Agenda item

As part of the forward work programme and the terms of reference for Democratic Services Committee, the Committee was required to keep under review the Council’s constitutional governance arrangements.

In accordance with the Council’s approved scheme of delegation, set out in Part 3 Appendix 3 of the Council’s Constitution, a number of statutory functions were delegated to those Heads of Service who were authorised to discharge these duties on behalf of the Council.  The Officer Scheme of Delegation was last reviewed and updated in October 2017 and since that time; there had been a few legislative changes and amendments to Council procedures.  These changes and amendments needed to be incorporated into a revised and updated scheme of delegation for adoption by full Council.

For the most part, the previous officer scheme of delegation did not require substantive revision.  However, since the last review, new legislation was introduced to deal with sustainable drainage systems (“SuDS”) for new developments and additional delegated powers needed to grant the Head of City Services to enable him to determine applications and all other related functions under Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 on behalf of the Council as the SuDs Approving Body (“SAB”).

In addition to this, the Committee were informed that amendments had been made to the existing scheme of delegation to Council granting full delegation to the Head of Regeneration Housing and Investment to determine minor property transactions, as previously recommended by Democratic Services Committee at their meeting in November 2018.

Comments from the Committee:

§  The Committee asked if there was accountability for Cabinet Members under this new arrangement and would they be subject to a call-in.  It was advised that as this was now allocated to the Head of Streetscene and City Services and any decisions would be taken by the responsible officer due to the technical complexities of these matters.  This was similar to decisions taken by Building Control where a qualified officer would be better placed to authorise these decisions.

§  The Committee referred to the Gambling Act and if Newport had powers to allow casinos to operate within the city.  This was a matter of policy and there were different types of licenses, some with an element of local discretion.  If a casino were to open within the city it would be taken as a policy view within the Leader’s roles.

§  The committee also referred in general to the Scheme of Delegation appointing the Chief Executive as the Council’s Returning Officer.  The Committee was informed that the Chief Executive was never required be the Returning Officer and in some council’s such as Cardiff, the Head of Finance took on this duty.  Newport City Council chose to designate the Chief Executive.  New legislation enforced by Welsh Government however, meant that the title of Returning Officer would in future be attached to all Chief Executives within Wales with no extra financial incentive.  A brief discussion ensued regarding the fees and responsibilities of the Returning Officer.

Agreed:

The Committee agreed to the proposed amendments to the Scheme of Delegation to Officers and recommended that it was adopted as Part 3 Appendix 3 of the Constitution at Council on 27 February 2020.