Agenda and minutes

Recommendation:

To elect a Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 2008/09

(Monitoring Officer) The Committee is asked to elect a Chairman for the coming year. The Chairman must be elected from the independent co-optees and cannot be a member of the District Council or of any Parish or Town Council.

The nomination of Ms M Marshall as Chairman of the Committee having been formally moved and seconded, it was:

RESOLVED:

That Ms M Marshall be elected Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 2008/09.

Recommendation:

To appoint, subject to Council approval, a Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 2008/09

(Monitoring Officer) The Committee is asked to appoint a Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the coming year. The appointment must be from the independent co-optees on the Committee. A vice-chairman has not been appointed in the past but it is considered prudent to make an appointment to cover for the chairman when necessary. As this requires a change to the Council’s Constitution an appointment will be subject to Council approval and will need to be reflected in the revised Article 9 of the Constitution to be considered later in the meeting.

The Committee was asked to consider whether it wished to appoint a Vice-Chairman for the coming year.  A Vice-Chairman had not been appointed in the past but it was considered prudent to make an appointment to cover for the Chairman when necessary.  The Committee noted that such an appointment would require a change to the Council's Constitution and would therefore be subject to Council approval.

The nomination of Mr G Weltch as Vice-Chairman of the Committee having been formally moved and seconded, it was:

            RESOLVED:

            That, subject to Council approval, Mr G Weltch be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 2008/09.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 24 April 2008 (attached).

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Rolfe to his first meeting of the Committee and acknowledged the contribution to the work of the Committee which had been made by Councillor  Mrs J H Whitehouse.

           RESOLVED:

            That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 24 April 2008 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To declare interests in any item on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were made pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

(Monitoring Officer) To consider the attached report.

The Committee considered a report on the local initial assessment of complaints of misconduct by members.  Previously a complaint of misconduct by a member had been submitted to the Standards Board for England (SBE), and the referrals unit of the SBE had determined whether the allegation appeared to disclose a failure by a member to comply with the authority’s Code of Conduct and whether the allegation merited investigation.  From 8 May 2008, all such complaints were now to be made to the Standards Committee of the authority with an expectation that each allegation be would assessed within 20 working days of receipt.

The Committee considered the issues which needed to be addressed in order to meet the new requirements.

Members noted that the legislation required the establishment of a Sub-Committee (the SBE had advised that this should be known as the “Assessments Sub?Committee”) which would undertake the initial assessment and decide whether the complaint showed an apparent failure to comply with the Code of Conduct and, if so, whether that complaint merited investigation or other action.  If the Assessments Sub?Committee decided to take no action in respect of an allegation, the complainant then had 30 days within which to request the authority to review that decision.   The Act required the setting up of a second Sub-Committee (the “Reviews Sub?Committee) to conduct that review.  No member could sit on the Reviews Sub?Committee in respect of complaint if they had served on the Assessments Sub?Committee for the same complaint.  If the matter was then referred for investigation a hearing would be held.  The Standards Committee had recommended that such hearings should be held before a Sub-Committee (a “Hearings Sub?Committee”).  Members noted that whilst the legislation prohibited any member from sitting on both the Assessments and Reviews Sub-Committee on the same case there was no similar statutory prohibition in respect of the Hearings Sub?Committee.  In addition the SBE had advised that if a member had been involved in the case either at the Assessments Sub-Committee or the Reviews Sub?Committee stage there was no reason why they should be precluded from serving on the Hearings Sub-Committee. 

The Committee considered the composition of the required Sub-Committees taking account of the need for:

(a)               at least 25% of each Sub-Committee to be independent members, one of whom must be present to chair the meeting;

(b)               at least one elected member of the District Council to be present at each meeting;  and

(c)               at least one member to be a parish or town council representative if the Sub?Committee was dealing with a complaint in respect of the conduct of a councillor in the capacity of a local council member.

The Committee considered terms of reference for the Assessments Sub-Committee and the Reviews Sub-Committee.

The Sub-Committee determined that having regard for the need to call meetings of the Assessments Sub-Committee urgently to comply with the 20 day time limit the membership of such Sub-Committees should be determined by the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider the attached revised article 9 of the Council’s Constitution and recommend its adoption to the Council.

The Committee considered a proposed revised Article 9 of the Council’s Constitution reflecting the new duties.

            RESOLVED:

            That a report be submitted to the Council recommending adoption of the revised Article 9 attached as Appendix 5 to these minutes.

Recommendation:

(1)        To note the steps being taken by the Local Assessment Officer to introduce the new procedures for dealing with complaints against Councillors; and

(2)        To consider any further steps that the Committee wish to take in publicising the scheme.

1.         (Local Assessment Officer) The Standards Board has issued Guidance on the Administration of the Local Assessment Scheme to reflect the Regulations recently issued. The administration of the scheme has meant that arrangements have already been made to publicise the new complaints system:

(a)        on the Council’s website;

(b)        by placing a public notice in the local newspaper;

(c)        putting an article into the Council’s own magazine, the Forrester; and

(d)        Issueing a press release.

2.         The Standards Committee and the Local Democracy  webpages now include a link to a new page on Councillor Conduct which gives information about our scheme, a suggested complaint form (attached); links to the Code of Conduct and the (currently draft) Assessment Criteria (attached to an earlier report).

3.         The Standards Board has also set up a reporting system for local complaints. Local Authority Standards Committees are required to submit a return at the end of each quarter on the number and types of complaints. The system also enables the tracking of complaints and the results of the Assessments, Reviews, and Hearings to be monitored. The expectation of the Standards Board is that Assessments will be carried out within a period of 20 working days of receipt and that any Hearings will be completed within a three month period.

The Committee noted that the Standards Board for England had issued guidance on the administration of the local assessment scheme.  In compliance with that guidance the new system had already been published:

(a)        on the Council’s website;

(b)        by placing a public notice in the local newspaper;

(c)        by placing an article in the Council’s own magazine, the Forester;  and

(d)        by issuing a press release.

The Committee also noted that the Standards Committee and the Local Democracy web pages on the Council’s website now included a link to a new page on councillor conduct which gave information about the scheme.

The Committee considered a suggested complaint form to be included on the website.

The Committee also noted that the Standards Board for England had set up a reporting system for local complaints.  Local authorities’ Standard Committees were required to submit a return at the end of each quarter on the number and types of complaints.  The system would also enable the tracking of complaints and the results of the assessments, reviews, and hearings to be monitored.

            RESOLVED:

            (1)        That the steps being taken by the Local Assessment Officer to introduce the new procedures for dealing with complaints against councillors be noted; 

            (2)        That the notes accompanying the proposed complaint form be amended to reflect the views of the Committee;  and

(3)        That the clerks of parish and town councils be advised of the new procedures and invited to contact District Council officers for clarification, if required.

(Monitoring Officer) The calendar for 2008/09 provides for meetings of the Committee on 15 July 2008, 13 October 2008, 27 January 2009 and 14 April 2009.

Additional meetings can be arranged as and when required by the Committee.

The Committee noted that the calendar for 2008/09 provided for meetings of the Committee on 15 July 2008, 13 October 2008, 27 January 2009 and 14 April 2009.

Members were advised that in the light of this additional meeting there was no business to be considered at the meeting scheduled for 15 July 2008.

            RESOLVED:

            That the meeting scheduled for 15 July 2008 be cancelled.

The Committee was advised that there was a need to hold a meeting of the Assessments Sub?Committee as three complaints relating to two District Councillors had been received since the new procedures had come into force.

The Committee considered the make up of an Assessments Sub-Committee and the date for a meeting.

            RESOLVED:

            (1)        That arrangements be made for a meeting of the Assessments Sub?Committee comprising Mr M Wright (Chairman), Councillor Mrs P Smith and Councillor Mrs D Borton;  and

            (2)        That the meeting be held on 15 July 2008 commencing at 10.00 a.m.