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ITEM CC10

COUNTY COUNCIL - 21 JUNE 2005

STANDARDS COMMITTEE REPORT ON 2001-2005

1. At their last meeting the Standards Committee agreed that in future years there should be an Annual Report of their work to the Council and that a report on their last four years work should be presented to the new Council. This report covers the years 2001-2005.
2. The current Standards Committee was set up in November 2001 as part of a new ethical framework introduced by the Local Government Act 2000. This framework comprises :-

• 10 key principles governing the conduct of members.
• The adoption of a Member Code of Conduct for each Local Authority with the requirement to incorporate certain provisions specified by law.
• The establishment by all Local Authorities of a Standards Committee to promote good standards of behaviour and to determine certain allegations of breaches of the Code of Conduct.
• The establishment of an Independent Standards Board for England to investigate and determine allegations of breaches of the Code of Conduct.
• The establishment of an independent and separate Adjudication Panel for England to consider cases referred to them from the Standards Board and where a breach of the code is found to impose appropriate sanctions.

3. The Standards Committee therefore plays a major role in the new ethical framework. It has 3 key areas of responsibility :-

• To advise the Council on the adoption and any revisions to the Code of Conduct for Oxfordshire County Council, to monitor its operation, and to assist Councillors and co-opted members to observe its provisions.
• To promote high standards of conduct by Councillors and co-opted members.
• To deal with reports from the Monitoring Officer or an Ethical Standards Officer of the Standards Board, on their investigations into allegations of breaches of the Code of Conduct.

4. The Committee recognised that the adoption of a new Code of Conduct and the establishment of the Standards Board with powers of enforcement was a major change and that their key priority was to implement these new arrangements in Oxfordshire. The Committee therefore recommended for the Council to adopt a Code of Conduct for Oxfordshire based on the statutory model code extended in Oxfordshire’s case to include co-opted members. This code was formally adopted by the Council on 2 April 2002 and came into effect immediately.
5. For the first time, the Code requires members to comply with a number of specific obligations and requirements, breaches of which can lead to individual sanctions ranging from censure, through suspension to disqualification.
6. The Code covers three broad areas: the general behaviour of members, declarations of interests at meetings and registration of interests.
7. The requirements to declare interests are new and replace the former system of financial /non-financial interests with a system of personal and prejudicial interests. The purpose behind the new system is to ensure openness without debarring members from all participation. Consequently whilst personal interests have to be declared, members can continue to participate and vote in the relevant meeting. However where interests become prejudicial then members must withdraw from the meeting and take no further part.
8. So far as registration is concerned the Code requires members to register both their financial and other interests in a register which needs to be kept up to date within 28 days of any change.
9. The Committee recognised that members needed to be aware of the new requirements particularly because of the scope for and consequences of allegations being referred to the Standards Board. The Committee therefore arranged briefing sessions for all members by the Monitoring Officer in 2002 to explain the new arrangements. The Committee also established systems for:-

• Regularly reminding members to update their register of interests.
• Cross-checking interests declared at meetings against those included in the register entries.
• Including a briefing note on declaring interests with all Cabinet and Committee reports.
• Keeping members up to date with developments in Standards Board practice through "Councillor’s Information".

10. The Standards Board received just under 3000 allegations in 2002/03: referred 1142 (44%) of those for investigation of which 109 were referred to the Adjudication Panel resulting in disqualification for 28 Councillors and suspension for 1. In 2003/04 the Board received 3566 allegations of which they referred 1105 (34%) for investigation: 145 cases were referred either to the Adjudication Panel or to Local Standards Committees [under new powers] resulting in the disqualification of 51 members and the suspension of 31 members.
11. Following the first two years experience of the application of the Code the Committee arranged further briefing sessions for all members in 2004 which were carried out by a nationally known expert in the field Peter Keith-Lucas a former Local Authority Monitoring Officer and Chief Executive. These sessions were well received and Peter Keith-Lucas has been engaged to carry out similar briefing sessions on the Code for new council members after the election.

Promoting and Maintaining High Standards of Conduct

12. Standards of Conduct have been and remain high in the Council. In the past 3 years there have been allegations concerning 20 County Councillors considered by the Standards Board. However, in one of these cases the same allegation involved 12 Councillors. Of the 20 councillors concerned, the Standards Board decided not to investigate the allegations any further in 17 cases. In the 3 cases that were investigated the Standards Board found no evidence of failure to comply with the Code in 2 cases involving the same allegation and decided that no action was required in the third case.
13. Members are very much aware of the new ethical framework, the nature of the Code and its implications and the Committee would wish to recognise the contribution that all Members have made in achieving and maintaining such a high standard of conduct in the County Council.
14. Nevertheless the Committee have been aware of the increased pressure on Members to comply with the new Code and in reconciling the various and sometimes conflicting roles that members are now called upon to play. Apart from their work in promoting an awareness and understanding of the new Code the Committee have addressed a number of other issues to promote good conduct. These include :-

• Approving the introduction of a Planning Code of Practice to guide members serving or sitting on the Planning & Regulation Committee where they are exercising a quasi judicial function which requires members to be even more careful in ensuring they meet the necessary requirements.
• Arranging briefing sessions on the Planning Code of Practice by Peter Keith-Lucas.
• Introducing a requirement for Criminal Records Bureau checks for all members to be introduced for the new Council.
• Issuing guides for members on their roles, responsibilities and legal position when acting on external bodies to which they may have been appointed by the County Council.
• Agreeing guidance on how gifts and hospitality should be approached – a copy of which will be included in the Council’s Constitution.

15. The Committee are also aware that members regularly seek advice from officers on a range of conduct and interest issues particularly from the Monitoring Officer, the Head of Democratic Services and their colleagues. The Committee is anxious to promote and encourage all members to raise their concerns with relevant officers at the earliest possible opportunity so that advice can be sought and acted on.

Local Investigations and Determinations

16. The third key area the Committee have had to address in their new role is hearing and determining allegations of breaches of the Code referred to them by the Standards Board. All allegations of breaches of the Code have to be considered initially by the Standards Board. The Board may decide to ask their Ethical Standards Officer to investigate and report on the allegations. New Regulations in 2003 entitled Ethical Standards Officers to refer their reports to Local Standards Committees for them to determine whether there had been a breach of the code and if so what sanction to impose.
17. Subsequent additional Regulations in 2004 empowered the Standards Board to refer allegations directly to Monitoring Officers to investigate and to report to their Standards Committee for them to determine whether there had been a breach of the Code and if so what sanctions to impose.
18. This has been a major development in the work of the Standards Board and the role of Standards Committees. It is anticipated that the Standards Board will refer most cases which do not involve very serious allegations to Monitoring Officers and Standards Committees for local determination.
19. As a result the Committee have:-

• Established a panel to hear cases referred to them comprising 2 independent and one elected member of the Committee; and be chaired by an independent member.
• Approved procedures for:
• Investigations carried out by the Monitoring Officer;
• Pre-hearing procedure;
• Hearing procedures.

20. The Committee have worked hard under the Chairmanship of former Councillor Brian L. Hook to understand and implement the new ethical framework. The independent members have made an important contribution to the work of the Committee. The Chairman, Deputy Chairman and the independent members have attended various sessions of the Standards Board Annual Conference with the Monitoring Officer and his Deputy. All members of the Committee have willingly attended the briefing sessions and have supported the former Monitoring Officer in his work. The Committee have laid firm foundations for the new ethical framework in Oxfordshire.

RECOMMENDATION

21. The Council are RECOMMENDED to receive this report.
    
    

PETER CLARK
Monitoring Officer

Background Papers: Nil

Contact Officer:

June 2005

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