To consider the following Notice of Motion to be proposed by Councillor Godfrey and seconded by Councillor Horrill:
“This Council commits to clearly demonstrate that it is open and transparent in all its decision-making, specifically by:
· Properly consulting all councillors and the public before making any significant decisions about council projects or other major financial transactions.
· Within 12 months of a decision being made, publishing without restriction all papers used to support decisions on projects and other major financial transactions that were marked as exempt from publication at the time of the decision unless Full Council decides that these papers should remain exempt for a further 12 months.
· Recording the discussions, submissions and decisions at all meetings attended by any person outside Winchester City Council and, where those meetings relate to any decision made afterwards, for these records to be available to all councillors within 2 weeks and to the public within 12 months of the meeting unless Full Council decides that these papers should remain exempt for a further 12 months.
· Stopping the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements that councillors have been required to sign before being able to see some Council or Committee papers and to cancel any indemnity clauses in such Non-Disclosure Agreements previously signed by serving Councillors.”
Minute extract - Council, 12 January 2022
Councillor Godfrey introduced his Motion and Council then proceeded to ask questions and debate the Motion. In summary, the following matters were raised:
· Some Members raised concern of the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements regarding exempt and confidential information that was required to be provided to Members as part of the decision making process.
· Other areas of the motion referred to the council being open and transparent in all its decision-making and it was highlighted that various improvements to this had included introduction of public questions at council, streaming and videoing meetings and regular open forum meetings.
· Some other areas of the motion may require further discussion regarding their legality and the practicality and resource implications although processes to review previously exempt information were already in place however their implementation had been delayed due to the pandemic.
AMENDMENT – Moved by Councillor Cutler and seconded by Councillor Thompson as follows (changes shown in bold):
“This Council asks that the Audit and Governance Committee review that the Council commits to clearly demonstrate that it is open and transparent in its decision making, specifically by:
· Properly consulting all councillors and the public before making any significant decisions about council projects or other major financial transactions.
· Within 12 months of a decision being made, publishing without restriction all papers used to support decisions on projects and other major financial transactions that were marked as exempt from publication at the time of the decision unless Full Council decides that these papers should remain exempt for a further 12 months.
· Recording the discussions, submissions and decisions at all meetings attended by any person outside Winchester City Council and, where those meetings relate to any decision made afterwards, for these records to be available to all councillors within 2 weeks and to the public within 12 months of the meeting unless Full Council decides that these papers should remain exempt for a further 12 months.
· Stopping the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements that councillors have been required to sign before being able to see some Council or Committee papers and to cancel any indemnity clauses in such Non-Disclosure Agreements previously signed by serving Councillors.
And that in their considerations the Audit and Governance Committee review the legality, practicality and resource implications of these specific proposals.”
Minutes:
|
13. |
The Strategic Director and Monitoring Officer introduced the item and draw the committee’s attention to the motion from Full Council (which had been moved by Councillor Godfrey and seconded by Councillor Horrill) and a minute extract of the Council response as set out on the agenda sheet.
Councillor Power stated that following discussions with officers, she was proposing that an informal task and finish group be established to examine the points raised. A draft of the proposed terms of reference for such a group had been circulated to all members of the Committee prior to the meeting.
At the invitation of the Chairperson, Councillor Horrill addressed the Committee as summarised briefly below. Requested that with regard to the recommendation that proper consultation was undertaken, this should apply whether or not consultation was a formal requirement. The notice of motion sought agreement for the Council to clearly demonstrate a commitment to act in an open and transparent manner, with an expectation in favour of disclosure. Considered that the proposal to set up a task and finish group in response to the notice of motion would unduly delay its implementation. For example, the core governance principles could be confirmed immediately.
In response to questions, the Strategic Director advised that the proposed terms of reference for a task and finish group were circulated to committee members earlier that day and if this approach was agreed, the conclusions and recommendations of the group would be reported back to the next Committee meeting. However, she clarified that it was a matter for the Committee to decide how it wished to deal with the notice of motion and the establishment of a task and finish group was only one option. It had not been possible for officers to examine all the legal and practical implications of the motion, as had been set out in the amendment to the motion as set out in the minutes, prior to the current meeting, although initial investigations and some work on suggested solutions in some areas had been undertaken.
Following debate, the Committee did not support a task and finish informal group and instead agreed that a report be brought back to an additional meeting of the Committee to be held in late May 2022. It was noted that it might be necessary for a further additional meeting to be scheduled due to the volume of work involved.
The Committee discussed each of the points contained in the amendment to the notice of motion agreed at Council (and reproduced below with numbering added for ease of reference).
AMENDMENT – Moved by Councillor Cutler and seconded by Councillor Thompson as follows (changes shown in bold): “This Council asks that the Audit and Governance Committee review that the Council commits to clearly demonstrate that it is open and transparent in its decision making, specifically by: a. Properly consulting all councillors and the public before making any significant decisions about council projects or other major financial transactions. b. Within 12 months of a decision being made, publishing without restriction all papers used to support decisions on projects and other major financial transactions that were marked as exempt from publication at the time of the decision unless Full Council decides that these papers should remain exempt for a further 12 months. c. Recording the discussions, submissions and decisions at all meetings attended by any person outside Winchester City Council and, where those meetings relate to any decision made afterwards, for these records to be available to all councillors within 2 weeks and to the public within 12 months of the meeting unless Full Council decides that these papers should remain exempt for a further 12 months. d. Stopping the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements that councillors have been required to sign before being able to see some Council or Committee papers and to cancel any indemnity clauses in such NonDisclosure Agreements previously signed by serving Councillors.
And that in their considerations the Audit and Governance Committee review the legality, practicality and resource implications of these specific proposals.”
Point (a) |
Members discussed the requirement to consider the definition of “properly” and also the meaning of “significant decisions.” The possibility of using the existing definition of “key decisions” was suggested but the implications of a requirement to consult on all of these decisions was flagged by the Strategic Director. It was agreed that further work was required to address this point.
Point (b)
The Strategic Director advised that a draft procedure on reviewing exempt reports had been produced and could be submitted to the next Committee for members’ consideration.
Point (c)
Councillor Godfrey clarified that it was intended only to refer to meetings that led to a decision. However, a number of members expressed concerns about the practical implications of this proposal, including with regard to data protection and the resource implications of seeking a decision at council for papers to remain exempt. It was agreed that further work was required to address the issues raised by this point.
Point (d)
The Strategic Director suggested that the Committee could consider the previous examples of when a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) had been used over the previous five years. It was noted that the notice of motion only referred to the use of NDAs in relation to committee reports but a wider examination, as suggested by the Strategic Director, was welcomed where there were confidentiality agreements. It was also suggested that the committee could agree the terms for any future confidentiality agreement and agree a system of regular reporting back on their use through the quarterly reporting mechanisms. Discussion was also had about how officers might assist members through the mod.gov committee system on identifying exempt information more easily. This would be presented to the next meeting.
RESOLVED:
That additional meeting(s) of the Committee be arranged in May/June 2022 to examine further the contents of the Council’s referral of the notice of motion, having regard to the comments summarised in the minute above.