COUNCILLORS in Argyll and Bute will be asked to hand over vital decision-making powers to the authority's most senior official at a meeting this week.

A full meeting of the council, to take place via Skype, has been called for this Tuesday, March 31, to consider emergency arrangements for how the council can continue to function during the coronavirus pandemic.

A report to Tuesday's meeting recommends that the authority's chief executive, Pippa Milne, should be given emergency powers to make decisions while the UK-wide lockdown remains in effect.

But that power would be subject to Ms Milne consulting with the council's leader, deputy leader and leader of the opposition – Aileen Morton, Gary Mulvaney and Sandy Taylor respectively – before making her final decision.

The report to Tuesday's meeting also recommends that a ‘business continuity committee’, consisting of leading councillors and policy leads, should transact other business of the authority, and that no other committee meetings should take place.

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Councillors Morton and Mulvaney would be chair and depute chair of the committee, and Councillor Taylor and depute opposition leader Councillor Lorna Douglas would also be members.

They would be joined by councillors Kieron Green, Yvonne McNeilly, Robin Currie, Rory Colville and Douglas Philand.

A report by Ms Milne said: “The council’s constitution gives specific delegations to me as chief executive.

“Section three, part C paragraph 3 (A)(5) gives the chief executive power in an emergency to instruct executive action on any matter after consultation with the leader or, in his/her absence, depute leader of the council.

“This provides a basis for taking any urgent decisions which require to be taken in response to Covid-19.

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“I will use this power as appropriate, subject to the proviso that, for the life of the Covid-19 crisis, my consultation will be with the leader, and depute leader and leader of the opposition where available.

“All decisions taken by me in exercise of this power will be communicated to all elected members in regular briefings.

“In addition to the emergency actions which may be necessary, and which can be taken by virtue of the emergency powers set out in the preceding paragraph, it is also necessary, given that it will not be possible in the short/medium term to transact business through meetings of the council and committees, including area committees, to put arrangements in place to allow this to happen.

“It is proposed the scheduled meetings are not called and that council agrees to the constitution of a temporary committee, to be known as the Business Continuity Committee (BCC) which will exercise all of the powers of the council for a finite period of time.”

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The only core meetings scheduled by the council for April are a full meeting on Thursday, April 16 and the planning, protective services and licensing (PPSL) committee six days later.

The PPSL committee is also due to meet on Wednesday, May 20, with the policy and resources committee convening six days earlier.

Community planning groups are also scheduled to meet during May.

June is scheduled to be a busy month, with all core committees except policy and resources due to meet, along with all area committees and the full council.

Ms Milne added: “The coronavirus position will obviously be kept under review on an ongoing basis, and the arrangements put in place by the acceptance of the recommendations in this report will be reviewed no later than by June 30.”

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