Tower Hamlets Council is set to shorten committee meetings and boost public input following a recent General Purposes Committee meeting. The changes aim to address the fact that committees have been working on council procedurals, which the council has found doesn't work well for committees.
The committee approved updates to the council's constitution, including changes to committee procedure rules designed to make it easier for the public to contribute to meetings. The changes, presented by Matthew Mannion, aim to streamline meetings and encourage greater public participation. According to the meeting information, the proposed changes to the Committee Procedure Rules are designed to make it easier for the public to contribute to committee meetings.
Key changes to the committee procedure rules outlined in the Constitution Updates include:
- Allowing ungrouped members of a committee to have a named substitute, rather than requiring groups to have a set of people.
- Requiring a third of the membership of a committee to call an extraordinary meeting.
- Increasing the discretion period at the start of the meeting to 20 minutes from 15.
- Changing the standard meeting length to two hours with a one-hour extension, rather than the current three hours with a half-hour extension.
- Explicitly encouraging public participation and allowing the chair to adjust procedures to facilitate it.
Councillor Shafi Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Environment and the Climate Emergency, echoed the good work that had been done and sought clarification on the proposed meeting length. Matthew Mannion clarified that the new proposal was for a two-hour standard meeting with a one-hour extension.
The committee agreed to send the updated committee procedure rules to the full council for approval, unless further feedback is received. The council aims to take them to council either in January or March and then they can sign them off in May at the annual council after the election and implement them from the new municipal year.
