BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL STANDARDS COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE HELD IN COMMITTEE ROOM 1 COUNCIL OFFICES, CORKS LANE, HADLEIGH ON FRIDAY 3 FEBRUARY 2006

PRESENT:       Members                 Co-opted Members

                        Mrs S P Clarke         Mrs J N Cole
                        Mr N H J Irwin         Miss P F Cook
                        Mr N A Ridley          Mr W Marley
                        Mr J Newton

Mr R E Kemp was unable to attend the meeting.

38 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

Mrs J N Cole, Miss P F Cook and Mr J Newton all declared a prejudicial interest in Item 6 - Appointment of Co-opted Members, as they had applied to serve as co-opted members of the Standards Committee and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of the item.

Mrs S P Clarke subsequently declared a prejudicial interest in Minute No. 47 – Quarterly Monitoring Report – by virtue of being a colleague and member of the same group as the councillor under discussion and was not present during consideration of this item.

39 MINUTES

RESOLVED

That the Minutes of the meetings held on 11 November and 29 November 2005 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

40 PETITIONS

None received.

41 QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS

None received.

42 EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC (WHICH TERM INCLUDES THE PRESS)

RESOLVED

That pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the business specified below on the grounds that if the public were present during this item it is likely there would be the disclosure to them of exempt information as indicated against the item.

43 APPOINTMENT OF CO-OPTED MEMBERS (Exempt information by virtue of paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972)

The Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services reported that the 2 year term of office of the 4 co-opted members of the Standards Committee would expire on 28 February 2006 and the interview process for persons interested in serving as co-opted members for the 2 years from 1 March 2006 had been completed and references were awaited.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL

That subject to the receipt of satisfactory references where appropriate, the recommendations of the interview panel for the appointment of co-opted members to the Standards Committee for the 2 year period commencing 1 March 2006 be adopted.

At this point in the meeting the Press and public were re-admitted.

44 ODPM DISCUSSION PAPER ON STANDARDS OF CONDUCT IN ENGLISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT: THE FUTURE

The Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services submitted a report (Paper E261) which highlighted the key issues set out in the Discussion Paper containing the Government’s proposals for the review of the Members Code of Conduct (attached to the report).

During discussion the following were among the points raised:-

· The increased workload of Standards Committees may necessitate a larger Committee with more independent members to ensure that a quorum, and the presence of at least one independent member, is maintained at all meetings.

· A county-wide approach to assessing parish complaints would be welcomed as it would help to spread the workload of Standards Committees.

· Members agreed that it would be preferable if any complaints against a district/borough councillor could only be considered by a Committee outside of his area, with reciprocal arrangements in place.

· A clearer timetable for the implementation of the reforms was needed.

· The intended appeals process needed clarification.

· Measures were needed to reduce the time taken to bring investigations to committee/hearing.

· Members welcomed the proposal to permit councillors to speak (but not vote) on certain items where they had a prejudicial interest. However further clarification was required as to the type of ‘prejudicial interest’ this referred to as it was agreed that Members should continue to be required to vacate the room for certain prejudicial interests such as those concerning financial interests.

· Clarification was needed as to the role of Standards Committees in agreeing the new wording of the Code of Conduct.

· The Standards Board should take responsibility for informing the public of the complaints procedure and producing user-friendly leaflets, although Members would welcome the opportunity to input to any leaflets produced.

· It was important to implement any changes as soon as possible to avoid any confusion by councillors, especially with regard to the declaration of personal and prejudicial interests.

RESOLVED

(1) That the contents of Paper E261 and the ODPM Discussion Paper on ‘Standards of Conduct in English Local Government: the Future’ be noted

(2) That the Monitoring Officer be authorised to respond to the ODPM on the Discussion Paper with a summary of the Committee’s views, including the points mentioned above.

45 MEMBERS CODE OF CONDUCT REPORTS

The Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services submitted a report (Paper E262) relating to recent case reports arising from investigations of alleged breaches of the Members Code of Conduct, highlighting any relevant court cases and findings of the Adjudication Panel of the Standards Board for England along with significant local determinations.

Members agreed that it would be useful to have this as a regular agenda item and consideration could be given to including the information as a reference guide in any training guidance produced in the future.

RESOLVED

That the information contained in Paper E262 be noted.

46 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE

The Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services submitted the first annual report of the Standards Committee that reviewed its work throughout 2005 (Paper E260).

RESOLVED

That Paper E260 be noted and the Council be asked to note the contents of the report.

Note: Following the meeting, Paper E260 was circulated to all Councillors.

47 QUARTERLY MONITORING REPORT

The Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services submitted Paper E264 to provide the Committee with the monitoring report for the period 1 October 2005 to 31 December 2005.

Members expressed concern that the attached Table of Interests indicated that Councillor Wood had expressed a personal interest in an item at a recent committee meeting despite being advised by the Monitoring Officer that the nature of his interest may be regarded as prejudicial, which would necessitate him vacating the room for consideration of the item.

At this point Mrs S P Clarke declared a prejudicial interest by virtue of being a colleague and member of the same group as the councillor concerned, and left the room. Mr W Marley took the Chair for the remainder of the item.

While Members acknowledged that the decision as to whether a personal interest is also prejudicial rests with the individual, it was important to make the councillor aware of the Standards Committee’s concern that legal advice indicating the existence of a prejudicial interest was not followed.

RESOLVED

(1) That the information contained in Paper E264 be noted

(2) That Mr W Marley write to Councillor Wood expressing the concerns of the Standards Committee in relation to his declaration of interest at a recent committee meeting.

48 TRAINING FOR TOWN/PARISH COUNCILS

The Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services reported that she was currently liaising with the Suffolk Association of Local Councils to arrange training courses for Parish/Town Councils to begin in April/May 2006. Further, the Head of Planning (Control) had arranged 4 training sessions for Parish Councillors on the development control process and the Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services would attend each session to provide training on Standards issues in the context of development control. All Members would be informed of the dates as soon as they had been confirmed.

RESOLVED

That the position be noted.

49 INVESTIGATIONS / HEARINGS DVD

Mrs S P Clarke reported that she had received correspondence relating to a DVD on investigations and hearings that had been sent to Monitoring Officers by the Standards Board and Members agreed that it be shown at the next meeting of the Standards Committee on Friday 21 April 2006.

50 MR W MARLEY

The Chairman referred to Mr Marley’s retirement as a member of the Standards Committee at the end of February 2006. On behalf of all Members she thanked him for his hard work as a member of the Standards Committee over the past 4 years and wished him well for the future.

The meeting concluded at 11.05 a.m.

Chairman