The Governance Committee of Crawley Borough Council is scheduled to meet on 13 October 2025 to discuss a community governance review, proposed changes to the council's constitution, and an update on governance good practice. The meeting will also cover the approval of the minutes from the previous meeting and a public question time.

Here are the topics that are listed for discussion:

Community Governance Review

The committee is scheduled to discuss a report regarding the Community Governance Review (CGR) for Crawley. A notice of motion at the Full Council meeting in July 2025 led to the decision to conduct a CGR, with the primary focus of exploring the creation of a new town council, named Crawley Town Council, mirroring the existing borough's footprint.

The report includes the proposed terms of reference for the CGR, detailing how the council intends to conduct the review, especially considering local government reorganisation. The review aims to determine if residents want to retain local decision-making and governance through a town council. Residents will also be able to comment on alternative options, such as multiple parishes within the borough, electoral arrangements, and the number of councillors.

The terms of reference emphasise reflecting the identities and interests of communities within the borough and considering a sense of community during the review. Residents' views will be sought on which local non-statutory services and facilities any new town or parish councils should manage. The proposed timetable aims to complete the CGR within 12 months, by July 2026.

The report states that,

The Council is required to ensure that community governance within the area under review will be:

• reflective of the identities and interests of the community in that area; and
• effective and convenient.

Two consultations are planned, with a leaflet drop to all properties and an online questionnaire.

Changes to the Constitution

Licensing Committee Functions

The committee is scheduled to discuss proposed changes to the constitution relating to the Licensing Committee. Following a food safety audit, it was determined that food safety and environmental protection aspects should not be at committee level due to their technical nature. However, the Licensing Committee is expected to retain overall responsibility, with new responsibilities added for update reports.

The report states that the Licensing Committee was informed of the intention to introduce these changes at its meeting held on 23 September 2025.

Audit Committee Functions

The committee is also scheduled to discuss proposed changes to the Audit Committee functions to reflect the new requirements of the Global Internal Audit Standards (GIAS) and guidance from The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).

The GIAS introduces the requirement for an annual report by the Audit Committee Chair, and reinforces requirements such as an overall conclusion encompassing governance, risk management and control, an external quality assessment of the internal audit function, and oversight of the Quality Assurance and Improvement Program (QAIP).

Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan

The committee is scheduled to receive an update on the analysis of governance good practice and areas for improvement following the Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) action plan. The Local Government Association (LGA) offers councils the opportunity to have a CPC conducted, which involves a review by experienced peers. Crawley's CPC took place in December 2024.

The recommendation relating specifically to governance was to:

Review governance arrangements ensuring they are in line with good practice elsewhere, ensuring clarity and transparency, and to enable collective ownership and decision making.

To address this, the Monitoring Officer conducted an analysis involving reviewing the CPC report, internal and external opinions, key council governance documents, Code of Conduct complaint data, and discussions with statutory officers, as well as benchmarking with other councils.