Agenda and minutes

To approve as correct the minutes of the meetings held on 14 December 2020 and 1 Febuary 2021.

(Note: If any Member wishes to propose an amendment to the minutes they should submit this in writing to committeeservices@horsham.gov.uk at least 24 hours before the meeting.  Where applicable, the audio recording of the meeting will be checked to ensure the accuracy of the proposed amendment.)

The minutes of the meetings held on 14 December 2020 and 1 February 2021 were approved by the Committee and would be signed by the Chairman at a later date.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members of the Committee

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman of the Committee or the Chief Executive

It was announced that the proposal for fast track planning applications that was deferred at the previous meeting would be on the agenda for the next meeting following consultations with Parish and Neighbourhood Councils.

To receive a report from the Director of Corporate Resources

The Graduate Trainee Officers provided an overview of the consultations which were carried out with Officers and Councillors on Policy Development Advisory Groups (PDAGs).

Officers provided a range of suggestions with the aim to improve PDAGs by ensuring they would have a clear focus on policy development and enable earlier involvement of PDAGs in the policy development process. These suggestions would help to increase the influence of PDAGs and the contribution they may have on council policies.

Members discussed the recommendations suggested by officers and concluded that the second recommendation, to remove the requirement for the views of PDAGs to be included in Cabinet reports, would not provide a benefit. A motion was put forward to include a recommendation to require and expand upon the views of PDAGs included in Cabinet Reports.

            RESOLVED

TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL the following points and amend the Constitution where necessary:

i)          Remove the requirement for Contract Award Cabinet Reports to be taken to Policy Development Advisory Groups.

ii)         The views of Policy Development Advisory Groups continue to be included in Cabinet Reports and expanded upon.

iii)        Encourage earlier involvement of Policy Development Advisory Groups in the policy development process.

iv)        Split Policy Development Advisory Group agendas into policy Development items and service update items.

REASONS

i)          Feedback received during the consultation shows that the majority of those surveyed would like to see some form of change to how PDAGs operate.

ii)         The reasoning behind the proposed options is to maximise the value and influence PDAGs have within the council. This could be achieved by involving them earlier in the policy development process, focusing their agendas on issues they can directly influence and clarifying their function as development of policy.

Items not on the agenda which the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered as urgent because of the special circumstances

There was no urgent business.