Agenda item

Report attached.

The Monitoring Officer, Jacqui Dennis reported a revised code of conduct was previously agreed by the Members of the Standards Committee and subsequently agreed by Council. The Committee recommended that the code was annually reviewed by this Committee whilst Members had also adopted a guide to the code.

Previously, the Standards Committee approved a revised Member code of conduct following a recommendation from a subgroup of the Committee. Consideration was given to the Council’s existing Code of Conduct for Members following the publication of the Local Government Ethical Standards report produced by the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) and the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Model Code of Conduct (LGA’s Model Code). At that time, it was noted that the code had not been updated following the introduction of a revised model code. Members considered the guidance in detail and a new code was agreed.

At a subsequent Standards meeting on the 3^rd April 2024, Members agreed guidance to accompany the code of conduct. The Guidance was brought forward by the Committee to assist and aid members understanding of the code and to give examples of what behaviour may result in a breach of the code of conduct.

Training on the revised code was provided to all Members following the introduction of the new code. Training on the code is provided annually by the Monitoring Officer.

Members were asked to review the code and consider whether any revisions are needed to the code or guidance. Any changes to the code would need to be approved by Council. Therefore, Monitoring Officer would welcome Members view on whether there are particular areas of the code that should be the focus for the next Member training later this year.

A Member asked was there anything missing from the code or had anything cropped up over the last 12 months. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that bullying and harassment is a frequent complaint made but at times there is not enough evidence to proceed with an investigation. Social media issues had also seen a rise and work was required on Member safety guidance to combat any inappropriate behaviour by members of the public.

The Independent Member, Craig Ainsworth commented that Members can be unwittingly goaded by members of the public online resulting in a complaint being submitted and they should think carefully before instantly replying. This could be included in the training and that the tone of a reply via social media should be appropriate. He added that training was provided to individual political groups last year and those Councillors who did not attend should be informed to attend the session this year and group leaders informed. Any Member not trained for over 12 months should be flagged.

The Monitoring Officer would liaise with group whips and Councillor Rahimov commented that the handbook advised Members must attend.

It was agreed:-

That Members would review the code of conduct (Appendix 1) and guidance to Members on the code of conduct (Appendix 2) and communicate to the Monitoring Officer any revisions to the code and guidance following the review.