To: Councillors C
Rosenstiel (Chair), Adey, Boyce, Durrant, Hart,
R Smith, Stebbings and
Ward
Alternate member: Councillor Reid
Placed on public deposit
on Monday 26 April.
CIVIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Date: Wednesday 5 May 2004
Time: 6.00pm
Place:
Committee Room 1, The Guildhall
Contact:
Gary Clift
Direct
Dial: (01223)
457011
AGENDA
1 MINUTES
To confirm the minutes
of the meetings held on 28 January 2004.
2 APOLOGIES
FOR ABSENCE
3 DECLARATIONS
OF INTEREST
Members are asked to declare at this stage any
interests which they may have in any of the following items on the agenda. If
any member is unsure whether or not they should declare an interest on a particular
matter, they are requested to seek advice from the Head of Legal and Democratic
Services before the meeting.
4 PUBLIC
QUESTION TIME – see
below for detail of the scheme and other public information.
5 AUDIT STRATEGY AND CORPORATE
RISK & ASSURANCE FRAMEWORK PROJECT DEFINITION
Internal
Audit Strategy 2004/2005
Implementation
of a Corporate Risk and Assurance Framework
Report by Head of Internal Audit
Developments in best practice in Risk Management coupled with changes
stemming from the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 mean that the authority
is required to reassess its approach to strategic risk and assurance. The project definition sets out how this
will be achieved. The Leader and
Strategy Scrutiny have also received the project definition but because of the
Assurance Framework is a regulatory requirement it is also referred to Civic Affairs
Committee.
The Committee is recommended to agree the project definition.
7 REVIEW
OF THE COUNCIL'S CODE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Report By
Director of Central Services
The Council is required to have this Code.
Cambridge adopted its first Code in 2002 and it is now time for its annual
review. As happened at last year's review, the Committee is requested to
consider the document en route to full Council on 20 May 2004. The Standards Committee considered the
document at its meeting on 31 March 2004 and did not have any comments to pass
on. The origin and purpose of the Code are explained in its introduction. The
national guidance is in italics at the start of each section. The column
"Cambridge City Council commits itself to" is also taken from the
guidance as to what Codes should contain. At the suggestion of a member of
Civic Affairs last year, a new column has been added, indicating who within the
Council will lead on actions and when they should take place.
9 LICENSING
ACT 2003 AND THE LICENSING COMMITTEE
In
September 2003, this Committee considered a consultation paper from the
Electoral Commission on possible reform to the minimum age for voting and for
standing as a candidate in elections. The Committee resolved to make
representations to the Electoral Commission in favour of reducing the minimum
voting age and the minimum age at which a person is eligible for candidacy in
elections held in the UK to 16.
The
Electoral Commission has now published its recommendations to the Government in
a document called “Age of Electoral Majority: Report and recommendations”.
Despite the Council’s representations, it is proposing to retain the present
minimum voting age at 18. It is proposing that the minimum age for candidacy is
reduced from 21, but to 18 rather than 16.
Its conclusion on the voting age is that “there
appears to be insufficient current justification for a change to the voting age
at the present time”. However it says that circumstances may change the context
significantly over the next few years; in particular, “citizenship teaching may
improve the social awareness and responsibility of young people”. It also
suggests a wider debate about the general age of majority. The Electoral
Commission states that it would therefore expect to undertake a further formal
review of the minimum voting age within the next five to seven years.
In
relation to the age for candidacy, it concludes: “…in the context of the
current voting age of 18, there seems no reasonable argument why the candidacy
age should not be harmonised with the voting age.”
Councillor
Colin Rosenstiel has referred to this as a “rather disappointing report” and
has commented:
“I
feel the EC's reasoning was weak and over-reliant on a single small opinion
poll of just 234 young people. They
appeared to hold this in higher regard than many thousands of individual and group responses which came
down two to one in favour of a lower voting age.”
Councillor
Rosenstiel suggests that the Council should write to the Lord Chancellor re-iterating
our response to the Electoral Commission’s earlier consultation and asking him
1. To view the Commission report
as a contribution to the debate but to set it against all the other studies and
reports which have concluded differently.
2.
To press ahead with reform.
The Committee’s views are sought.
(The
Electoral Commission’s report is available on its website and a copy is held by
the Head of Legal & Democratic Services.)
11 COUNCIL MEETING – 17 FEBRUARY 2005
Members will recall that the Council had to agree an extra-ordinary
meeting on 23rd February to set the cumulative level of Council Tax
having taken into account other precepting authorities (County Council, Police
Authority, Fire Authority). This was
because the County Council had agreed its budget one week later than originally
planned (on its reserve date).
It would be
sensible to adjust our timetable to take into account not only when the other
precepting authorities budget meetings will be held in 2005 (County 15/2,
Police 17/2 and Fire 10/2) but to allow a further week based on the experience
of this February. (Note that half-term
is w/c Monday 14 February).
It is therefore recommended that the Council meets on Thursday 24
February, then working back the Executive on Thursday 10 February and
Strategy Scrutiny on Monday 7 February.
The Director of Finance has been consulted and confirms that this would
not hinder the Council’s billing timetable.
12 ADDITIONAL MEETING –
AUGUST 2004
The Committee is required to consider and approve the Annual Statement of Accounts by 31
August 2004. Recent discussions with
the external auditors and the Director of Finance have indicated that a date
toward the very end of August if preferable.
It is recommended that the Committee meet on 31 August at 6pm.
For decision
13 FREEDOM OF THE CITY
Councillor Durrant has
requested that the Committee consider a nomination for the Freedom of the City
for Sir Arthur Marshall OBE, DL. If the
Committee agrees, a recommendation will be made to Council and a special
meeting of Council will be held immediately preceeding the scheduled Council
meeting on 20 May.
Information for the public
You are welcome to attend this meeting as an observer.
o0o
You can ask questions on an issue included on the agenda, or on an
issue which is within this committee’s powers. If you wish to ask a question
related to an agenda
item contact the committee officer (listed above under ‘contact’) before the meeting starts. If you wish to ask a question on a matter
not included on this agenda, please contact the committee officer by 10.00am
the working day before the meeting.
Further details concerning the
right to speak at committee can be obtained from the committee section.
o0o
In the event of the fire alarm sounding (which is a continuous ringing sound), you should pick up your
possessions and leave the building by the route you came in. Once clear of the
building, you should assemble on the pavement opposite the main entrance to the
Guildhall and await further instructions. If your escape route or the assembly area is unsafe, you will be
directed to safe areas by a member of Cambridge City Council staff.
The next meeting of Civic Affairs Committee
is scheduled
for
Monday 14th June at 6pm.