Constitution Amendment 2018

Special Meeting of Kemnay Community Council

(Prior notification of meeting dated 10th March 2018)

To Discuss Adoption of New Constitution

Kemnay Village Hall, Friendship Room, Thursday 29th March 7.30 p.m.

Consultations and discussions have been taking place between Aberdeenshire Council and Community Councils for a number of years, regarding updating the previous Scheme of Establishment of Community Councils (SoE), which involves changes to the Constitution. The new SoE was eventually approved by Aberdeenshire Council, on 28 September 2017. It is probably more accurate to describe the old Constitution as being replaced rather than amended because the difference between the two documents is so substantial. To quote from Aberdeenshire Council Guidance Notes:

NOTE – it is not recommended that a constitution is drafted that covers both the current Scheme and the new Scheme. There is too much incompatibility to be sure that the drafting is correct.

Constitution (Existing) 2010

Proposed new Constitution for approval by Kemnay Community Council at Special Meeting on 29 March 2018:

Constitution SoE 2018 (New for Approval)

The new Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils will come into effect on 1 April, 2018, as agreed by Aberdeenshire Council on 28 September 2017. On 31 January 2018, Aberdeenshire Council supplied Kemnay Community Council (KCC), with a Constitution template based on the new SoE. This template must be adopted verbatim and only changes that are allowed to be made are marked with parenthesis [ ], where information must be inserted or limited choices made, which are:

1. Minimum and maximum number of Councillors

2. Additional eligibility factors relating to non resident candidates and possible restrictions on membership if a candidate is a member of another Community Council.

3. Number of Junior members

4. Flexibility to allocate Councillors to geographic areas of the village

5. Frequency, intervals and times of meetings

6. Limitations on how many terms a Chair can serve

Three significant changes worth noting are:

Membership of the Community Council 3. The current number of Community Councillors (2018) is 15 and the SoE proposes to reduce the number to 10, subject to possible negotiation. Subsequent negotiations in February / March 2018 resulted in Aberdeenshire Council accepting the inclusion of 15 Councillors in the new constitution.

Membership of the Community Council 3.2 Junior Members. The Community Council may provide two or more places in addition to its maximum general membership, for persons aged 14 and 15 who live and/or are educated within the Community Area. Such persons will have full voting rights but shall not hold office in the Community Council and cannot be counted as part of any quorum or the minimum or maximum number of the Community Council.

Finance 9.h) Aberdeenshire Council will no longer provide public liability insurance, it is now the responsibility of individual Community Councils to agree and arrange their own cover. The Community Council must comply with Section 13 of the Scheme and must have sufficient and adequate insurance to cover the Community Council in the event of claims being made against the Community Council and must be able to demonstrate to the Council that this insurance cover is in place. The insurance fee will be deducted from the Community Council annual administration grant and paid by Aberdeenshire Council, although this payment is not guaranteed to continue to be made by Aberdeenshire Council in the future.

The key points approved by Aberdeenshire Council on 28 September 2017 are:

Approve the proposed Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils.
Revoke the Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils dated March 2007 on March 31, 2018.
Approve the making and the adoption of the Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils and agree that it will come into effect on April 1, 2018.
Agree that Community Councils will have the benefit of a transition period of one year until September 28, 2018 to enable Community Councils to take all the required actions to accord with the requirements of the new Scheme.
Agree that the Head of Legal and Governance serve the Public Notice in accordance with Section 22 (3) (d) of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.
Agree that if representations are received during the 21-day period specified in the Section 22 (3)(d) notice then the Head of Legal and Governance has the delegated authority to determine if the representations are materially different to the representations already received during the consultations and a. Note that if there are no materially different representations received then the Scheme will proceed to adoption and b. note that if any materially different representations are received a further report to Full Council will be required before the Scheme can be adopted.
Agree that if no amendments to the Scheme are required following the 21-day period provided for in the S22 (3)(d) public notice that the Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils dated March 2007 will be revoked as at 11.59pm on March 31, 2018 and that the proposed new Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils in Appendix 1 will be adopted and will come into effect on April 1, 2018.
Agree that once the Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils has been adopted, that there is delegated authority to the Head of Legal and Governance to publish a public notice in accordance with Section 22 (3) (e) of the 1994 Act giving notice of the adoption of the Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils and invite electors to apply for the establishment of a Community Council should no Community Council be in existence in that Community Area.
Note the required changes to the Scheme of Governance in Appendix 3 and that a separate report is being received at this meeting to approve these changes.
Note that officers will be supporting, assisting and engaging with Community Councils to enable them to transition to the new Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils and that a light touch assessment is scheduled for January 2019 and full review scheduled to commence April 2023.

The full SoE document can be viewed here: