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ANNEX A
STATUTORY PROVISIONS
Relevant statutory provisions of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005
1. Section 1(1) obliges the Scottish Ministers to, by order, divide Scotland into regions and for each region create a Transport Partnership and provide as to the constitution and membership of each Transport Partnership.
2. Section 1(2) (a) limits the total number of councillor members in any one Transport Partnership to a maximum of twenty. Section 1(2)(b) requires that the membership of each Transport Partnership includes at least one but not more than five councillors from each council whose area or any part of their area falls within the Transport Partnership's region.
3. Section 1(2) (c) requires the Scottish Ministers to appoint additional members to each Transport Partnership. Under section 1(3) this requirement will only continue until the council elections of May 2007. Thereafter, under the terms of section 1(2) (c), these other members will be appointed by the Transport Partnership itself, and these appointments will be subject to the consent of the Scottish Ministers.
4. Section 1(2) (e) requires the Scottish Ministers to establish in the order the decision-making rules for a Transport Partnership. Each councillor member will have one vote but, under section 1(4), councillor members shall have their votes weighted by making them count as one, two, three or four votes. Section 1(2)(e)(i) ensures that councillor members may always vote and that other members may vote on such matters as the Transport Partnership determines are appropriate. However, other members may never vote on the amount of funding to be provided by individual councils to a Transport Partnership, as provided for by section 3(2)(a) or on the making of a request to the Scottish Ministers to confer transport functions on a Transport Partnership by an order made under the provisions of section 10(1).
5. Section 1(2) (f) gives powers to the Scottish Ministers to determine that certain offices of the partnership, for example the Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson, can be held only by councillor members and not by other members.
6. Schedule 1 paragraph 17 amends the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act 2000 to add the Transport Partnerships to the list of devolved public bodies for which they are to be codes of conduct for their members.
Relevant provisions of The Regional Transport Partnerships (Establishment, Constitution and Membership) (Scotland) Order 2005
7. Schedule 1 of the Order sets out the number of councillor members to be appointed by each constituent council. It also sets out the voting weights of councillor members and the range of other members to be appointed to the Transport Partnership. The upper limit of this range is set in such a way as to ensure that if other members were able to vote on an issue, they would not have collectively more than one-third of the total votes.
8. Most of the provisions on constitution and membership are contained in Schedule 2 of the Order. (All references that follow to paragraphs are to paragraphs in Schedule 2.)
Councillor members
9. Councillor members are always appointed by the constituent council. Paragraph 1(9) places a duty on constituent councils to make their first appointments as soon as practicable after the coming into force of the Order and at the latest by a month after the coming into force of the Order. The Order came into force on 1 December 2005.
10. The period of appointment of a councillor member lasts until the first meeting of the council following the next ordinary council election (see paragraph 2(1)). Therefore a councillor member appointed at the first meeting of the council after one election will serve a full 4 years unless he or she resigns or is replaced mid-term by the council. If at any time prior to the election a councillor member ceases to be a councillor, for whatever reason, he or she immediately ceases to be a member of the RTP and the council will have to appoint a replacement. At the first meeting of the council following each ordinary election, the new council is obliged to appoint new councillor members to the RTP, under the terms of paragraph 1(8)(a). So there should not be a period where there are not sufficient members in place to continue business.
11. Paragraph 1(10) requires that the council sends the names of the first appointees to the person responsible for convening the first meeting of the RTP. The specified person for each RTP is set out in paragraph 6(2), and is the chief executive or lead officer of the largest council in each Transport Partnership.
12. Paragraph (13) requires that the council sends the names of appointees, including councillor members appointed mid-term due to a vacancy arising and substitute councillor members, to the secretary of the RTP. It is a requirement under paragraph 5 for the RTP to appoint someone to be its secretary.
13. Paragraph 1(11) enables councils to appoint substitutes in case a councillor member cannot attend a meeting of the RTP. Substitutes must be councillors of the same council.
14. Paragraph 2(3) enables a councillor member to resign their membership of the RTP by giving notice in writing to the secretary of the RTP and to the appointing council. Resignation cannot be refused.
15. Paragraph 2(4) enables a constituent council to terminate the membership of any of the councillor members they appointed at any time. The Chairperson and secretary of the RTP should be informed of this, and the reasons for it, as should the councillor member themselves.
16. The RTP does not, itself, have the power to remove any of its councillor members. However, if the Partnership determines that a councillor member should be removed, the Chairperson should write to the constituent council concerned to request that the council terminates the membership of that member. This request should not be refused unreasonably. A council could be considered to be acting reasonably in refusing such a request if the RTP had failed to give reasons for the request. This procedure is set out in paragraphs 2(5) and (6).
Other members
17. The first set of other members will be formally appointed by the Scottish Ministers, in line with paragraph 1(3). This Ministerial role will end at the time of the council elections in May 2007. Thereafter, paragraph 1(4) requires the RTP itself to appoint other members, subject to the consent of the Scottish Ministers.
18. Any vacancies arising prior to May 2007 will be filled by other members appointed by the Scottish Ministers; after that date by the RTP.
19. Other members are appointed for 4 years unless otherwise specified at the time of their appointment - see paragraph 2(7). It would be appropriate for this to be set out clearly in their letter of appointment, for the avoidance of any doubt. The first appointments of other members, by the Scottish Ministers, will run until around 6-12 months after the elections in 2007. This will enable some stability and continuity of membership.
20. Like councillor members, other members may resign at any time by writing to the secretary of the Partnership. Unlike councillor members, other members can be removed by a vote of the Partnership itself. However, this can only be if one or more of the conditions set out in paragraph 2(9) are met (bankruptcy, serious illness, consistent unapproved absence, inability or unsuitability for the role).
Observers (advisers)
21. Observers can be appointed by either the RTP or the Scottish Ministers. The RTP does not need the consent of the Scottish Ministers for these appointments, nor vice versa.
22. Observers are appointed for 4 years unless otherwise specified at the time of their appointment. Their membership can be terminated by resignation or by the decision of the partnership, in the same way as for other members.
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