Meeting documents

Standards Committee
Thursday, 16th February, 2006 7.00 pm

Date:
Thursday, 16th February, 2006
Time:
7.00pm
Place:
Lancashire Fusiliers Room, Town Hall, Bury
 

Attendance Details

Present:
Councillor K Audin (in the Chair);
Councillors R C A Brown, V D D’Albert, J Grimshaw, T Holt and J F Walton.

There were no members of the public in attendance at the meeting

Co-opted:
A Brown, A Loyns, K Wainwright and A Withington.

Apologies for absence:
Councillor E B Briggs
Buttons
Item Description Decision
Open
S.1101 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
 There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.
S.1102 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
 There were no members of the public present to ask questions under this item.
S.1103 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
 Delegated Decision:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2005 be approved and signed as a correct record.
S.1104 STANDARDS OF CONDUCT IN ENGLISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT:
THE FUTURE
Preamble for item S.1104
Delegated Decision:

That the report be noted.
S.1105 CODE OF CONDUCT - NON-VOTING REPRESENTATIVES
Preamble for item S.1105
RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL:

That the Code of Conduct for Non-Voting Representatives as submitted be adopted by this Council.
S.1106 STANDARDS BULLETIN - MARCH 2006
Preamble for item S.1106
Delegated decision:

That the items set out above be included in the March 2006 Standards Bulletin
S.1107 GOING LOCAL - INVESTIGATIONS AND HEARINGS
Preamble for item S.1107
 
S.1108 MR A WITHINGTON - EXPIRY OF TERM OF OFFICE
Preamble for item S.1108
 
S.1109 EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC
 Delegated decision:

That in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business since it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information, namely, information relating to a former recipient of the service provided by the Authority.
Exempt
S.1110 OMBUDSMAN CASE - SOCIAL SERVICES
  
The meeting started at 7.00 pm and ended at 8.30 pm

Preamble

Preamble
ItemPreamble
S.1104The Monitoring Officer submitted a report which considered the main recommendations of the Government Paper entitled ‘Standards of Conduct in English Local Government: The Future’ which was published on 15 December 2005.

The changes proposed in the Paper involved the role of Local Standards Committees in relation to the Standards Board and changes to the Code of Conduct for Members.

In future, local Standards Committees would be responsible for investigating and determining most cases with initial assessment of all misconduct allegations being undertaken by Standards Committees, rather than the Standards Board, which would become a more strategic and advisory body.

The Standards Board had received a good deal of comment on the Code of Conduct which it had made available to the Government.

As a result, a number of changes would be made which would ultimately make the Code clearer and simpler. In particular, changes would be made to the regime for declarations of interest and speaking at Council meetings, particularly for Members who serve on other public bodies. In addition, the ‘whistleblowing’ obligation to report breaches of the Code would be abolished.

The Government would also be introducing a Code of Conduct for Employees.

The Independent Members on the Committee felt that the Paper provided yet more support for the view that the Chair of the Standards Committee should be an Independent Member. They pointed out that this arrangement existed in a number of other authorities.

S.1105The Monitoring Officer submitted a draft Code of Conduct for Non-Voting Representatives whereby such persons would be required to sign up to the Statutory Code of Conduct once nominated to serve on a committee in a non- voting capacity.

Final approval of the proposal would be required from the Council as it necessitated an amendment to the Council’s Constitution.
S.1106The following suggestions were made regarding the contents of the Standards Bulletin for March 2006:-

• Standards Hearing - a debriefing had now taken place and it was suggested that issues raised would be addressed in the Bulletin. In particular, it was considered that hearings at this Authority had been run on a professional and efficient basis and the positive aspects of such hearings should be stressed. At the same time, particular reference would be made to the issue of timescale and the need to hear all complaints within the three month statutory deadline, was seen as critically important.

• The high profile Islington case had resulted in criticism of the Standards Board and it was considered useful for Members to be aware of this.

• Items from this meeting. It was suggested that a summary of the reports on Standards of Conduct in English Local Government and information on the Code of Conduct for Non-Voting Representatives be included.

S.1107A DVD produced by the Standards Board for England was shown to Members which explained how investigations should be undertaken locally and how Standards Hearings should be conducted if an investigation found that there had been a breach of the Code of Conduct.

S.1108It was reported that although he was entitled to apply for membership again, the term of office of Mr Withington had expired and Members wished to place on record their sincere appreciation for his efforts as an Independent Member of this Committee.