Agenda item

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 16 January 2019.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 16 January 2019 be approved as an accurate record.

Matters Arising

Terms of Reference

A Member noted that at the previous meeting of the Committee it had been agreed for the Chair of the Policy and Resources Committee to become an ex-officio Member of this Committee and this would create an additional ten meetings per year to an already significant workload. Whilst the Chair explained that the Chair of Policy and Resources had been party to this decision, the Member advised they would raise this at the forthcoming Policy and Resources Committee meeting.

The Chair noted that as the topic had been raised, he would provide an update with regards to what had transpired at a recent meeting of the Finance Committee. The Chair reminded Members that the decision had also been taken at the January 2019 meeting for the Chairman of Finance to be made an ex-officio Member of the Establishment Committee with the expectation this be reciprocated for the Chair of (the Establishment Committee) to become an ex-officio Member of the Finance Committee.

However, at the February meeting of the Finance Committee, the Chairman encouraged the Committee to vote against this reciprocity. A Member advised they had been present at that meeting and explained that the Chairman of Finance had not conveyed what had been agreed at the Establishment Committee therefore he had spoken in support of the Chairman’s opposition to the appointment, however having been made aware of the facts, he had withdrawn his remarks, and had written to the Chair of Policy and Resources asking to overturn the decision of the Finance Committee at the March meeting.

Members noted this raised the point of reciprocity and collaboration in general, advising that it would be useful for the Policy and Resources Committee to consider all ex-officio arrangements that were currently in place. A Member added that when ex-officio appointments were made, there was a question as to whether when the Member spoke at Committee they were conveying their own views or those of the Committee.

The Committee asked that a note of this discussion be provided to the Policy and Resources Committee for information.