The Standards Committee of Hertfordshire Council is scheduled to meet on Friday 8 May 2026. The meeting's agenda includes a review of proposed revisions to the council's constitution, specifically focusing on annexes relating to council standing orders, standing orders for regulatory and other committees, and the substitution scheme.

Proposed Revisions to the Council's Constitution

A significant item on the agenda is the consideration of proposed revisions to three annexes of the Hertfordshire County Council's Constitution: Annex 6 (Council Standing Orders), Annex 12 (Standing Orders for Regulatory and Other Committees), and Annex 28 (Substitution Scheme). These proposed changes have been developed by the Constitution Working Group (CWG), a cross-party group established to review the council's governance arrangements. The CWG has been supported by external advisors, Bevan Brittan, who specialise in local authority constitutions.

The report outlines extensive amendments to Annex 6, Council Standing Orders, aiming to align them with the Model Council Procedure Rules. Key proposed changes include:

• Meeting Schedules: Clarification of the timing and business for Annual, Ordinary, and Extraordinary Meetings, with the Annual Budget meeting designated as an Extraordinary Meeting.
• Notice Periods: An increase in the timeframe for issuing meeting summonses from five to six clear working days.
• Quorum: Defining the quorum as one quarter of the whole number of members.
• Meeting Duration: An expectation that sessions will not exceed three hours without a break.
• Questions: Changes to the number of written questions that can be submitted to Full Council meetings, with limits based on political group size, and an increase in the time limit for the mover of a motion to five minutes.
• Motions: New provisions regarding previous decisions and motions, and clarifications on voting for appointments and options.
• Minutes and Attendance: Provisions for the non-requirement to sign minutes of previous meetings at extraordinary meetings and clarification on the record of attendance.
• Conduct: Clarifications on provisions regarding Members' and Public Conduct.

Revisions to Annex 12, Standing Orders for Regulatory and Other Committees, include changes to references from 'political group spokespersons' to 'members of the committee', and adjustments to reflect the move of meetings to the Stevenage Campus. It also proposes that motions must be relevant to a committee's terms of reference and removes the requirement for them to be relevant to an agenda item. The Chair's discretion to allow increased representations to the Development Control Committee is also noted, along with amendments to provisions regarding disorder to replicate Annex 6.

Annex 28, the Substitution Scheme, has been amended to include a new paragraph proposing that the Council's Substitution Scheme be reviewed and approved by full Council annually at its Annual Meeting. This addition aims to ensure adherence to legal requirements and follows advice from the CWG's external legal advisers.

The report notes that no Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) or Sustainability & Equality Evaluation Decision Support (SEEDS) assessment was undertaken for this matter, as it was not deemed relevant for the purposes of the report. The proposed changes, if supported by the Standards Committee, will be presented to the full Council on 19 May 2026 for formal approval.

The meeting will also include the confirmation of the minutes from the previous Standards Committee meeting held on 14 January 2026.