In developing a meeting calendar for the new authority, the aim is to establish arrangements that support informed decision-making, maximise attendance and participation, and make best use of members' and officers' time. The following principles and considerations have been taken into account when forming these proposals:
· Given the size of West Surrey, considerations must be given to travel times for meetings. It is proposed that no meeting should take place before 10am. Likewise evening meetings should have a 3 hour limit.
· Different meeting types may be better suited to different times of day and a single approach may not be appropriate for all meetings.
For example, Licensing sub-committee are usually daytime meetings to aid external attendees, while Planning Committees, which generally have higher community engagement levels, usually take place in the evening to aid public attendance.
· Meetings which typically have longer agendas may be better suited to daytime to ensure business can be concluded the same day.
· Meeting arrangements should provide a level of consistency for all participants.
· Reasonable accommodations relating to health, accessibility or religious observance will be addressed through meeting-specific arrangements where required.
· Where possible, scheduling committee meeting in the school holidays, as set out by the local authority, will be avoided.
It is proposed to schedule meetings on the following basis:
· All meetings will have a regular scheduled time and day.
· Overview & Scrutiny meetings will be scheduled during the daytime to assist with a wide range of witnesses attend when required.
· Planning meetings will be scheduled in the evening to support public engagement. If a decision is made to have a separate strategic planning committees and development planning committees, the strategic meetings could be held in the daytime and development meetings in the evening.
· Licensing Sub Committee meetings will held during the daytime. As Licensing Sub Committee meetings are convened in response to contested licensing applications made or to requests for reviews of licenses and often need to be held within a short timescale, the fourth Wednesday morning of every month will be kept free to accommodate these meetings where possible.
· Some committees such as Employment Committee are expected to meet more in this inaugural year, but meetings may reduce in the second or third year.
· In addition to the formal committees, the schedule will need to accommodate member development sessions, meetings of working groups and panels. It is proposed to allocate time within a week for these sessions and meetings.
· There are also meetings that affect smaller numbers of councillors such as the Pension Committee, Police & Crime Panel and the Joint Waste Collection Services Committee. It is proposed to keep a day of the week free for such meetings. As these are likely to involve East Surrey councillors, similar arrangements will be made for the East Surrey Schedule of Meetings 2027/28.
|
Meeting |
Day |
Time |
Schedule |
|
Full Council |
Wednesday |
Evening – 7pm |
Meetings scheduled on: · 12 May 2027 (annual meeting) · 14 July 2027 · 20 October 2027 · 15 December 2027 · 16 February 2028 (budget meeting) [23 February 2028 – reserve for budget] · 22 March 2028 |
|
Executive |
Tuesday |
10am |
Second Tuesday of every month:
|
|
Portfolio Holder (TBC) |
Tuesday |
To follow any Executive meetings |
This is subject to whether there will be individual decision making and if this will happen in public.
|
|
Planning |
Thursday |
Strategic - daytime Development - Evening |
First and third Thursday of every month |
|
Licensing |
Tuesday/ Wednesday/ Thursday |
2pm |
Four times a year |
|
Licensing Sub |
Dates held on Wednesday morning in fourth week |
Morning |
Unscheduled. Possible clash with reserve budget day. |
|
Overview & Scrutiny |
Tuesday/ Wednesday/ Thursday |
Daytime – 2pm |
Likely to be multiple committees timetabled for similar time to feed into Executive, possibly second/ third week of month. Daytime proposed due to role of witnesses. |
|
Audit & Governance |
Tuesday/ Wednesday/ Thursday
|
Daytime – 2pm |
Quarterly – speak to finance re audit deadlines. |
|
Standards |
Tuesday/ Wednesday/ Thursday |
Daytime – 2pm |
Quarterly |
|
Constitution (possibly a sub-committee or working group) |
Tuesday/ Wednesday/ Thursday
|
Evening if Working Group |
Quarterly. To be scheduled to feed into Standards Committee and/ or Council as necessary. It could be a working group, therefore online. |
|
Employment |
Tuesday/ Wednesday/ Thursday
|
Daytime - afternoons |
Every 2 months (for first year) |
|
Police & Crime Panel |
Monday |
Daytime |
Currently meets 6x per year. Only until 2028. Budget meeting needed for February. Complaints sub committee currently established. |
|
Joint Waste Collection Services Committee |
Monday |
Daytime |
Four times a year |
|
Neighbourhood Committees
|
To be confirmed; possibly Tuesdays. |
Evening |
To be confirmed |
|
Day |
Morning |
Afternoon |
Evening |
|
Monday |
Keep free for 'other' meetings |
Keep free for 'other' meetings
|
Keep free for Group meetings and Member training |
|
Tuesday |
Executive in the second week of the month; PFH meetings to follow
First, third and fourth week free for scheduling |
Avoid scheduling in second week of the month (Executive and PFH meetings)
First, third and fourth week free for scheduling
|
Free for scheduling |
|
Wednesday |
Weeks 1 to 3 free for scheduling Fourth Wednesday of every Wed kept free for Licensing Sub
|
Free for scheduling |
Primarily reserved for Council meetings |
|
Thursday |
Free for scheduling |
Free for scheduling |
Planning meetings in the first and third week of the month
Second and fourth week free for scheduling
|
|
Friday |
Keep free for Member training
|
Avoid scheduling |
|