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BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL STANDARDS COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, COUNCIL OFFICES, CORKS LANE, HADLEIGH ON FRIDAY, 10 JULY 2009
PRESENT: |
Members |
Co-opted Members |
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Mrs S P Clarke
Mr P Jones
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Miss P F Cook
Mr P J Down
Mr R L Feltwell
Mrs T Kavvadias
Mr J B Newton (Chairman)
Mr J G Watson |
Mr R E Kemp and Mr A F D W Osborne were unable to be present.
1 - Declaration of Interests
2 - Minutes
3 - Petitions
4 - Questions from Members
5 - Standards Board for England Bulletin 43
6 - The Standards Committees (Further Provisions) (England) Regulations 2009
7 - Annual Meeting of Standards Committees
8 - Members' Code of Conduct Case Reports
9 - Quarterly Monitoring Report
10 - Revised Code of Conduct for Members
11 - Training for Parish Councillors and Clerks
12 - Observation of Proceedings at Committee Meetings
13 - Annual Standards Conference
1 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
There were no declarations of interest.
RESOLVED
That the Minutes of the meeting held on 1 April 2009 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.
None received.
None received.
Issue No. 43 of the Standards Board for England’s “Bulletin” publication was submitted together with a report by the Monitoring Officer (Paper J53), which highlighted the contents of that publication and, in particular, the fact that the application of the Members’ Code of Conduct to private conduct was unlikely to become operative until a new Code were established. The report also referred to the requirement for an annual return to be submitted as to the activities of the Standards Committee, which, following consultation with the Chairman, had been submitted before the 15 May deadline set by the Standards Board. Details of the responses made in the return were set out and reference was made to examples of good practice, which were itemised in Bulletin 43.
RESOLVED
(1) That the information in Paper J53 be noted.
(2) That a review of the Committee’s activities be undertaken in January 2010 ahead of the submission of next year’s annual return and that the Nottinghamshire Monitoring Officer Group be asked if it would be prepared to share the contents of its good governance toolkit for parish councils.
The Committee considered the Monitoring Officer’s report (Paper J54) on the above-mentioned Regulations, which came into force on 15 June 2009 and made provision for the Standards Board for England to suspend the functions of a local Standards Committee where that Committee was failing to perform its duties satisfactorily and either to discharge the functions itself, or arrange for another authority’s Standards Committee to discharge them. The regulations also empowered authorities to set up joint Committees with other authorities and extended the power to grant dispensations to members whose prejudicial interest would otherwise prohibit their participation and thereby upset the political balance of a meeting.
RESOLVED
(1) That the Monitoring Officer be asked to advise all members of the new grounds for applications for dispensation in respect of prejudicial interests.
(2) That investigations be made, for the assistance of members of the public attending meetings as to the possibility of identifying to which political group (if any) a Councillor belongs.
7 ANNUAL MEETING OF STANDARDS COMMITTEES
The Monitoring Officer reported that the Annual Meeting of Standards Committees would take place at 1 p.m. on 4 November 2009 in the Dove Room at the offices of Mid Suffolk District Council and that members of the Committee were invited to attend.
RESOLVED
That the arrangements be noted.
The Monitoring Officer submitted a report (Paper J55) containing details of recent decisions of the Adjudication Panel Appeals Tribunal and Case Tribunal arising out of the investigation of alleged breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct.
RESOLVED
That the information contained in Paper J55 be noted.
The Deputy Monitoring Officer submitted a report (Paper J56) containing details of interests and gifts declared by Members and Officers during the period from April to June 2009 and also on the assessment of complaints received about councillors’ conduct during that period. The Monitoring Officer presented, by way of feedback for other members of the Committee, a copy of the decision of the Assessment Sub-Committee in the one completed case of those referred to in the quarterly report.
RESOLVED
(1) That the report be noted.
(2) That, in future, advice provided to Councillors regarding the use of Council resources during “moratorium” periods for county and district council elections be submitted for approval in advance by this Committee.
The Monitoring Officer reported that it now seemed unlikely that a revised Code of Conduct would be implemented before next year.
RESOLVED
That the position be noted.
The Monitoring Officer and the Chairman reported on the outcome of a meeting held on 14 April 2009 with representatives of the Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC). SALC had confirmed that it no longer intended to produce a “Standards Made Simple” leaflet as had previously been agreed, as SALC believed that the Standards Board for England’s pocket guide to the Code of Conduct already fulfilled the role. Further, SALC published its own quarterly magazine (which included examples of standards-related cases and covered Code-related issues) and ran training programmes (which also included references to the Code). SALC had advised that it would continue to produce articles on Code-related matters and would consider the possible production of fact sheets.
RESOLVED
(1) That the position regarding the production by SALC of the previously agreed leaflet be noted.
(2) That the Monitoring Officer be requested to commence preparations as soon as possible for a training event targeted at Parish Council clerks.
The Chairman and Mrs Kavvadias reported on their attendance at the Development Committee’s meeting held on 8 April 2009 and the Chairman also reported on his attendance at the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee held on 26 May 2009. The Chairman mentioned that he had also attended the Council meeting on 21 April 2009 to present the Committee’s annual report.
RESOLVED
That the report be noted.
It was reported by the Monitoring Officer that neither the Chairman nor Mrs Kavvadias would be able to attend the annual standards conference in Birmingham in October 2009. Mr Osborne would be attending as the replacement representative agreed at the previous meeting.
RESOLVED
That Mrs S P Clarke and Mr A F D W Osborne be appointed as the Council’s representatives at the Annual Association of Standards Committees at the ICC in Birmingham on 12 and 13 October 2009 and to report back thereon and, further, that if either representative is unable to attend, Mr P Jones be invited to attend in his or her place.
The business of the meeting was concluded at 11.25 a.m.
................................................................... Chairman
Note: The meeting was adjourned for refreshments between 10.30 a.m. and 10.40 a.m.
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