BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL STANDARDS COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE HELD IN COMMITTEE ROOM 1, COUNCIL OFFICES, CORKS LANE, HADLEIGH ON WEDNESDAY, 7 APRIL 2010
Quick Links
53 - Election of Chairman
54 - Election of Vice-Chairman
55 - Apologies
56 - Declaration of Interests
57 - Minutes
58 - Petitions
59 - Questions from Members
60 - Annual Return of the Standards Committee
61 - Annual Report of the Standards Committee
62 - Actions following the Ethical Governance Audit
63 - Annual Meeting of Standards Committee
64 - Indemnities for Members and Officers
65 - Members' Code of Conduct Case Reports
66 - Quarterly Monitoring Report
67 - Observation of Proceedings at Committee Meetings
68 - Revised Code of Conduct for Members
69 - Training
70 - Work Plan
71 - Standards for England Annual Assembly 2010
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PRESENT: |
Members |
Co-opted Members |
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Mrs S P Clarke
Mr P Jones
Mr R E Kemp
Mr A F D W Osborne |
Miss P F Cook
Mr P J Down
Mr R L Feltwell
Mrs T Kavvadias
Mr J G Watson |
RESOLVED
That Mr J G Watson be appointed Chairman of the Standards Committee for the ensuing year.
RESOLVED
That Mr P J Down be elected Vice-Chairman of the Standards Committee for the ensuing year.
Apologies were received from Mr A George.
All Members of the Committee declared a personal interest in the item referred to in Minute No. 64 below by reason of their well-being being affected by a a decision of the Council to provide an indemnity for all Members (including co-opted Members).
Mr P Jones subsequently declared a personal interest in the item referred to in Minute No.17 below by reason of his position with the Suffolk Association of Local Councils which provides training on standards related matters, but indicated that his interest was such that he was able to speak and vote on the matter.
RESOLVED
That the Minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2010 be confirmed and signed as a correct record subject to the following corrections:
(a) in the seventh line of the third paragraph of Minute No. 43 the words “recharging of” be replaced with “reimbursement by” Parish Councils
(b) in the eighth line of the third paragraph of Minute No. 43 the word “their” be inserted before “parish councillors”.
None received.
None received.
The Monitoring Officer reported receipt of a total of 46 questions posed by Standards for England (SfE) and divided into sections relating to Communication, Influence, Training and Support, Investigations and Relationships with Parish and Town Councils, the Committee’s answers to which would form the basis of its Annual Return to SfE and which, in turn, would inform SfE’s Annual Review. A copy of the list of questions (Paper J214) was submitted and it was noted that the responses would be shared with the Audit Commission to help inform its organisational “Use of Resources, Key Line of Enquiry” assessment of the Council.
RESOLVED
(1) That Members of the Committee email any suggestions to the questions posed for completion of the Annual Return of the Standards Committee to the Monitoring Officer before Friday 9 April 2010.
(2) That in the section of the Annual Return concerning the training of Parish Councillors, a note be made if possible to refer to the training provided by the Suffolk Association of Local Councils.
The Monitoring Officer submitted a report (Paper J215) on a review of the Committee’s work and noteworthy events affecting the Committee over the preceding year. These included, most significantly, the appointment of a new member to succeed the former Chairman and the implementation of the system for the local handling of complaints, together with work to monitor declarations of interest and hospitality and to provide training on the Code of Conduct for Parish Councillors. It was noted that Miss Cook’s name was spelt incorrectly in paragraph 5.1.1 of the Report and that this should be corrected.
RESOLVED
That Paper J215 be approved as the annual report of the Standards Committee to Council.
The Monitoring Officer submitted a report (Paper J216) reminding the Committee of the requirements under the “Use of Resources Assessment” for Councils to be assessed on their ethical framework and culture. The Monitoring Officer advised that in paragraph 5 of the Table the words “seeking to develop a County wide newsletter” should have appeared after “The Suffolk Monitoring Officer’s Group is”.
As a result of the last audit of ethical governance arrangements a number of suggested examples of the ways in which the Committee fulfilled the eight points highlighted in the audit had been identified in the report, together with suggestions for raising the profile of the Committee’s work. These included suggestions that a newsletter endorsed by the Chief Executive and the Chairman of the Strategy Committee be produced every six months for Members and that the Chairman should occasionally attend meetings of the Political Leaders’ Group.
RESOLVED
(1) That the suggestions for the future promotion of the values of good governance within the authority set out in the Table at paragraph 5.3 of Paper J216 be approved subject to the action point in item 6 of the Table being amended to replace the word “random” with “pre-selected” and deletion of the words “to include photographs of Committee Members”.
(2) That the Monitoring Officer be instructed to approach the editing team of the Council’s publication “Babergh Matters!” to ensure that the work of the Standards Committee features regularly and that each issue refers to how to make a complaint under the Code of Conduct.
A letter from Standards for England (SfE) dated 27 January 2010 (Paper J217) was submitted in response to the suggestions made at the Annual Meeting of Suffolk Standards Committees that there should be discretion for the costs of investigations and mediation to be recharged to parish councils, a facility for complaints to be investigated if “other action” failed and that there should be an opportunity for Monitoring Officers to seek to resolve a complaint informally in appropriate circumstances. No changes were contemplated at this stage but SfE did recognise the difficulties associated with vexatious complaints and had asked the Department for Communities and Local Government to consider including provision in any revision of the regulations that a standards committee should set out criteria for these complaints and include a delegation to the Monitoring Officer (or perhaps the Chairman) to deal with them.
The Chairman informed the Committee that SfE had since published on its website a document entitled “Local Standards 2.0 – the proportionality upgrade?” dated March 2010. The document included 17 recommendations on improvements to the local standards framework. The Monitoring Officer provided a summary of the recommendations, the key ones being:-
(a) Arrangements to more easily dismiss trivial and less serious complaints.
(b) An enhanced role for independent chairs and vice-chairs in the assessment of complaints and the progress of investigations
(c) A new power for standards committees to halt investigations
(d) A commitment to greater transparency for members who are the subject of complaints
(e) The need to develop an approach which allows better understanding and management of costs associated with the operation of the framework
RESOLVED
That the content of Paper J217 be noted.
The Committee considered a report by the Monitoring Officer (Paper J218) on the possibility of indemnifying Members and Officers of the Council against personal legal liabilities that might arise whilst they were exercising official duties, but where no immunity already existed. Details of the current cover provided by the Council’s insurers was set out in the report which also pointed out that Members and Officers already enjoyed statutory immunity from personal liability where they were acting in good faith, without recklessness and within the powers of the Council.
RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL
That the Council indemnify each of its Members (including co-opted Members) and Officers in the terms set out in Appendix 1 to Paper J218 and that the Director of Corporate Services be authorised to make any modifications as may from time to time be necessary.
The Monitoring Officer submitted a report (Paper J219) containing details of recent decisions of the First-tier Tribunal (Local Government Standards in England) arising out of the investigation of alleged breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct.
RESOLVED
That the information contained in Paper J219 be noted.
The Deputy Monitoring Officer submitted a report (Paper J220) containing details of interests and gifts declared by Members and Officers during the period from January to March 2010 and also on the assessment of complaints received about Councillors’ conduct during that period.
RESOLVED
That the information in Paper J220 be noted.
Mrs T Kavvadias reported on her attendance at the Development Committee meeting held on 17 March 2010 and the Licensing and Appeals Committee hearings on 1 April 2010. A discussion ensued on the process that should be followed in the event that a Member of the Standards Committee who attends a meeting to observe the proceedings witnesses conduct which, whilst not a breach of the Code, could be considered to be inappropriate. The Monitoring Officer advised that any such incidents should be reported to her as soon as possible after the meeting so that a view could be taken on the most appropriate approach in the given circumstances.
Mrs Kavvadias also reported that there had been some uncertainty among Members over whether co-opted Members of the Standards Committee were permitted to attend meetings that are not open to the public. It was agreed that it would be helpful if the Chairman’s annual letter to Committee Chairmen makes reference to co-opted Members attending meetings and that Chairmen be encouraged to introduce those Members as being on an equal footing to elected Members.
It was further discussed and agreed that the practice of co-opted members observing at Committee meetings should continue and that a rota of meetings be prepared and circulated. Committee Services would then automatically be able to notify the relevant Chairman of the proposed attendance.
RESOLVED
(1) That Members of the Standards Committee who attend any meeting of the Council or Committee to observe proceedings should report any concerns arising from the meeting to the Monitoring Officer and authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer to deal with such matters as she considers appropriate.
(2) That a rota of Committee meetings be drawn up and circulated for co-opted members to select which Committee meetings they would like to attend.
The Monitoring Officer reported that it had been indicated that proposed revisions to the Code of Conduct would not be progressed ahead of the impending General Election.
RESOLVED
That the position be noted.
The Monitoring Officer reported that there were no existing plans for training, but proposals for a future training programme do need to be developed. These need not necessarily involve training events, but could take other forms such as circulation of training notes and guidance. Miss Cook suggested that the Town and Parish Councils be contacted, ideally be email, to find out what training they would like. It was also discussed that all Parish Councillors should receive a ‘welcome pack’ containing information about the Code of Conduct and advising parish councillors to attend training. Mr Jones volunteered through his role at the Suffolk Association of Local Councils to ascertain what information is already available to Parish Councillors and the Committee agreed that this would be helpful.
RESOLVED
That the Monitoring Officer contact all Town and Parish Councils in the District to invite them to suggest what further training they would like and to report the outcome to a future meeting of the Committee.
The Committee received a report from the Monitoring Officer (Paper J221) setting out the Committee’s Work Plan for 2010/11.
RESOLVED
That the Work Plan set out in Paper J221 be noted.
The Monitoring Officer reported that the Annual Conference organised by Standards for England would take place at the ICC, Birmingham on 18 and 19 October 2010.
RESOLVED
That two places be booked for the conference and that Mrs Kavvadias and Mr Osborne be authorised to attend on behalf of the Committee and to report back.
The business of the meeting was concluded at 11.33 a.m.
Chairman
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