Agenda and draft minutes

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an appeal the press and public will be excluded).

(*In accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2, written notice of an appeal must be received by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting)

There were no appeals against the refusal of inspection of documents.

There were no resolutions to exclude the public.

There were no late items.

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’.

There were no declarations of interest.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor S Golton.

To receive and approve the minutes of the meeting held on 17 April 2024

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on the 17 April 2024 be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive and consider the attached report of the City Solicitor.

Following the adoption of an amended Article 15 by Full Council on 26^th May 2022 the report of the City Solicitor updated the General Purposes Committee of the use of the powers under Article 15.2.3 of the Constitution by the Monitoring Officer since they were last reported on 26 July 2023.  The changes were:

1.  Two consequential changes were made (i) to the Members’ Allowances Scheme to reflect Full Council’s consideration and approval of recommendations made by the Independent Remuneration Panel and (ii) to amend the Budget and Policy Framework following Full Council’s approval of the Best City Ambition Update 2024.

2.  Changes were made throughout the constitution to update references to organisations, post titles and to reflect legislative changes.

3.  Changes were made to Article 6 (Scrutiny Boards) and the Scrutiny Board Procedure Rules to reflect legislative changes introduced by the Health and Care Act 2022.

4.  A minor amendment to the Executive and Decision Making Procedure Rules was made to rectify an erroneous paragraph reference. 

RESOLVED – That the use of the powers of the Monitoring Officer be noted.

To rceive and consider the attached report of the City Solicitor.

The report of the City Solicitor outlined the General Purposes Committee’s role in relation to Elected Member appointments to Outside Bodies and sought agreement to schedules 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.

Determination of the appointments is based on specific criteria set out in the Appointments to Outside Bodies Procedure Rules and supports the aims of the Best City Ambition to work with all communities as a team for Leeds and by supporting what the Council and its partners are focussing on during the 2024/25 Municipal Year to improve outcomes.

It was reported that there was a proposed amendment to the Outside Bodies Schedule with Councillor C Campbell replacing Councillor D Chapman on the Leeds Playhouse Theatre Board.

Further to a query regarding whether all the bodies that Members were appointed to were still functioning, it was agreed officers would carry out a review over the following year and report back to General Purposes Committee.

RESOLVED – That the General Purposes Committee:

1. Note the process set out in the Appointments to Outside Bodies Procedure Rules which this Committee follows when making appointments, attached at Appendix 1 of the report,

2. Note the information contained in paragraph 11 relating to organisations that either no longer require Elected Member representation or a change to the number of seats available,

3. Note the current position with regards to new and existing Outside Bodies which required appointments since the last General Purposes Committee and were confirmed through the delegated decision process as outlined in paragraph 12,

4. Consider the current position in relation to Elected Member appointments to Outside Bodies and ‘Other Bodies’ detailed in paragraph 4 and Appendix 2 and where appointments fall to General Purposes Committee to make; and

confirm that the Council will continue to make an appointment to those organisations listed as “Strategic and Key” partnerships.

Approve the schedule of Member appointments to serve on the organisations listed in Appendix 2, noting the amendment to the appointments to the Leeds Playhouse Theatre Board

5.Confirm the designation of those Outside Bodies included within the schedule at Appendix 3 as “Community and Local Engagement” and confirm that appointments to these bodies will be approved by the relevant Community Committees.

Wednesday, 16 October 2024 at 11.00 a.m.

Wednesday, 16 October 2024 at 1.30 p.m.