The Motion, as printed in the Agenda, was proposed by Councillor Halden and seconded by Councillor Hebb.

Councillor Halden introduced the motion, and in doing so called for a governance review to be carried out in order to judge the advantages and disadvantages of a committee, cabinet, mayoral or hybrid forms of governance.

Councillor Robert Ray proposed an amendment to the motion, so that the motion would read:

“The Chamber instructs the constitution working group to carry out a governance review, in order to judge the need for the committee form of governance from May 2015 onwards.”

The amendment was seconded by Councillor Snell.

At this point, Councillor Ojetola raised a point of order and queried whether the amendment should be allowed, as it ought to have been submitted to the Monitoring Officer by 12 Noon.

Councillor Halden suggested that the meeting be adjourned for 2 minutes so that Legal and Democratic Services could advise on the validity of the amendment that had been proposed. This was agreed by the Chamber.

The meeting was adjourned at 8.24pm.

The meeting was reconvened at 8.30pm.

The Mayor informed the Chamber that he would not allow the amendment and instructed Members to proceed to debate the original motion.

During the course of the debate the following key points were made:

·         Councillor Hague supported the motion as the present structure of Democratic decision making had been in place for some time and that it was always wise to review. He felt that it was time to respond to change in order to improve local democracy, efficiency and decision making.

·         Councillor Barbara Rice supported the motion but felt that the current system worked well and remarked that in her Portfolio she had strived to work with both Councillors Hebb and Halden for the betterment of Thurrock. She felt that if a review was undertaken thorough research should be conducted with similar size authorities with different forms of governance systems so that Thurrock would get the final recommendation right.

·         Councillor Ojetola declared his support for the motion and explained that it was crucial that the Constitution Working Group be constituted and to conduct a thorough review to see what works well, and for the outcome to be reported back to Council.

·         Councillor John Kent remarked that a number of Councillors in the Chamber had experience of working under a committee governance system but felt that the system had disadvantages, particularly in relation to the lack of Member accountability.

·         Councillor John Kent further added that it was wise to review the current system which had been in place for 14-15 years. He proposed that an item on the Constitution Working Group be brought back to the next meeting and a small budget be allocated to the group to investigate thoroughly the benefits and disadvantages of different forms of governance within similar size authorities, such as Brighton and Hove and East Cheshire.

·         Councillor Coxshall remarked that he did not wish to abandon the Cabinet style system altogether but that it was important to examine the benefits and disadvantages in equal proportion to other forms of governance. He remarked that if the review concluded that the Cabinet system be the most appropriate for Thurrock he would not be afraid to support the recommendation to retain a Cabinet style form of governance in Thurrock.

·         Councillor Palmer observed that all Members should have the opportunity to review the findings.

·         Councillor Gerard Rice agreed that a review would be sensible and to examine the governance models of other local councils.

Councillor Halden echoed the sentiments that were raised by Members and stated that he was looking forward to working in collaboration to review governance arrangements in Thurrock. He felt that all systems would have benefits and weaknesses but that it was a process that must be fully examined.

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of the Motion, whereupon the Mayor declared this to be carried.

RESOLVED:

The Chamber instructs the constitution working group to carry out a governance review, in order judge the need for the committee, cabinet, mayoral, or hybrid forms of governance from May 2015 onwards.