Meeting documents

Standards Committee
Thursday, 15th February, 2007 7.00 am

Date:
Thursday, 15th February, 2007
Time:
7.00
Place:
Lancashire Fusiliers Room Town Hall Bury
 

Attendance Details

Present:
Councillors D M Cassidy, V D D’Albert and T Holt
Co-opted:
A Brown, A Loyns (in the Chair), K Wainwright and
A Withington
Apologies for absence:
Councillors D M Cassidy, V D D’Albert and T Holt
Buttons
Item Description Decision
Open
S.1002 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Preamble for item S.1002
 
S.1003 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
Preamble for item S.1003
 
S.1004 MINUTES
Preamble for item S.1004
Delegated Decision:

1.That the Minutes be approved as a correct record.

2.That a further request be made to non-responding Elected Members to complete the Ethical Governance Survey with an indication as to what will happen with the results and an explanation as to the importance of completing the form.

3.That the findings emanating from the Ethical Governance Survey be the subject of a report back to this Committee and be communicated to all Elected Members through the Standards Bulletin.
S.1005 REVISED MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT
Preamble for item S.1005
Delegated decisions:

1. That the suggested responses to the specific questions set out in the report form the basis of this Council’s comments on the consultation paper, together with a request that clarification is provided on what is considered to be bullying.

2. That the timetable and potential implications for the Annual Meeting be noted.

3. That a recommendation be made to Council that the 10 “general principles” of local government conduct be included within the Council’s Constitution.
S.1006 CODE OF CONDUCT FOR NON VOTING REPRESENTATIVES
Preamble for item S.1006
RECOMMENDED

1. That non-voting co-opted representatives be issued with the Code and asked to sign to indicate that they have received it and understand the issues incorporated.

2. That training be made available to non-voting co-opted Members in order to explain fully the provisions of the Code of Conduct.

S.1007 STANDARDS ISSUES
Preamble for item S.1007
It was agreed:

That the following issues be considered further:-

• That when considering its Work Programme, the Committee consider including in-depth reviews of sections of the Code and, in particular, the Committee look at the issue of bullying and consider any protocols currently in existence within the Council.

• That a progress report be sought on the consideration by the Healthier Communities Scrutiny Commission of Care Agencies providing services, in light of the Ombudsman case reported previously to this Committee.

• That the Committee consider training for Members, including the content of that training.
The meeting started at 7.00 pm and ended at 8.05 pm.

Preamble

Preamble
ItemPreamble
S.1002There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.
S.1003There were no members of the public present to ask questions under this item.
S.1004The minutes of the meeting held on 28 September 2006 were submitted.

Further to Minute S.533, Ethical Governance Survey, it was reported that there had been a low response to the request for Members to complete the questionnaire.

With regard to Minute S.534, it was reported that the findings of the Resource and Performance Scrutiny Commission on the complaints procedure would be referred to the Executive on 21 February 2007 and that a copy of the report would be made available to Members of this Committee.
S.1005The Monitoring Officer submitted a report which provided details of the proposed changes to the Code Conduct for Councillors and which recommended responses to the Government’s consultation on the proposed changes.
S.1006It was reported that since the approval and issuing of this Code, a number of non-voting co-opted Members had expressed concern that they were being asked to sign up to a statutory Code, even though it was acknowledged that the Code was not statutory or enforceable.

S.1007An invitation was provided for Members to raise any issues arising from the work of the Committee.