Technical Notes 2023, Issue 101 - Confirmation of Council and Committee Decisions

1. The purpose of this Technical Note is to update Members regarding proposed arrangements for confirming decisions taken at Council and service Committees to Members.   
    
2. At its meeting on 27th April 2023, Council agreed a new diary of meetings for August 2023 through to June 2024.  The diary differs from previous years as it represents a reduction in the frequency of meeting cycles from 6 per year to 4 plus a specific cycle for the Budget. 
    
3. In light of the above and the consequential increase in time between decision making and Members having access to minutes, the Chief Solicitor & Monitoring Officer was asked to consider whether arrangements could be put in place to provide Members with details of decisions prior to the issue of draft minutes as part of the agenda for future meetings.
    
4. Having reviewed the approved Diary and assessed various deadlines, it is proposed that a decision sheet will be issued to Members between 2 and 3 weeks after each meeting.  This will comprise a list of decisions without any narrative.  It is important to note that it will not replace the minute of the meeting and so Members should be mindful of this in advance of the minute being approved at the next meeting.
    
5. The decision sheet will be clearly marked as provisional pending approval of the relevant minute at a subsequent Committee or Council meeting and will be issued under cover of a confidential Technical Note.  Whilst it will list decisions taken in public, the document itself is confidential as it is an internal document and is not a replacement for the minute and the purpose of the minute.  
    
6. The arrangements set out in this Technical Note will apply to the following decision making bodies –

• Council
• Place Neighbourhood & Corporate Assets Committee
• Education Committee
• Policy & Resources Committee
• Audit & Risk Management Committee

and will be reviewed after two cycles.