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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, 22 JANUARY 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
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Miss P F Cook
Mr P J Down
Mr R L Feltwell
Mr A George
Mrs T Kavvadias
Mr J G Watson |
32 - Election of Chairman
33 - Election of Vice-Chairman
34 - Declaration of Interests
35 - Minutes
36 - Petitions
37 - Questions from Members
38 - Ethical Governance
39 - Mr J B Newton
40 - Mr A George
41 - Town and Parish Council Representatives
42 - Assessment Criteria for Directions of "Other Action" Under Section 57A(2) of the Local Government Act 2000
43 - Standards Board for England Bulletin (Issue 46) and Guidance on Predetermination
44 - Standards Advice during Election Moratorium
45 - Annual Meeting of Standards Committees
46 - Members' Code of Conduct Case Reports
47 - Quarterly Monitoring Report
48 - Observation of Proceedings at Committee Meetings
49 - Suffolk County Council Standards Hearing, 14 January 2010
50 - Training for Parish/Town Councillors and Clerks
51 - Forward Work Plan
52 - Dates of Committee Meetings in 2010/11
32 ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN
RESOLVED
That Mr J G Watson be appointed Chairman of the Standards Committee for the remainder of this municipal year and until the first meeting of the Committee following the next Annual Meeting of the Council.
RESOLVED
That Mr P J Down be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the remainder of this municipal year and until the first meeting of the Committee following the next Annual Meeting of the Council.
Miss P F Cook declared a personal and prejudicial interest in the item referred to in Minute No. 41 below by virtue of her indication of willingness to serve a further term as a member of the Committee and undertook to leave the meeting while the item was discussed.
RESOLVED
That the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 October 2009 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.
None received.
None received.
Mr A Hunkin, Director of Corporate Services attended to report and answer questions on the measures taken so far to promote ethical governance within the Council. The requirements of good corporate governance were easier to demonstrate than those relating to ethical governance, which related more to the culture of the organisation and were encapsulated in its values and behaviours such as responsibility, transparency, openness and integrity. For most members of staff this meant treating customers with respect and honouring confidentiality and hitherto this had been achieved through appropriate training to give staff the necessary skills and confidence to undertake their responsibilities and also through the training of senior managers to ensure that they set the correct examples. Recently, all members of staff had been required to undergo ethics training and, so far, 94% had attended. Feedback from this training showed that the Council had appropriate arrangements in place and that the rules concerning, for example, whistle-blowing and registering gifts and hospitality were well understood, but staff were less clear about the values and behaviours that constituted ethical governance. An action plan was being prepared to address this. In response to questions, the Director undertook to ensure that the Corporate Management Team would consider the Committee’s suggestion that the political affiliations of Members be indicated on Committee agendas.
RESOLVED
That Mr Hunkin be thanked for his attendance and that the content of the discussion be noted.
The Chairman referred to the invaluable work undertaken by the former Chairman, Mr J B Newton, over the past eight years and particularly in relation to his crucial role during the transition to the system of local determination of complaints. The Chairman led the Committee’s expression of gratitude to Mr Newton and asked that a copy of the minutes of this meeting be provided to Mr Newton indicating the Committee’s great debt to him for his sterling service.
RESOLVED
That the Committee’s expression of gratitude for the contribution made by its former Chairman, Mr J B Newton, be recorded and that a copy of this minute be forwarded to him together with the Committee’s best wishes for the future.
The Chairman formally introduced and welcomed Mr Andrew George, the new independent member of the Committee, whose appointment for a term of four years had been agreed by the Council at its meeting held on 15 December 2009.
RESOLVED
That Mr George’s membership of the Committee be formally recognised and welcomed.
The Monitoring Officer reported that Miss Penny Cook’s term as a Town Council representative on the Committee would expire during February 2010.
RESOLVED
That Miss P F Cook of Hadleigh Town Council be re-appointed to serve as a Town Council representative on this Committee for a further term of four years and that the Committee’s thanks be conveyed to her for her continuing contribution to the Committee’s work.
The Committee received a report (Paper J161) from the Monitoring Officer, appended to which was a set of criteria that had been agreed by the Suffolk Monitoring Officers Group to assist in assessing when action other than the investigation of a complaint might be appropriate and what that “other action” might reasonably be expected to involve, including the types of training that might be appropriate.
RESOLVED
That the assessment criteria for “other action” attached at Appendix 1 to Paper J161 be adopted with immediate effect.
Issue No. 46 of Standards for England’s “Bulletin” publication was submitted together with a report by the Monitoring Officer (Paper J162), which highlighted the contents of that publication. The Bulletin contained detailed advice on predetermination and bias in accordance with which the Monitoring Officer had prepared a general guidance paper for Members, a copy of which was appended to her report. It was noted that predetermination was a difficult area and one which continued to evolve in the light of case law.
The report also referred to feedback from workshops at the Annual Standards Assembly held in October 2009 on the experiences of standards committees and monitoring officers in relation to the local settlement of complaints. Particular concerns had been expressed about handling vexatious and persistent complaints and the Monitoring Officer reported on the circumstances of an extreme case that had been reported in “The Times” on 14 January. The Monitoring Officer indicated that she was preparing a general policy document for such complaints for consideration at a future meeting.
There had also been some suggestions at the workshops that Monitoring Officers should be involved in an initial assessment of complaints with a view perhaps to securing a local settlement that would obviate the need for the formal processes to be engaged. Another issue concerned whether details of complaints should be shared with the councillors against whom the complaints had been made prior to the initial assessment taking place, whilst a further issue concerned the possible recharging of Parish Councils for the cost of handling Code of Conduct complaints against parish councillors. The latter issue had also been raised at the Annual Meeting of Suffolk Standards Committees.
The Monitoring Officer’s report indicated that all parish councils had been advised how to obtain a copy of the revised Governance Toolkit for Parish Councils that had been produced by Standards for England in partnership with the National Association of Local Councils, the Society of Local Council Clerks and the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors although its large size would have made printing and distribution of the document by the District Council prohibitively expensive. Mention was also made of the training DVD, “Assessment Made Clear” (which it was intended to show to and discuss with members of the Committee as part of a training exercise) and also of the Annual Return, which Standards Committees were required to make recording their activities and achievements. The questions in the 2009-10 annual return were still being developed and it was indicated in the Bulletin that many would change. It was not therefore possible for the Committee to consider the return in advance of the deadline for its submission as had been anticipated at the meeting on 10 July 2009.
RESOLVED
(1) That the information in Paper J162 and Bulletin 46 be noted.
(2) That the guidance on predetermination at Appendix 2 to Paper J162 be approved and circulated to all Members subject to the following corrections and amendments –
· The substitution of the word “they” in place of “the” in the first line of the third paragraph under the heading “Predisposition”;
· The insertion of the words “listen to and” between “will” and “consider” in the first bullet point under the heading “What is not Predetermination?” and the addition of the words “This is” at the commencement of the last sentence in the final paragraph under that heading; and
· The addition of the words, “of Babergh District Council” after the word “Members” in the fourth paragraph under the heading, “Implications of Predetermination and Bias”.
The Committee considered the draft guidance prepared by the Monitoring Officer (Paper J167), which was intended as advice for Members to assist them to avoid breaching the Code of Conduct in relation to any activities that they might undertake in connection with the forthcoming General Election. It was noted that since the document was drafted the Council had been consulted on proposals that could entail elections to new unitary authorities also being held during 2010 and the document would have relevance to any such elections as well.
RESOLVED
(1) That the advice note to councillors during election moratorium periods contained in Paper J167 be approved subject to the following:-
· The insertion of cross-references with existing policies and codes, such as the Council’s ICT policy
· The deletion of one of the two references to Council email addresses in the bullet-pointed list on the second page and its replacement with a reference to Councillor identity badges
· The alteration of the other reference to “Council email addresses” so that it is more clear that it refers to personal Council email addresses on political communications
(2) That the Monitoring Officer be authorised to issue the advice note (as amended) to all councillors once the 2010 General Election and/or any local government elections in the area have been called, following consultation with the Chairman on the content of the covering note.
The Monitoring Officer submitted a copy of her letter (Paper J163) to Standards for England regarding issues arising out of discussions of the local complaints system at the Annual Meeting of Suffolk Standards Committees on 4 November 2009. Standards for England’s reply would be submitted once it was available.
RESOLVED
That the content of the letter (Paper J163) be noted.
The Monitoring Officer submitted a report (Paper J164) 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 J164 be noted.
The Deputy Monitoring Officer submitted a report (Paper J165) containing details of interests and gifts declared by Members and Officers during the period from September to December 2009 and also on the assessment of complaints received about councillors’ conduct during that period.
RESOLVED
That the information in Paper J165 be noted and that the schedule concerning gifts and hospitality be brought to the attention of the Audit Manager.
At this point (12.30 p.m.) the meeting adjourned for lunch and resumed at 1.05 p.m. when the following Members were present:-
Mr J G Watson – Chairman
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Mrs S P Clarke
Mr R E Kemp
Mr A F D W Osborne |
Mr P J Down
Mr R L Feltwell
Mr A George |
Mr P J Down reported on his attendance at the Development Committee’s meeting held on 18 November 2009 and indicated that, in spite of the controversy attending one of the applications considered at the meeting, Members had conducted themselves in the correct manner.
RESOLVED
That the report be noted.
It was reported that the Chairman and Mr P J Down had attended to observe a hearing conducted by Suffolk County Council’s Standards Committee and Mr Down reported on the conduct of the hearing accordingly.
RESOLVED
That the report be noted.
The Monitoring Officer reported on the morning training session for parish clerks held on 23 November 2009 at Hadleigh United Football Club, which had been reasonably well attended and received.
RESOLVED
That the report be noted.
The Committee received a report from the Monitoring Officer (Paper J166) setting out items that would require consideration by the Standards Committee together with details of the meetings at which it was proposed that they be considered.
RESOLVED
That the Work Plan set out in Paper J166 be noted.
It was reported that meetings of the Standards Committee were scheduled to take place on 7 April, 9 July and 15 October in 2010 and on 21 January and 8 April in 2011.
RESOLVED
That the schedule of meetings be noted.
The meeting was adjourned for refreshments between 10.35 a.m. and 10.55 a.m.
The business of the meeting was concluded at 1.40 p.m.
................................................................... Chairman
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