Issue - meetings

To submit the report of the Monitoring Officer.

To accept and note the report.

Submitted – the report of the Monitoring Officer, for information only, stating that:-

·         An exempt report was submitted to Cabinet on 8 April 2025 regarding the judicial
review of the Cabinet's decision in 2024 to confirm the Article 4 Direction, and seeking Cabinet direction on the matter. 

·         Due to the timetable for the submission of documentation and evidence to the Court it was necessary to make an urgent decision in accordance with Section 7.25.2 of the Constitution so that the call-in procedure would not apply to allow for a Cabinet decision to come into immediate effect.

A member stated that he did not understand why the report had gone out for public comments, but that the comments did not come back to the full Council, and he questioned how the Council had come to this situation, and why.  In response, the Monitoring Officer explained:-

·         The report was not related to the judicial review and that item was not on the agenda.

·         That a public case was ongoing and that he could send details to the member as to the grounds being argued before the Court.

·         That this was a Cabinet decision, and that was not the subject of a legal challenge at all, nor part of the case before the council.

RESOLVED to accept and note the report.