Agenda item

Consider report by Service Director Customer & Communities.  (Attached)

2.1       With reference to paragraph 10 of the Minute of 20 May 2021, copies of a report by the Service Director, Customer and Communities, on the Berwickshire Community Fund Assessment Panel had been circulated.  The Clerk to the Council, Ms Wilkinson, presented the report which proposed details on how members would be appointed to the Panel and how the Panel would operate with regarding to meetings.  The recruitment process for membership of the Assessment Panel from people living in Berwickshire began on 24 May, with a closing date for applications of 14 June 2021.  It had originally been proposed that all members of the Assessment Panel, including the 3 SBC Councillors, would have equal voting rights.  Howver, that had given rise to a potential conflict of interest when recommendations from the Assessment Panel were considered by the Area Partnership.  It was now proposed that the 3 SBC Councillors would be non-voting members of the Assessment Panel.   Ms Wilkinson further advised that reference to these SBC Councillors being ex-officio members was incorrect and they would be non-voting members.  With regard to the appointment of applicants from the Berwickshire area public to the Assessment Panel, it was proposed that this decision should be delegated to the Service Director, Customer & Communities, in consultation with the Chair of the Berwickshire Area Partnership and the Executive Member for Community Development and Localities.  Suitable training would be provided to all members of the Assessment Panel.  Details of the proposed constitution and procedural rules for the Assessment Panel were given in the Appendix to the report.

2.2       The Chief Legal Officer, Mrs McKinlay, explained that the reason for the proposed change to SBC Councillors having voting rights at the Assessment Panel was that the award of a grant would fall within Section 7 of the Local Authority Councillors Code of Conduct and in that respect was a quasi-judicial matter.  The Code of Conduct stated that local authority Councillors could express a provisional view but could not form a final view until they had all information before them so any Councillor who was to vote at the Assessment Panel and then vote again at a subsequent Area Partnership meeting (should consensus not be reached on a recommendation from the Assessment Panel) would find themselves at risk of being in breach of the Code of Conduct.  Members of the Area Partnership queried the role of the SBC Councillors on the Assessment Panel and expressed disappointment that all members of the Panel would not have equal voting rights.  Mrs McKinlay confirmed that SBC Councillors could still participate in the questioning and debating at the Assessment Panel meetings but the key for them was this did not form a final view as if they were to advocate for or against a particular application then they would have to declare an interest at the meeting of the Area Partnership and not take part.  This restriction only applied to SBC Councillors.  Ms Wilkinson confirmed that any recommendations from the Assessment Panel would be considered by the Area Partnership meeting and it would only be if consensus could not be reached then the final decision would be taken by the SBC Elected Members on the Area Partnership, as was the case currently.  In response to a question about consensus, Ms Wilkinson further confirmed that this did not mean 100% agreement but 1 or 2 people in dissent, with much depending on the numbers at the Area Partnership meeting on the day. 

2.3       Mr Keith Dickinson, the Chair of the Area Partnership Review Sub-Group, had not been able to be present at the meeting, and Ms Wilkinson summarised an email he had sent to her with his concerns.  A fundamental aspect of the plan from the Sub-Group was that all members of the Panel would be equal.  As the Assessment Panel would be making recommendations to the Area Partnership, that is where the decision would be made.  Mr Dickinson expressed further concern about the possibility of the SBC Elected Members at an Area Partnership meeting rejecting the recommendations of the Assessment Panel and what position this would leave the voting members of the Assessment Panel.  There was further debate and it was suggested that the proposals should be tried and reviewed if necessary if it was found they were not working.

2.4       The Area Partnership then considered the quorum for meetings of the Assessment Panel but, after consideration, decided to leave this at the proposed five.   There followed further consideration of how far in advance of meetings the papers for the Assessment Panel would be issued, with the 3 clear working days being thought insufficient.  Agreement was reached on papers being issued 14 calendar days prior to meetings of the Assessment Panel.  Consideration was then given to the nomination of SBC Councillors to the Panel to ensure representation from across Berwickshire.  It was confirmed that should any member of the Panel drop out then the same recruitment and appointment process would be used for a replacement.

DECISION

AGREED to:

(a)       delegate authority to the Service Director Customer and Communities, in consultation with the Chair of the Area Partnership and the Executive Member for Community Development and Localities, to appoint members of the Berwickshire community to the Berwickshire Community Fund Assessment Panel, following a suitable recruitment process;

(b)       approve the constitution and procedural rules for the Assessment Panel as detailed in the Appendix to this Minute; and

(c)       appoint SBC Councillors Greenwell, Laing and Rowley as non-voting members of the Assessment Panel.