Agenda item

To consider the report of the Head of Democratic Services which outlines the Member Management Committee’s role in relation to Elected Member appointments to Outside Bodies and seeks agreement to a schedule detailing those organisations that the Council will continue to make an appointment to; and agreement of the nominations to those organisations which fall to this Committee to make an appointment to.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report which outlined the Committee’s role in relation to Elected Member appointments to Outside and ‘other’ bodies and sought agreement of the nominations to those organisations which fall to Member Management Committee to make an appointment to.

The report also included a copy of the Outside Body Procedure Rules for the 2022 -2023 Municipal Year and a schedule of Outside Bodies which were proposed to continue to be delegated to the Community Committees to appoint to.

In considering the schedule of appointments within the remit of the Committee, Members noted the following updates from the Conservative Group:

·  Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) - Councillor S Firth to replace Councillor B Anderson

·  Voluntary Action Leeds (VAL) - Councillor S Firth to replace Councillor B Anderson

The Committee was also requested to consider issues relating to two specific Outside Bodies:

Swarthmore Education Centre – At the request of the Executive Member, Economy Culture and Education, and in view of the city-wide nature of its provision, Members were asked to redesignate the Swarthmore Education Centre as a strategic and key appointment, to be dealt with by MMC in the future rather than the Inner North West Community Committee. The Committee agreed this approach. Officers will pursue appropriate appointment(s) to this Outside Body and report back to the Committee.

National Association of Councillors (NAC) – Officers requested that Members consider deferring consideration of appointments to this Outside Body until the completion of an ongoing review of the benefits and services offered by NAC. The Committee agreed this approach. Officers will report the outcome of the review to Members of the Committee in due course.

During discussions on appointments to Children and Families Clusters delegated to the Community Committees, comments regarding the lack of contact and engagement from various Clusters across the city with Members were noted. Officers agreed to report those comments when notifying the Department of all Cluster appointments at the end of the current Community Committee meeting cycle.

RESOLVED –

a)  To note the process set out in the Outside Bodies Procedure Rules which this Committee follows when making appointments, as attached at Appendix 1 of the report,

b)  To note the information contained in paragraph 10 of the report relating to organisations that no longer require Member representation,

c)  That approval be given to the redesignation of the Swarthmore Education Centre as a strategic and key appointment, to be dealt with by MMC in the future,

d)  That appointments to the National Association of Councillors be deferred until the review is concluded and the outcome of that review is reported to Members of the Committee,

e)  To note the current position with regards to new and existing Outside Bodies which required appointments since the last MMC in July 2021 which were confirmed through the delegated decision process as outlined in paragraph 14 of the report,

f)  That the nominations for 2022-2023 in relation to Elected Member appointments to Outside Bodies and ‘Other Bodies’ as detailed in Appendix 2 be agreed, noting the two nominations made at the meeting from the Conservative Group:

·  Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) - Councillor S Firth to replace Councillor B Anderson

·  Voluntary Action Leeds (VAL) - Councillor S Firth to replace Councillor B Anderson; and

g)  To approve the schedule contained in Appendix 3 and confirm the delegation of appointments to these organisations to the Community Committees, noting that the Swarthmore Education Centre will be removed from that schedule in the future.