Return to AgendaITEM ST3
STANDARDS committee
MINUTES of the meeting held on 11 December 2008 commencing at 10.00 am and finishing at 12 noon
Present:
Voting Members: Mr Robert Elmore - in the chair
Councillor Norman Bolster Councillor Mrs Catherine Fulljames Councillor Terry Joslin
Nina Alphey
Other Members in Councillor Patrick (Leader of the Opposition) Attendance:
Officers:
Whole of meeting: Mr P Clark (Head of Legal & Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer), Mr A R Cloke and Ms M Holyman (Corporate Core)
The Committee considered the matters, reports and recommendations contained or referred to in the agenda for the meeting and decided as set out below. Except insofar as otherwise specified, the reasons for the decisions are contained in the agenda and reports, copies of which are attached to the signed Minutes.
15/08 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bonner and Roaf and Mr Cowdrey and Ms Griffiths.
16/08 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 8 May 2008 were approved and signed.
On Minute 8/08, Mr Clark confirmed that he had written to the Standards Board as requested. The Standards Board had confirmed its position.
17/08 “DELIVERING THE GOODS: LOCAL STANDARDS IN ACTION” – SEVENTH ANNUAL ASSEMBLY OF STANDARDS COMMITTEES (Agenda Item 5)
The Committee considered a report (ST5) which outlined the main issues discussed at the conference held in Birmingham on 13 and 14 October 2008.
RESOLVED:
(a) to note the report;
(b) to ask the County Solicitor & Monitoring Officer to write to the Standards Board advising it that the conference, whilst providing an opportunity for discussion and to learn from other colleagues, did not provide a significant degree of guidance or assistance with regards to the complexities of handling local complaints;
(c) to agree that members should, in general, be informed as soon as a complaint has been made against them unless the Monitoring Officer considers there to be reasons (for example possible intimidation of witnesses) not to do so;
(d) not to incorporate any additional issues into the work programme for 2009/11;
(e) to ask the County Solicitor & Monitoring Officer, after the 2009 County Council elections, to provide advice at training sessions and/or to write to members to bring them up-to-date on the implications of the Code for members participating in the consideration of planning applications at Planning & Regulation Committee.
18/08 CODE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 2008 (Agenda Item 6)
The Committee considered the extract (ST6) which set out the relevant principles of the Code for the Committee.
RESOLVED: to:
(a) receive the report;
(b) inform the Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee (the body which undertakes the annual review of the Code on behalf of the Authority) that the Committee has asked that “Chief Executive in her role as” be inserted before “Head of Paid Service” in Principle 2.2, paragraph 2.2.2, third column.
19/08 HEARING PANEL - MEMBERSHIP (Agenda Item 7)
The Committee was reminded that, at its last meeting, it had agreed that the membership of the Hearing Panel should comprise 3 members of the Committee. It was advised that a number of authorities were providing some greater flexibility and discretion to increase the number of members for the final hearing including the possibility of the matter being heard by the whole Standards Committee.
RESOLVED: to agree that the membership of the Hearing Panel should usually comprise 3 members of the Committee but, if the Monitoring Officer deemed it appropriate for the matter to be heard by a greater number of members, the Panel’s membership could be enlarged up to and including the whole membership of the Committee.
20/08 CONSULTATION ON A CODE OF CONDUCT FOR LOCAL AUTHORITY MEMBERS AND OFFICERS (Agenda Item 8)
The Committee considered a report (ST8) which summarised the consultation document and set out suggested comments to the questions posed by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
RESOLVED: to:
(a) note the report and the contents of the consultation document;
(b) agree the response to the Department for Communities and Local Government be as set out in Annex 2 to the report subject to the following amendments:
Q1 – add “The change should be reviewed after one year’s operation.”; Q5 – add “The Standards Board should be asked to issue guidance on when investigations should await the outcome of any criminal proceedings.” Q6 – The limit of £25 should be increased to £125 in line with the requirement for registration for MPs. Q8 – Add “It needs to be recognised that members are entitled to a private life.”
(c) ask the Head of Legal & Democratic Services to check whether a summary of the Code of Conduct is included in the information packs sent to prospective candidates and to advise the Committee accordingly.
21/08 WORK PROGRAMME 2009/11 (Agenda Item 9)
The Committee considered the work programme (ST9) which had been updated to take into account progress throughout the year.
RESOLVED: to:
(a) agree the suggestions on items 12 and 13 and to add them to the work programme;
(b) endorse the work programme as amended;
(c) receive regular up-dates as to progress from the Monitoring Officer.
22/08 THE CASE REVIEW 2008 (Agenda Item 10)
RESOLVED: to defer consideration of case examples to the next meeting of the Committee.
23/08 INDEMNITY FOR MEMBERS (Agenda Item 11)
The Committee was advised that the Council had insurance cover for Members’ Legal Expenses (including co-opted and independent members) but the cover was provided subject to members not being found to be in breach of the Code of Conduct and acting within their responsibilities.
RESOLVED: to note this information.
24/08 TRAINING SESSION ON HEARINGS/ASSESSMENT (Agenda Item 12)
The Committee was reminded that there would be a training session on hearings/local assessment on 8 January 2009 starting at 2 pm at the Town Hall, Oxford.
RESOLVED: to note this information and to inform the Head of Legal & Democratic Services if they wish to attend the session.
................................................................................... in the Chair
Date of signing.................................................................. 2009
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