Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:

That G Weltch be elected Chairman of the meeting.

(Chief Executive) To declare interests in any item on the agenda.

Pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct, Councillor B Rolfe declared a personal interest in Agenda item 4 (Local Assessment Case EFDC 2/2008) by virtue of being a member of the same political group as the member who was the subject of the complaint.  Councillor Rolfe determined that his interest was not prejudicial.

The Sub-Committee are asked to note the attached Assessment criteria agreed by the Standards Committee at their meeting on 2 July 2008.

Also attached for members reference is the Code of Conduct for Members which was adopted by the Council at its meeting on 28 June 2008.

The Sub-Committee noted the Assessment criteria agreed by the Standards Committee for local assessment cases.  The Sub-Committee received a copy of the Council’s Code of Conduct for Members which had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 28 June 2008.

Exclusion: To consider whether, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press should be excluded from the meeting for the items of business set out below on grounds that they will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the following paragraph(s) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended) or are confidential under Section 100(A)(2):

The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, which came into effect on 1 March 2006, requires the Council to consider whether maintaining the exemption listed above outweighs the potential public interest in disclosing the information. Any member who considers that this test should be applied to any currently exempted matter on this agenda should contact the proper officer at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.

Furthermore, where a meeting of a Standards Committee or a Sub-Committee of a Standards Committee is convened to consider a matter referred under the provisions of Section 64(2) or 71(2) of the Local Government Act the provisions of Schedule 12A of the 1972 Act shall apply with the addition of the following descriptions of exempt information:

(a)   information which is subject to any obligation of confidentiality;

(b)   information which relates in any way to matters concerning national security;

(c)   the deliberations of a standards committee or of a sub-committee of a standards committee established under the provisions of Part 3 of the Local Government Act 2000 in reaching any finding on a matter referred under the provisions of section 60(2) or (3), 64(2), 70(4) or (5) or 71(2) of that Act.

Confidential Items Commencement: Paragraph 9 of the Council Procedure Rules contained in the Constitution require:

(1)        All business of the Council requiring to be transacted in the presence of the press and public to be completed by 10.00 p.m. at the latest.

(2)        At the time appointed under (1) above, the Chairman shall permit the completion of debate on any item still under consideration, and at his or her discretion, any other remaining business whereupon the Council shall proceed to exclude the public and press.

(3)        Any public business remaining to be dealt with shall be deferred until after the completion of the private part of the meeting, including items submitted for report rather than decision.

Background Papers:  Paragraph 8 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution define background papers as being documents relating to the subject matter of the report which in the Proper Officer's opinion:

(a)        disclose any facts or matters on which the report or an important part of the report is based;  and

(b)        have been relied on to a material extent in preparing the report and does not include published works or those which disclose exempt or confidential information (as defined in Rule 10) and in respect of executive reports, the advice of any political advisor.

Inspection of background papers may be  ...  view the full agenda text for item 4.

RESOLVED:

That the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the item of business set out below on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and it is considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information:

Agenda Item                 Subject                                                  Exempt Information

Number                                                                                        Paragraph Number

4                                     Local Assessment Case                                         1

                                       EFDC 2/2008

To consider the attached restricted report.

The Sub-Committee considered complaint 2/2008 made against a District Councillor.  Miss C O’Boyle (Monitoring Officer) was present at the meeting to advise the Sub-Committee as required on details of the Code of Conduct and Local Assessment criteria relative to the complaint and the procedure to be followed in order to ensure proper consideration was given to the complaint.  Mr G Lunnun (Allegations Determination Manager) was present at the meeting to outline the complaint for the Sub-Committee and to record the decisions of the Sub-Committee in relation to the complaint.

The Sub-Committee had before them the following documents which were taken into consideration:

(a)        letter dated 26 June 2008 from the complainant setting out his complaint and enclosures including two letters to the complainant from the Councillor complained about and photographs;

(b)        letter dated 30 June 2008 from the Local Assessment Officer of the Council to the complainant;

(c)        letter dated 3 July 2008 from the complainant submitting further details of his complaint;

(d)        copy of the Councillor’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office;

(e)        a summary of the complaint;

(f)         a copy of the Council’s Local Assessment of Complaints criteria;

(g)        a copy of the Council’s adopted Code of Conduct;

(h)        a copy of the decision notice issued following a meeting of the Assessments Sub-Committee on 15 July 2008;

(i)         letters dated 21 and 24 July 2008 from the complainant requesting a review of the decision of the Assessments Sub-Committee.

The Sub-Committee considered all of the evidence in order to determine whether:

(a)        the allegation should be referred to the Monitoring Officer for investigation or some other action such as mediation or training;

(b)        the allegation should be referred to the Standards Board for England; or

(c)        no action should be taken in respect of the allegation and the complainant and the member concerned should be advised of the reasons for that decision.

            RESOLVED:

            That, having considered Complaint 2/2008 against the Assessment criteria agreed by the Standards Committee at their meeting on 2 July 2008, no action be taken on the complaint for the following reasons:

            (a)        some of the incidents complained of took place in 2006 more than a year ago and at a time when the Councillor concerned was not a District Councillor;

            (b)        some of the incidents complained of may have taken place during the last year at a time when the Councillor concerned was a District Councillor but the evidence submitted is not clear; and

            (c)        in any event, all of the evidence that has been submitted shows that the allegations relate to acts carried out in the Councillor’s private life, and that he was not conducting the business of the Authority and was not claiming to act or give the impression that he was acting as a representative of the Authority.