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To Members of the Standards Committee

Notice of Meeting of the Standards Committee

Friday 1 December 2006 at 10.00 am County Hall, Oxford


Derek Bishop
Head of Democratic Services

November 2006

Contact Officer: Deborah Miller Tel: 01865 815463; E-mail

Membership

Chairman – Mr R. Elmore

Deputy Chairman – Mr R.A. Cowdrey

Councillors:

Michael Badcock

Ann Bonner

Mrs Catherine Fulljames

Terry Joslin

Dermot Roaf

Keith Stone

Co-opted Members:

1 Vacancy

1 Vacancy

 

 

If you have any special requirements (such as a large print version of these papers or special access facilities) please contact the officer named on the front page, but please give as much notice as possible before the meeting.


AGENDA

  1. Apologies for Absence

  2. D
    3. eclarations of Interest - see guidance note

  3. Minutes

    4. To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 20 April 2006 (ST3) and to receive for information any matters arising therefrom.

  4. Petitions and Public Address

  5. "Bridging the Gap": Fifth Annual Assembly of Standards Committees

    6. Report by the County Solicitor & Monitoring Officer (ST5).

    This report outlines the main issues discussed at the conference, held under the auspices of the Standards Board for England at the International Convention Centre, Birmingham on the 16 and 17 October 2006. The conference was attended by Mr Roger Cowdrey, Deputy-Chairman, Peter Clark, Monitoring Officer, Derek Bishop, Deputy Monitoring Officer, Rachel Dunn, Democratic Involvement Officer and Deborah Miller, Principal Committee Officer.

    The focus for this year’s conference was on working towards effective local regulations in light of the anticipated changes in role between the Standards Board and Standards Committees in dealing with local investigations and determination hearings. In addition, there was a strong emphasis on practical measures to raise the importance of ethical governance within Local Authorities.

    This report will be supplemented by a PowerPoint presentation by those Members and Officers who attended the conference and in addition Members attention is also drawn to the fact that all course material and transcripts of speeches relating to the conference can be accessed on the Standards Board website or by direct link (www.annualassembly.co.uk).

    The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

          1. note the report;

          2. consider whether there are any issues to be incorporated into the work programme for 2007/08.

  6. IDeA: Ethical Governance Toolkit

    7. The County Solicitor & Monitoring Officer reports as follows:

    At its last meeting the Committee considered a report outlining the Ethical Governance Toolkit, designed by the Audit Commission (AC) and the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) to assist authorities to assess how well they are meeting the ethical agenda and develop ways to improve their arrangements. The Toolkit provides a range of options, from a comprehensive, in-depth survey to a more light-touch assessment. The Committee agreed that the option for a full assessment of the Council’s ethical standards arrangements should be undertaken. This was commissioned in August 2006 and the work of the Audit Commission commenced with a survey of Members and Officers during the period 12 October - 17 November, the survey responses were as follows:

    Members - 44
    Officers - 153

    Individual interviews were also carried out (13 – 17 November) with selected Members and Officers to explore issues raised from the initial surey results.

    Two workshops have been arranged for the 12 January 2007, this will allow the Audit Commission to present its finding to Members and Officers and provide training and awareness using a series of case studies.

    After the conclusion of the workshops a final report will be presented to this Committee to assist with the development of an action plan in response to the assessment, including examples of good practice.

    The aim of the work is:

    1. to provide the Council with an independent evaluation of its ethical arrangements and establish a baseline position against which future progress can be measured;

    2. identify key areas of improvement;

    3. the development of an action plan to deliver improvements where they have been identified and set the next two to four year work programme for the Standards Committee;

    4. consider whether the Council is complying with Part III of the Local Government Act 2000 and how the Council ensures that the Standards Committee is working effectively;

    5. provide the opportunity to benchmark the work of the Standards Committee with other Councils

    The Committee is RECOMMENDED to note progress.

  7. Development Activities and Interest Issues

    8. The County Solicitor & Monitoring Officer (ST7).

    At its meeting on 16 November 2005, the Committee reviewed the training and development programme over the last six months and considered further development for the year ahead. The report by the County Solicitor & Monitoring Officer updates the Committee on a number of major training sessions and information giving exercises that have been undertaken since then, both to update and enhance Members’ general awareness of the ethical framework.

    The report also updates the Committee on the continuing process of monitoring the declaration and registration of Members’ interests. The Monitoring Officer has received a number of queries concerning declarations of interest and there appears to be some uncertainty regarding whether certain interests are personal or prejudicial. It is proposed that a briefing is sent to all Council and Co-opted Members to remind them of the rules relating to declarations of interest.

    Members’ Awareness

    Members' awareness has been kept current through Councillors' Information with articles on the following topics: the latest guidance on personal and prejudicial interests, business interests, lobby and campaign groups and keeping an open mind; the Register of Members' Interests; the Gifts and Hospitality Policy; the Protocol on Member/Officer relations; the Annual Assembly of Standards Committees; the role of the Monitoring Officer; and the review of the Code of Conduct. Information on the Code of Conduct and the specifics of members' interests were included in the Guide for Candidates and the Guide for Councillors issued by Democratic Services for the County Council By-Elections in May 2006. A mid-year review of the Register of Members' Interests was undertaken during March-May 2006. Also the monitoring of declarations of interest is continually undertaken after each meeting of the Council.

    Member Training

    As envisaged previously, news and advice on ethical standards issues for members have been included in Councillors' Information. However, since the last report, Peter Clark has provided a specific session on the Planning Code of Practice for those members either new to the Council or new to the role of a Planning & Regulation Committee member (or substitute). Links have also been made with two District Councils in Oxfordshire (Cherwell and West) for the potential provision of joint sessions on the Members Code of Conduct in the New Year. The Deputy Chairman of this Committee, together with the Monitoring Officer, Head of Democratic Services and two officers dealing with the Standards Committee and Register of Members' Interests have attended the Annual Assembly of Standards Committees. This will enable them to give appropriate advice and to update members both generally and through Councillors' Information.

    Declaring Interests

    Issues concerning declaring interests by Members are addressed in the report attached at ST7.

    The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

          1. consider and comment on the appropriateness and content of the briefing;

          2. subject to (a) above, request that the Monitoring Officer write to all Members and Co-opted Members of the Council.

  8. Complaints and Investigations: Case Review

The County Solicitor & Monitoring Officer reports as follows:

The latest Case Review (No 4) has been issued by the Standards Board for England, which sets out its experience of conducting investigations, gives advice and develops policy in relation to the Code of Conduct. A copy of the Case Review has been sent to all Members of the Standards Committee and a copy has been placed in the Member’s Resource Centre. A copy has also been placed on public deposit.

Chapter 1 – Local Investigations

Useful statistical information about a number of local investigations conducted by Councils and case examples are a practical interpretation of the alleged breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Chapter 2 – Appeals from Local Decisions

There is an exploration of the outcomes of Adjudication Panel hearings following Standards Committees’ findings. The cases would appear to illustrate that standards committees are much more stringent in the imposition of sanctions than the Adjudication Panel appear to be, with a significant number of cases being overturned or the sanction reduced. The Committee’s attention is drawn particularly to the case referred to on page 27/28 relating to a Member’s failure to declare an interest relating to a skateboard park near 3 of the Member’s properties (within 150 metres). The Standards Committee felt that this plainly gave rise to an interest and might have resulted in greater use of the footpath directly adjacent to one of the properties, thereby giving rise to both a personal and prejudicial interest. The Tribunal disagreed and stated "there must be an objective assessment of the impact on the appellant which would demonstrate the possibility of personal motives affecting the appellant’s judgement … The footpath is of limited use and would in all likelihood only be used by a small number of local residents".

Chapter 3 – Directions

Ethical Standards Officers have the power to issue a direction to Monitoring Officers to take action to solve local problems as an alternative to formally investigating a complaint. It is anticipated that this power will be used more frequently, particularly in cases where a complaint may have revealed a broader issue with regards to governance relating to an Authority eg. a general lack of understanding of Council’s Procedures or personal conflict between Members or between Members and Officers. Ethical Standards Officers could direct a Monitoring Officer to:

  • Make recommendations to their Standards Committee about the wider issues for the Authority raised by the case.

  • Review procedures within the Authority to make them more robust.

  • Arrange training, guidance or mentoring.

  • Arrange for Councillors to try and work out problems together through a process of mediation.

Chapter 4 – Bullying

Whilst the Standards Board are increasingly referring cases to Councils for local determination, nevertheless, they regard bullying as a serious matter requiring the Standards Board itself to investigate. The Standards Board have recommended that the revised Code of Conduct expressly includes reference to bullying as a failure to comply with the Code in order to send a clear message that such behaviour is unacceptable. Bullying can affect staff morale as well as impacting on the culture of the organisation. It can create a fearful and insecure working environment that ultimately is to the detriment of both Members, Officers and the community at large.

Members at the last Standards Committee requested further case summaries for general discussion. At the National Conference, Bridging the Gap, there was a session in which the Standards Board set out a number of key cases that illustrated interpretation and thinking behind the Code and a summary of those cases is attached at ST8.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the report.

  1. Criminal Records Bureau Checks

    2. The County Solicitor & Monitoring Officer reports as follows:

    In 2004, this Committee recommended to the Council that Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks should be undertaken for all Councillors and Co-Opted Members of the Council following their election/appointment. The Monitoring Officer was appointed as counter-signatory and has overseen the process by which Members have provided relevant identification and personal details sufficient for applications to be made to the CRB. Whilst there has been considerable delay in receiving returns, these have now been received for all Members save for 3 cases where the results are still outstanding because of deficiencies in names or information provided that required the application to be resubmitted.

    There were three Criminal Records Checks that revealed criminal offences. The Monitoring Officer conducted a formal risk assessment based on the procedure followed within both Children, Young People & Families Directorate and Social & Community Services Directorate based on the appointment of a Social Worker or someone in a similar sensitive post. On investigation, none of the convictions were regarded as having implications for the proper discharge of the Member’s duties and, therefore, no restrictions or additional measures needed to be taken. Formal notification of the decision was sent to the relevant Members concerned.

    The Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the current position.

  2. ‘Going Local’ Training DVD

(A sandwich lunch will be provided during the presentation of the DVD)

The County Solicitor & Monitoring Officer reports as follows:

A new DVD focussing on local investigations and hearings has been issued by the Standards Board for England.

The film has been sent to all monitoring officers for use with standards committee members to promote discussion of best practice for conducting investigations and hearings.

‘Going local: investigations and hearings’ follows the fictional case of Councillor Jones, who has been accused of failing to declare an interest in a planning meeting considering an application submitted by his nephew. Viewers follow the drama as it develops, from the initial referral of the complaint through to standards committee hearing. Learning points and commentary punctuating the film address some of the common areas of difficulty and recommended solutions.

Local authorities currently handle approximately half of investigated cases concerning potential breaches of the councillors’ Code of Conduct. A primary task for the Standards Board is to support those undertaking this work.

The Committee is asked to view the DVD and to discuss and consider ways of best practice for conducting investigations and hearings in the future.

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