Report by the Head of Governance (attached).

The Committee considered a report on the Role of Lead Members by the Head of Governance (circulated previously).

The Head of Governance advised the Committee that Annual Council, at its meeting in May 23, appointed 6 Councillors as Lead Members, to act as an advocate or spokesperson for a specific area of the Council as set out in paragraph 4.1 of the report.  However, the expectations of the role of a Lead Member was not clearly defined. A draft Lead Member Protocol was set out in Appendix A to add this definition, which included that Lead Members would:

·       Actively contribute to policies, budgets and service delivery for the areas they lead

·       Consult and communicate with members, officers and key partners to ensure decisions are well informed and then promoted

·       Provide Full Council with an annual report on their work and performance.

In return the Council would:

·       Designate a Lead Officer to support each Lead Member

·       Ensure the Lead Member have then necessary training they require, and

·       take appropriate action to promote the Lead Member role and ensure they are correctly consulted on matters relating to their interests

The Governance Committee was asked to recommend to Full Council that the Lead member Protocol be adopted and incorporated within Part 7 of the Council’s Constitution.

The Chief Executive agreed that the item would be discussed by the Group Leaders.

RESOLVED that the Lead Member Protocol (detailed in appendix A of the report) be adopted by Full Council, and incorporated within part 7 of the Council’s Constitution, in principal, subject to further discussion with Group Leaders.