| S.1577 | The Chair referred to the recent sad death of Councillor Fitzgerald who had been a member of this Committee. Members observed a short silence in her memory.
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| S.1578 | No declarations of interest were made at the meeting.
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| S.1579 | There were no members of the public present at the meeting.
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| S.1581 | A report of the Monitoring Officer was submitted which presented to Members a report of the Ombudsman in respect of a complaint against the Council.
It was reported that the complaint was in respect of inspection and registration services for adults, which were no longer provided by the Council, and the Ombudsman had found that the Complainant had suffered maladministration causing injustice.
In accordance with the requirements set out under Section 30 of the Local Government Act 1974 the necessary press announcements had been made and the report had been placed on deposit as required.
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| S.1582 | A report of the Monitoring Officer was submitted which presented to Members a report of the Ombudsman in respect of a complaint against the Council.
It was reported that the complaint was in respect of a planning and drainage issue and the Ombudsman had found that the Complainant had suffered maladministration causing injustice.
In accordance with the requirements set out under Section 30 of the Local Government Act 1974 the necessary press announcements had been made and the report had been placed on deposit as required.
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| S.1583 | The report of the Monitoring Officer was submitted which presented to Members statistics supplied by the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman supplied provisional statistics on complaints made against the Council which were to be used for two purposes:-
-The figures relating to complaints determined for 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 would be included in the Ombudsman’s Annual Report on the 2003/2004 year.
-The full set of statistics would form an integral part of the Annual Letter to the Council which would be sent in June 2004.
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| S.1584 | A report of the Monitoring Officer was submitted which proposed a response to issues raised by the Draft Regulations and Guidance on Local Investigation of Allegations of Misconduct. The report contained proposed responses in respect of the following Key Issues in the consultation:-
-Criteria for reference for local investigation
-The scope of investigatory powers
-Reference back to the Standards Board
-The procedure for local hearings
-Confidentiality of Ethical Standards Officers reports
-3 month time limit for hearings
-Seeking additional information
-Evidence of additional breaches
-Sanctions available to the Standards Committee
-Notification to the Standards Committee of reference for local investigation.
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| S.1585 | The Chair allowed the following item to be dealt with as Urgent Business in order to enable a recommendation to go to Council at its Annual Meeting.
Resignation of Independent Member
It was reported that Mr James Lodge had resigned as an Independent Member of this Committee. Mr Lodge had been appointed for a two year period until May 2005. It was therefore recommended that the term of office of Ann Brown be extended by one year to May 2005 and that a replacement be sought for Mr Lodge.
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| S.1586 | The Chair thanked Members for the contributions during the current Municipal Year and he in turn was thanked by Members for the way in which he had chaired meetings of this Committee.
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