The Constitution Committee of Barnet Council was scheduled to discuss the entirety of the council's constitution, a comprehensive document outlining the framework for the council's operations, decision-making processes, and procedural rules. The meeting agenda covered all parts of the constitution, from the fundamental articles and allocation of responsibilities to detailed procedural rules, financial regulations, and codes of conduct for both members and officers.

The Constitution

The meeting was scheduled to review the council's constitution, which establishes the parameters for the council's operation, decision-making, and procedures to ensure efficiency, transparency, and accountability. This document is divided into several parts, including the Articles, Allocation of Responsibilities, Rules of Procedure, and Regulations, Rules, and Codes.

Part 1 - The Articles

This section of the constitution was scheduled for discussion, covering fundamental provisions related to the constitution itself, members and the council, the full council, the mayor, decision-making processes, the executive, and officers.

Part 2 - Allocation of Responsibilities

The committee was set to examine the allocation of responsibilities within the council. This includes the terms of reference for the full council, various committees and sub-committees, joint arrangements and boards, the cabinet, cabinet members, delegations to officers, functions not the responsibility of the executive, and the allocation of local choice functions.

Part 3 - Rules of Procedure

This part of the constitution, detailing the rules of procedure for various council bodies, was also on the agenda. This encompasses council procedure rules, executive procedure rules (including delegated powers of cabinet members), committee procedure rules, budget and policy procedure rules, access to information procedure rules, and the petition scheme.

Part 4 - Regulations, Rules and Codes

The final part of the constitution, covering a range of regulations, rules, and codes, was scheduled for review. This includes financial regulations, contract procedure rules, land and property transactions authorisation, HR regulations, member codes of conduct (including for licensing and planning), the code of conduct for officer-member relations, the code of corporate governance, members' allowance schemes, protocols for recording officer decisions, members' rights to access information, codes of practice on local authority publicity, and the code of conduct for officers.