S.973 | The Minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on the 30 October 2002, were submitted. Further to Minute S.654, 'Minutes of the Audit Sub-Committee,' it was asked that the further report on the Car Loan Scheme be made available for the next meeting of this Committee.
Mr Withington asked for clarification on the current position regarding payments to Independent Members and on how applications from Independent Members to serve on the Remuneration Panel had been dealt with. The Acting Director of Legal and Democratic Services reported that although the Government had announced its intention to enable meetings allowances to be paid to Co-opted and Independent Members, this had yet to be implemented. However, in light of the Government's intention in this regard, it had not been considered appropriate for Independent Members of the Standards Committee to also be Members of the Independent Remuneration Panel.
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S.974 | No declarations of interest were made under this item at the meeting. |
S.975 | No members of the public attended the meeting to raise questions about issues within the remit of this Committee. |
S.977 | A report by the Executive Member for Resource was submitted which presented the outcome of the Performance (Best Value) Review of Bury MBC's Corporate Governance arrangements, together with the Improvement Plan.
Particular issues raised by Members were as follows:-
The Committee would welcome any improvements which reduce the level of departmentalism and create an holistic approach to service provision.
Staff need to feel empowered when carrying out their duties.
Documents like this one should be written in a format which is easily understood at all levels of the organisation.
Information should be provided on partnership working and the nature of agreements in place between a particular group or organisation and the Council.
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S.978 | The Monitoring Officer submitted a report on the responsibilities, which would in the future fall upon Standards Committee and Monitoring Officers, for dealing with misconduct allegations when they are made against Council Members. Examples of procedures drafted as a means of dealing with such allegations were included with the report.
It was reported that the Standards Board had indicated that Regulations to be drafted under Section 66 of the Local Government Act 2000 had been further delayed. The Government was proposing an amendment to primary legislation in June. Once regulations had been issued it would be necessary to draw up a procedure on behalf of the Council.
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S.979 | The Monitoring Officer reported that bulletins dealing with frequently asked questions would be made available to Members on a regular basis.
A new leaflet entitled 'Members Behaving Badly' had been produced by the Standards Board and additional copies would be obtained so that they could be made available to Members.
The Monitoring Officer also reported that she would be giving a short presentation to Members of the Planning Control Committee on declarations of interests and other related issues.
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