Agenda item

The Leader and Portfolio Holder for Strategic Partnerships, Economic Development and Governance presented a report relating to the political balance at the Council.

Members were advised that this report had had to be prepared following changes to the political balance at the authority since the Annual Council meeting held in May 2025.  There was the potential that a further report on the subject of the political balance would be presented for Council’s consideration in July 2025, subject to the outcome of ongoing discussions between group leaders.

The figures presented in the political balance report were subsequently discussed by Members.  Whilst the accuracy of these figures was not contested, concerns were raised that the allocation of seats in accordance with legal rules would result in the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee and the Overview and Scrutiny Board having a single vacant seat each.  This was due to the fact that one political group which was entitled to seats on those Committees could not take up those seats because all of the group’s members served on the Cabinet and there were legal and constitutional barriers to their participation as members of those particular Committees.  Concerns were raised about the impact that having vacancies on those two Committees in particular could have on the transparency and effectiveness of the arrangements in place for challenging decision making, particularly by Cabinet.

To address these concerns, it was suggested that the Council could consider suspending the political balance and then allocating the vacant seats to political groups not represented on the Cabinet.  The suspension of the political balance could not occur at this extraordinary meeting of Council as there was a legal requirement to give five clear working days’ notice in the agenda for a Council meeting where it was proposed that the political balance should be suspended and this had not occurred.  However, Members commented that this could potentially be achieved in time for the July meeting of Council.

The suggestion to suspend the political balance was discussed and in doing so reference was made to the fact that this could only be achieved if no single Member voted against the proposal at a Council meeting.  Concerns were raised that there was no guarantee that consensus would be achieved.  As an alternative, the suggestion was made that the Council could increase the number of seats on both the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee and on the Overview and Scrutiny Board.  Whilst this would still result in there being vacant seats on those Committees, it was suggested that this would result in the appointment of 11 Councillors to both bodies, in line with the current size of both Committees.

Members highlighted that group leaders had recently agreed to discuss the political balance at a meeting of the Constitution Review Working Group.  The suggestion was made that this meeting could take place before publication of the agenda for the July meeting of Council in order to achieve some clarity on the different positions of the various political groups in respect of suspending the political balance.  The impact of changing the number of seats on the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee and Overview and Scrutiny Board could also be considered at this meeting.

RESOLVED that

1)         for the remainder of the 2025/26 Municipal Year, the Committees set out in Appendix 1 to the minutes be appointed and that the representation of the different political groups on the Council on those Committees be as set out in that table until the next Annual Meeting of the Council, or until the next review of political representation under Section 15 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, whichever is the earlier.

2)         Members be appointed to the Committees and as substitute members in accordance with nominations to be made by Group Leaders, as detailed in Appendix 2 to the minutes.