A concordat for communication and consultation with Members

The issue of effective communication and consultation between officers is crucial to ensure that Elected Members have all of the necessary information they require in order to fulfil their elected role. This Concordat for Communication and Consultation with Members sets out how Members will access meeting and decision related information and provides guidance to officers as to when they should consult with Members and offers practical tips as to how this should and should not be done.

The Concordat covers issues relating to:

• provision of information to members
• consultation with members
• do's and don'ts regarding communication and consultation
• decision recording systems
• consultation with external consultees
• monitoring arrangements

Arrangement of meetings

All meetings will be arranged via Outlook and all Members will be notified and receive an invitation to attend in their calendar. Members are requested to confirm attendance by accepting or declining the calendar invitation. Training regarding Outlook is available via the Member ICT Support Officer on telephone 01642 526378.

Agenda notifications

All Members will receive electronic Agenda notifications via the Council's ModernGov system for:

• Council meetings (separate notification of timescales for receipt of Member questions and motions will be sent to members periodically)
• Cabinet meetings
• Executive scrutiny committee meetings
• Select committee meetings
• Quasi - judicial committee meetings

Access to council, cabinet and committee reports

Access to Reports to Council, Cabinet, Executive Scrutiny, Select Committees and Quasi-Judicial Committees will be available electronically, via ModernGov, for all Members, usually a minimum of 5 working days ahead of the meeting.

All Members will receive paper copies of the agendas and reports of Council. Those members appointed to Cabinet and other meetings, will receive agendas and reports of those meetings. Papers will, as far as practicable, be sent to relevant members 5 clear working days prior to the meeting.

Cabinet decision records

Cabinet decision records will be available within two working days of the Cabinet meeting, or as soon as practicable. A link to these records will be forwarded to all Members including co-opted reps.

Cabinet decisions and delegated officer key decisions are subject to the call-in provisions outlined in Part 4 of the Constitution and Members will be notified in each case of the timescale for any call in request. For further information regarding call in arrangements contact democraticservices@stockton.gov.uk.

Availability of minutes

Minutes of all meetings of Council, Cabinet and Council Committees etc will be available from the ModernGov system and to individuals on request.

Members will be provided with copies of, or links to, the minutes of meetings of the Cleveland Police and Crime Panel and Cleveland Fire Authority as and when the Council is notified of their publication.

The Members' Library

Local Government periodicals, journals and bulletins, as well as service group key policies and service data, are available from the office based Members' Library facility on the first floor of Municipal Buildings. Computers are available within the office based facility to provide access to all of the democratic information held on the Council's intranet and ModernGov systems, including electronic access to all agendas, reports and minutes. A dedicated Members' Library is also available on the Council's intranet for other service specific information, as well as outside body activity for organisations members are involved with.

Service Groups are encouraged to deposit copies of new key policies and consultation documents within the Members Library, contacting the Member Support Officer on telephone 01642 526192.

A tracker, with updated information relating to motions agreed at Council will be available on the Members' Electronic Library. The tracker will be updated as and when new information is received and a link sent to members at that time.

General provisions

Decisions made by officers under delegated powers fall into two principal categories, namely:

• decisions delegated to officers in consultation with Cabinet Members (which may or may not be key decisions)
• other decisions delegated to officers (which are not required to be taken in consultation with Cabinet Members) and which may or may not be key decisions

Officers to whom decisions have been delegated have a duty to ensure that effective consultation takes place. Consultation between officers and Members will be undertaken within the terms of the Concordat, the Authority's Consultation Strategy and the approved Protocol on Member and Officer Relations.

Every effort will be made to ensure that Members have a realistic time scale to respond to consultation and, where appropriate and reasonably practicable, this time scale will be sufficient to enable Members to consult with their constituents. Members will be informed of any time restrictions which may apply relating to the process of consultation, particularly where urgent action is needed in the Council's or the public interest.

When preparing reports to Cabinet or Committees, officers will include details of any consultation undertaken with and any comments received from Members.

Some officer delegated decisions will be Key Decisions (as defined in Article 13 of the Constitution) and will be subject to the requirements of the regulations relating to such decisions, (for example requirements relating to recording and publicising decisions) and to the call in provisions outlined in the Constitution (Part 4 of the Executive Scrutiny and Select Committee Procedure Rules refer).

Decisions by officers in consultation with Cabinet Members

Officers to whom decision making powers have been delegated, subject to consultation with Cabinet Members, (as detailed in Part 3 of the Constitution), will ensure that such consultation takes place. Part 3 of the Constitution sets out each decision that has been delegated to Officers and provides within the checks and balances section the minimum requirements of consultation. Each Service Group are encouraged to maintain their own scheme of delegation to record onward delegation to other officers.

Other decisions delegated to officers

Officers acting within the remit of their delegated powers will ensure that they identify, at an early stage, issues upon which Members should be consulted. These will include:

• issues of interest to Cabinet Members
• issues of interest to Ward Members
• issues of general interest to all Members

 Officers will ensure that appropriate consultation takes place.

Consultation with Cabinet Members

Officers will ensure that appropriate consultation is undertaken with Cabinet Members on issues relating to their thematic areas.

Issues for consultation with Ward Members

a) Members will be consulted on all issues, so far as is reasonable, which impact upon their ward. Such issues may typically include:

• ward specific changes to service delivery
• planning applications and proposals
• regeneration initiatives
• programmed maintenance of street lights, carriageways and footpaths
• roadwork improvements schemes

Officers will identify issues which may have cross boundary implications and will consult with Members accordingly.

Members will be notified of consultation proposed in their Ward before the consultation commences and is in the public domain, and before press releases on the subject are issued. 

Issues for wider consultation with Members

There are a number of issues upon which Members will need to be consulted in order to fulfil their roles as Community Leaders. These may typically include:

• issues relating to changes in service delivery
• issued relating to access to services
• charges and concessions
• issues relating to community resources
• determination of grant aid to the voluntary sector

Officers will ensure that appropriate consultation takes place with Members.

The do's and don'ts list below picks up on many of the comments received:

Do

There are a number of ways comments should be communicated, including: 

• ensure that the principles of the concordat are embedded within your service, at all levels
• clearly indicate if information provided requires a response or action from the Member
• ensure members have sufficient time to consider matters. Members should receive papers 5 working days before a Council meetings and officers should try, as far as practicable, to give this as a minimum amount of time for members to respond to and consider the information
• note that official letters on behalf of the Council should normally be sent out under the name of the appropriate Officer, rather than under the name of a Member
• note that correspondence between Officers and Members of Parliament should be copied to the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council
• keep members informed of any staffing changes or office moves
• keep ward members informed of incidents or issues within or affecting their ward. This may include signposting to crime data and anti-social behaviour, briefings before press releases are issued
• provide a summary, so that Members can decide quickly, whether all the information will be of use
• include details of consultations with members in Cabinet , Committee 
• ensure all officer delegated decision in consultation and significant officer decisions are published immediately on ModernGov
• inform democratic services of any key decisions taken by officers, so that members can be notified properly
• when contacting a Member by telephone leave a message on the answer service

When communicating via email:

• obtain confirmation of receipt of all important emails that you send
• take care not to amend any messages received
• do not send or forward email messages or documents which are, or may be construed as harassment or bullying, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit
• do not send or forward email messages or documents which divulge information concerning another person's private affairs without their explicit consent
• do not send or forward email messages or documents which would be in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 or any other legislation restricting or controlling the disclosure of information
• add appropriate disclaimers to your emails
• avoid using mass emailing facilities, and send emails only to those who need them
• do not send emails without a title
• do not write in capitals
• try not to use abbreviations, as the recipient might not be aware of their meaning
• use the Distribution Lists 'DL' ,on Outlook, for All Members and Committees
• consider the format of information and ensure the font is readable, also, remember that most members do not have ready access to colour printers
• do not send large documents to members' inboxes, for example, those with excessive memory

Don't 

There are a number of ways comments should not be communicated in, including: 

• send hard copies of documents to members through the post via Royal Mail, unless urgent, as this is expensive. The Council has a courier service, managed by Resources, general office which can arrange delivery of such documents
• send information with technical language or acronyms without explanation
• correspondence between an individual Member and an Officer should not normally be copied (by the Officer) to any other Member unless a prior protocol to that effect has been agreed
• routinely duplicate the same, or similar information, in lots of different publication.
• as far as practicable, and subject to any time restrictions, send information or request a response from members 'last minute'

Officer decisions - decisions taken in consultation with a Cabinet Member or Officer Key Decisions

Details of decisions taken in consultation with Cabinet Members and Key Decisions (whether or not taken in consultation with a Cabinet Member) taken by officers will be made available in the following ways:

• decision records will be made available electronically via the Council's ModernGov system on both the intranet and internet

The Council's co-opted Members will receive electronic notification of appropriate Key Decision Record Sheets.

Officer Delegated Decision Record Sheets will include:

• the reason for the decision
• details of consultation undertaken

Other decisions

Appropriate decision recording systems have been introduced to ensure that all significant officer decisions are recorded, these provisions are in addition to the legal requirement to record certain decisions, for example Key Decisions. All such decisions will be available.

Consultation with external consultees, for example, residents, community groups, businesses etc, will be undertaken within the framework of the Authority's Consultation Strategy. To assist with the implementation of the Consultation Strategy, a Guide to Effective Consultation has been produced and circulated to Officers and Members.

Any complaints or concerns relating to the implementation of the Concordat for Communication and Consultation with Members should be submitted by letter, fax, or email to the relevant Comments, Commendation and Complaints Officer, highlighting that the complaint or concern relates to the Concordat.