AM 747/26 – Appointment of Committees

INTRODUCTION

1.1 In accordance with the Standing Orders, the Authority is required to re-appoint the membership of its committees at the Annual Meeting. Accordingly, the membership of the Planning Committee, the Resources, Audit and Performance Committee and the Standards Committee must be approved for the period until the next Annual Meeting of the Authority in 2027. In determining the membership and composition of any committee, sub-committee, panel or other group, the Standing Orders require that due regard shall be had to the overall composition of the Authority in terms of the balance between local authority and Secretary of State appointments (Article 4, Part 2 of the 2005 Establishment Order and Articles 13(3) and (4) of Schedule 7 of the Environment Act 1995). The current membership of the Authority is 12 local authority and 10 Secretary of State members (this latter group comprising 6 members appointed by the Secretary of State and 4 Parish members) - In practical terms, this means that each Committee must comprise one more local authority member than the number of Secretary of State members.

1.2 The membership of the three Committees prior to this Annual meeting of the Authority is listed in the schedule at Annex 1.

1.3 In order to facilitate the process of appointing the membership of the committees at the Annual Authority meeting, the Member Services Administrator wrote to members on 26 August inviting them to state their preferred choice for committee membership by completing and returning a committee preference form. Annex 2 sets out the results of this survey in terms of meeting the membership requirement of the Committees.

1.4 Members are expected to fulfil the responsibilities associated with committee membership, including attendance at meetings, briefings and debriefings, and the careful consideration of all reports and supporting documentation. Failure to do so may impact the effective operation of the committee.

2. PLANNING COMMITTEE

2.1 The Planning Committee at present comprises 11 members: 6 local authority appointed members and 5 Secretary of State members. Following members’ responses, 6 local authority appointees and 5 Secretary of State members have volunteered for membership of the Committee. This means the Committee has the required number of members.

Recommendation 1:

To appoint the membership of the Planning Committee as agreed at the Authority meeting (6 local authority members and 5 Secretary of State members) for the period until the Annual meeting of the Authority in 2027 or until such earlier time as the NPA wishes to amend the membership.

3. RESOURCES, AUDIT AND PERFORMANCE COMMITTEE

3.1 Currently, this Committee comprises 11 members: 6 local authority appointed members and 5 Secretary of State members. Following members’ responses, 6 local authority members and 5 Secretary of State members have volunteered for membership of the Committee. This means that the Committee has the required number of members.

Recommendation 2:

To appoint the membership of the Resources, Audit and Performance Committee as set out in Annex 2 (6 local authority members and 5 Secretary of State members) for the period until the Annual meeting of the Authority in 2027 or until such earlier time as the NPA wishes to amend the membership.

4. STANDARDS COMMITTEE

4.1 At present, this Committee comprises 7 members: 4 local authority and 3 Secretary of State members. Following receipt of members’ preferences, 7 volunteers (4 local authority members and 3 Secretary of State members) have volunteered for membership of the Committee. This means that the Committee has the required number of members.

Recommendation 3:

To appoint the membership of the Standards Committee as set out in Annex 2 (4 local authority members and 3 Secretary of State members) for the period until the Annual meeting of the Authority in 2027 or until such earlier time as the NPA wishes to amend the membership.

Contact

Vicki Gibbon

Email: vicki.gibbon@newforestnpa.gov.uk

Papers

• AM 747/26 Cover paper
• AM 747/26 Annex 1: Current Committee membership
• AM 747/26 Annex 2: Results of members’ committee preference

Equality Impact Assessment

There are no equality or diversity implications arising directly from this report.

AM 747/26

Annex 1

NEW FOREST NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

AUTHORITY MEETING – 15 OCTOBER 2026

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP PRIOR TO ANNUAL MEETING IN OCTOBER 2026

AM 747/26

Annex 2

NEW FOREST NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

AUTHORITY MEETING – 15 OCTOBER 2026

RESULTS OF MEMBERS’ PREFERRED COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP FOR 2026/2027