Tower Hamlets Council has reduced the size of two of its key committees in a move aimed at improving efficiency and focus, with the rationale being that larger committees can hinder detailed discussions and make it harder to focus on key issues.
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee will now have nine members, down from eleven, and the General Purposes Committee will have seven members, a reduction of two. These changes were recommended by the Constitution Working Group, with the specific reduction in size for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee stemming from experience that its large size was hindering detailed discussions at Committee meetings as there were too many Members all wishing to explore different matters.
For the General Purposes Committee, the reduction was recommended because the Committee previously had a number of Sub-Committees formed from the membership of the main body but that this was no longer the case and so having additional Members (beyond the Council standard of 7) was no longer required.
Councillor Maium Talukdar, Cabinet Member for Tackling Inequality and the Cost of Living, Improving Customer Services and Voluntary Sector Engagement, introduced the report, stating the aim was to make committees more focused and effective. Councillor Kabir Ahmed formally seconded the motion.
During the discussion, Councillor Rupert George raised a concern about committee calculations still being based on numbers that included an ungrouped member. Councillor Syed Tareq Abdullah also spoke, questioning whether the changes had been discussed with external advisors and expressing concerns about transparency. Councillor Abdullah suggested that an ungrouped councillor had been carved out
of a position, adding, What we see in this report is that a very well-spoken, meaningful, ungrouped councillor, somebody maybe the administration has issues with, has been carved out from this position.
Councillor Talukdar responded by stating that discussions had taken place at full council and that all members had been invited to the Constitution Working Group meetings. Councillor Jonathan Purcell also sought clarification on Councillor George's question regarding the committee calculations. The Speaker of the Council, Councillor Musthak Ahmed, referred members to the report for details on proportionality calculations. However, Councillor Purcell later noted that the administration had not provided clarity to Councillor George's specific question, stating, I appreciate that the administration responded to the other opposition leader, but not to Councillor Rupert George's specific question.
External advisors were consulted as part of the process. The Chief Executive mentioned, I should take this opportunity to thank the envoys for their advice and support in that respect because that has informed the recommended way forward that I am reporting today.
The report on the appointment of statutory officers also states that the recruitment process for a permanent Corporate Director of Resources was overseen and endorsed by the Ministerial Envoys in accordance with Ministerial Directions and as part of the Councils continuous improvement plan.
Furthermore, the report on the change of designation and appointment to interim statutory officer notes, This proposal has been endorsed by the Government appointed Envoys.