Mr N Briers (Independent non-Council Member); Chair

Councillors D J Cannon, R Cartlidge, P A Hallett, J Hammond and L T Wood

 

Mr J Ross

 

Mr P W Jackson (deputising for Mr D Forrest)

 

Miss D Moulson                      Democratic Services Officer

Mr J A Warburton                  Assistant Chief Executive Democratic Services and

Human Resources (Monitoring Officer) 

                                                

Apology:            Mr D Forrest

 

9.            DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

No Member made any declaration of interest in respect of any item of business on the agenda.

 

10.            RECORD OF MEETING

 

 

11.            ETHICS AND STANDARDS

 

11.1        Member Development

 

It had been reported at the last meeting that a Member Development event on ethics and standards, to be facilitated by the Monitoring Officer, was to be held on 27^th June 2006.  The session had not taken place due to an insufficient number of delegates.     

 

The Committee expressed its disappointment that the event had been cancelled, especially given the number of newly elected Members to the Council, whom the Committee considered would have benefited from the course.  In response to a question raised, it was confirmed that the subject of ethics and standards in local government had been addressed as part of the new Members' Induction Programme but had only provided an overview of the subject. 

 

Part of the Standards Committee's role was responsibility for "advising, training or arranging to train councillors and co-opted members and officers on matters relating to the Members' Code of Conduct".  As the Committee considered that it was important for all Members to receive some form of briefing on the subject, it was proposed that a short presentation be made to all Councillors either before or during a future Council meeting, with a similar presentation being made to Parish Councillors at the next Parish Conference.  To ensure that those Councillors who were unable to attend had access to the presentation, Mr Ross suggested that it should be made available on the Council's Intranet. 

 

11.2        Ethics and Standards Essentials

 

Committee based skills was one of the core elements of the Council's Member Development Programme.  To ensure that Members had the required knowledge to carry out their Committee roles, briefings/development sessions had been arranged.  The Monitoring Officer gave a short presentation to the Standards Committee on the requirement for standards in local government and the role of the Standards Board for England and Local Standards Committees.   

              

At the conclusion of the presentation, the Monitoring Officer referred to future proposals, which would require Standards Committees to investigate allegations of minor breaches of the Members' Code of Conduct.  As this could potentially have a significant impact on the workload of the Committee and as Members had only held one hearing in the past, it was considered timely for the Committee to refresh its skills in this area.  It was proposed that a development session be held following the appointment of the third Independent non-Council Member to the Committee. 

 

            

12.            COMPOSITION OF STANDARDS COMMITTEE SELECTION PANEL

           

Clarification was sought from the Committee regarding two of the arrangements for the Standards Committee Selection Panel, as discussed at the previous meeting (Record No 3 refers).    

 

 

The Monitoring Officer stated that the Selection Panel should be made up of Members from the Standards Committee only and not from the general membership of the Council.   

 

 

The interviewing process had to be fair and transparent.  There was concern that holding an informal lunch as proposed in (f) would not allow all Members of the Selection Panel to familiarise themselves with the candidates prior to the formal interviews.  It was suggested that the lunch should still be held but that all those sitting on the Selection Panel be invited to attend.           

           

The Chairman commented that it was likely that those applying for the position of Independent non-Council Member would have none or limited experience of the work of the Standards Committee.  He proposed that prior to the informal lunch, the Monitoring Officer be asked to give a presentation to the candidates explaining the work of the Committee and the role of the Independent non-Council Member.

 

 

13.            COMPLIMENTS, COMMENTS, COMPLAINTS AND SUGGESTIONS SCHEME

 

The Committee considered the report of the Monitoring Officer which outlined communications received by the Council for the period May June 2006. 

 

Progress on the suggestions put forward at the previous meeting was sought, to which the Monitoring Officer responded as appropriate.     

           

14.            MEETING DATES

 

14.1            Date of Next Meeting      

 

Interviews for the appointment of a third Independent non-Council Member to the Standards Committee would be held on Tuesday 28^th September 2006.  As the Committee considered it was important that the newly elected member be given the opportunity to attend a meeting shortly after his/her appointment, it was agreed to change the date of the next meeting.

 

14.2        Development Sessions

 

Further to Record 11.2, the Committee was invited to nominate a date for its development session. 

 

 

 

....................................Chair