Meeting Name	Policy Review Committee
Date	27 April 2023	Time 5:30pm
Venue	Councillor Conference Room + MS Teams
Attendees	Gail Connolly (Chair) Clr Darley Clr Garrard Clr Pandey Clr Prociv Clr Valjak Clr Wearne Clr Bradley (ex-officio) Clr Humphries (ex-officio) John Angilley Gwen Hughes Melissa McIsaac Imma Smith John Crawford
Apologies / Leave of Absence	Lord Mayor, Clr Davis
Secretariat	Melissa McIsaac
HPRM Reference	F2022/01409

No.	Item
1	Acknowledgement of Country The City of Parramatta Council acknowledges the Burramattagal Clan of The Dharug, the traditional owners of land of Parramatta and pays its respects to the elders past, present and emerging.
2	Apologies The Committee noted an apology from the Lord Mayor, Councillor Davis, and that Councillor Darley was requested to join the meeting as an alternate member.
3	Disclosure of Interests Nil
4	Confirmation of Minutes Councillor Darley moved an amendment to the November 2022 Minutes, to remove from Item 6.1, Draft Removal of Printed Promotional Materials Policy, that the Committee had resolved during the Meeting to change in clause 3.5.1 the distance for supervising A-Frames. The Committee resolved to amend the Minutes accordingly. The Minutes of the previous Policy Review Committee meetings in November and December 2022 were CARRIED. Councillor Valjak and Councillor Pandey joined the meeting during discussion of Item 4.
5	Draft Council Policies for Consultation
5.1	New – Petitions Policy (pre-final draft consultation)
Description	The Committee received a presentation from Governance Manager Gwen Hughes and Governance Projects Officer Imma Smith regarding Council’s development of a petitions policy, following consultation on the concept at the 6 December 2022 Meeting. The Committee were invited to provide feedback on the initial draft.
Outcome	· The Committee recommended that the following changes be applied to the draft Policy: o Clause 5.2(c): amend language to “where possible” a petition should be clearly written, typed or printed, and delete requirement to “not have anything attached [to the petition]”. o Increase minimum number of signatories for a paper or e-petition to 10 persons o Clause 5.6: add option to submit petition to Council by way of a Councillor tabling during a Council Meeting o Clause 5.7.2: Add requirement to send a copy to Councillors of any compliant petitions submitted directly to Council o Clause 5.8: Amend wording to remove requirement to submit petition to Council 2 weeks in advance of Council Meeting (where requested to be tabled), and add clarification that Councillors who table a petition during a Council Meeting, without undergoing staff verification, are responsible for ensuring the petition meets the Policy requirements to be accepted by Council o Provide additional specifications regarding the management of e-petitions, once Council’s web platform is confirmed o Specify a time requirement for resolving accepted petition requests, and/or requirement to provide periodic updates on Council’s action to the Chief Petitioner and Councillors. Council officers are to investigate feasibility of a 28 day resolution timeframe. o Clause 5.12: The Committee did not support the proposed 24 month restriction on receiving repeat petitions. The Committee requested for Council officers to further research the occurrence of repeat petitions submitted to Council, to assist in determining if clause 5.12 should be deleted, if a shorter 3-6 month restriction should be established, and/or if the limit should only apply to repeat petitions submitted by the same organisation. o Add clarification that Public Forum submissions may be received for petition reports, where listed in the Agenda o Recommended to undertake further consultation with Council’s Community Engagement unit, to ensure the Policy aligns with the Community Engagement Strategy · The Committee acknowledged that Council will need to determine a policy position regarding whether petitions will require the full address of signatories, but agreed to resolve this matter at a later stage. · The Committee noted that once completed the draft Policy will be brought back to the Committee for final comment, before proceeding to Council for endorsement. Councillor Wearne, Councillor Prociv, and Councillor Bradley joined the meeting during discussion of Item 5.1.
5.2	381 – Councillor Workshops Policy (pre-final draft consultation)
Description	The Committee reviewed an initial draft of the Councillor Workshops Policy and provided feedback on the proposed changes. Governance Manager Gwen Hughes and Governance Projects Officer Imma Smith attended the Meeting to address any Committee questions.
Outcome	· The Committee recommended that the following changes be applied to the draft Policy: o Review use of term “outcomes” for describing actions and questions taken from Workshops, to be replaced with a term better reflecting where these tasks are in-progress. o Clause 5.2.1: remove specification of particular days of the week for scheduling Workshops o Council officers are to further investigate Council’s framework for resolving actions as determined during Workshops, including specifying in the Policy a timeframe to resolve and/or periodically update Councillors on progress. Recommended to add to the Policy clearer requirements for maintaining a register for tracking outcomes, or other administrative system, and circulating this information to Councillors. · The Committee raised the following questions taken on notice, to be addressed by Council officers during development of the Policy: o Council officers are to review the wording of the 2022 Council Resolution regarding advanced circulation of Workshop presentations to Councillors and provision of hard copies of materials, and ensure that draft Policy provisions are consistent with the Council Resolution. o The CEO agreed to follow up with the Executive Team regarding the feasibility of meeting the 2 days in advance circulation requirement for Workshop presentations. o The CEO agreed to seek further advice from the Office of Local Government regarding whether recordings of Workshops, and similar meetings, can be circulated to absent or interested Councillors for informational purposes. · The Committee noted that once completed the draft Policy will be brought back to the Committee for final comment, before proceeding to Council for endorsement.
6	The next Policy Review Committee meeting will be held on 30 May 2023.

Meeting Closed:  7:09 pm