2019-08-06 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                  6 AUGUST 2019


For the sake of completeness, the following observations are also made in relation to items 1 and
2 of the notified motion:
 There is a request for the CEO “to ensure records are kept of recommendations and
   decisions made at such meetings”. There is no power to make Council decisions in such
   workshops.
 There is a reference to records being “included as an addendum to the minutes of the
   succeeding Ordinary Meeting”. That is not possible as the minutes of an Ordinary meeting
   are a record of what occurred at that Ordinary meeting, not at another meeting or event. The
   minutes of meeting A cannot attach material from meeting B when meeting B is not
   referenced at all at meeting A.

Notified Motion Item 4 – Providing details of Council groups and forums
The Notified Motion included the following:
4.   Provide lists of the members of council reference groups, focus groups, stakeholder
     forums, roundtables, advisory committees and the like on the Council website and have a
     policy requiring members to declare and record conflicts interest.
Details of the current working groups, reference groups, forums etc that have been established
by Council are contained in the Council reports that led to the Council decision to establish such
groups or forums. These are all on Council’s website as well as the Council decisions to
establish the groups or forums and who is appointed to Council to such groups. However, these
are in practice, spread throughout a large number of reports and Council minutes.
It is agreed that it would be useful to have all of this information available in one place on
Council’s website. The recommendation is to request the CEO to establish a new section on our
website that includes the details of all groups, forums etc. that have been established by Council.
The second part of Notified Motion item 4 refers to applying a policy for members to declare and
record conflicts. The following comments are provided in relation to that issue:
 Any Councillor who is a member of a group or forum is already bound by the Councillor Code
   of Conduct. In practice, what already occurs is that Councillors declare any conflicts.
 Any staff member who is a member of a group or forum is already bound by the staff Code of
   Conduct. In practice, what already occurs is that staff declare any conflicts (although these
   are rare).
 A member of the public is normally invited to become a member of a group or forum because
   they have a particular interest in the matter that is the focus of the group or forum. Often, the
   community representative is a member of a community organisation committee and they are
   representing that organisation’s position on the group or forum. If a matter comes up in the
   working group about how issue ABC might affect community organisation XYZ, then that is
   why a representative of that community group is a member of that working group.
 Of course, this is a very different matter to a scenario where a community member has a
   personal interest in a matter. To use the example in the paragraph above, if the issue
   impacted on the personal business or property of the community representative rather than
   just the community group itself, then that would constitute a conflict. In the latter
   circumstances, the community member must leave the meeting. A practical example of
   where this occurs now is where a RADF committee member has their own (or a family
   member’s) application before the RADF committee for consideration. This type of declaration
   of a conflict of interest is already being managed by each group or forum, normally via the
   Chairperson.
 In my report to Council on proposed legislative changes that the State government is
   considering, the CEO identified that the State is contemplating some form of legislative
   recognition and regulation as to how councils manage workshops/forums etc but there is not
   yet certainty about what form that will take. The CEO will continue to monitor this issue.

                                                                                   Page 70 of 170