justice. I hope that we can put this behind us and work together positively for our communities." The Chair passed to Councillor Gatt who reiterated apologies to all staff and Elected Members and stated that he along with Councillor Robertson pledged to rebuild trust across the Council and confirmed that they would comply with the asks the first four bullet points set out in the Notice of Motion. As an amendment Councillor McLennan, seconded by Councillor Stuart, moved following the latest political incident bringing reputational damage to Moray and taking elected members and officers time, focus and resource away from delivering Best Value in public services, this Council calls for:- “All members to rescind political allegiance and to work as collectively one of 26 independent members in bringing enhanced scrutiny and united support to Moray Council without political rifts. The Council will thus become akin to a non-political Board of Directors, as opposed to political groups and the risks and incidents that brings. All members rally around The Moray Council as a group of independents with experiences, expertise and enthusiasm to progress beyond the Council's historic and current issues. Calls for officers to:- 1. Work up role for Moderator who will chair council meetings in place of current amalgamated Council Leader and Chair position. 2. Replace service committee chairs/depute chairs with co-chairs; those co-chairs, coming from from across political backgrounds; and appointments aligned to areas of experience as opposed to simply who has the most votes by political dominance. 3. Move at speed towards smaller committees to streamline service decision making and reduce officer time supporting overly large committees [this as per recent decision made by the Council]. 4. That committee co-chairs meet as a cabinet group with the Moderator convening such meetings (which as above draws from across the political spectrum), to help drive improvements and greater cooperation across Moray Council. 5. That the cabinet being forward, with officer support, a set of streamlined priorities for Moray alongside a balanced budget for February 2025 Full Council.” Page 6
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The amendment further stated that the suggested “changes noted above reflect a sea change in the current political divisions Moray has experienced. However, it aims to bring a new era of effective cooperative working across a group of elected members, who under a different governance arrangement, may be able to achieve more with this 'people over politics' approach”. The Head of Governance, Strategy and Performance advised the meeting had been convened to consider the information contained in the Notice of Motion. Given the amendment proposed by Councillor McLennan would be a major change to the operating model of the Council, the amendment did not provide fair notice for this meeting. He suggested it would be more appropriate for Councillor McLennan to submit the amendment as a Notice of Motion to a future Council meeting to enable Elected Members to be provided with the full information required to consider such an issue and given this, his advice to the Chair was that the amendment was incompetent. In terms of Standing Order 47, the Chair ruled the amendment as incompetent. Accordingly the Motion became the finding of the meeting and the Council unanimously agreed to: (i) note these actions have led to a lack of confidence in the Council Leader and the administration group in their handling of the budget process – in relation to disrespect to council, councillors and officers; (ii) seek assurance that there is a recognition of failings and genuine willingness to learn and change and respect the principles of collaborative working as previously agreed; (iii) seek further assurance that the position of council goes through the correct democratic procedure and any press release relating to such decisions is issued through the correct process; and (iv) request further training is scheduled on the Code of Conduct to address these issues and affirm the role of all councillors in relation to the budget process. Page 7
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