Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

The following membership changes were noted:

·       Councillor Mike Sankey had been removed from the Committee and Councillor Richard Britton had been added to the Committee as a full member.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 3 October 2024 (copy attached).

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 3 October 2024 were presented for consideration.

It was;

Resolved

To approve and sign the minutes as a true and correct record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

In relation to Item 7 – Referral of Motions from Full Council, Motion 2025-03 Procedure for appointment of Portfolio Holders, Councillors Bill Parks and Allison Bucknell noted for openness that they currently held Portfolio Posts. As this did not constitute a disclosable interest, both Councillors stated that they would take part in discussion and the vote on this item.

There were no announcements.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on 2 April 2025 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on4 April 2024. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

No questions were submitted within the timeframe as set out in the agenda.

To note the Status Report on the current position on Code of Conduct Complaints.

The Committee received the status report, updating on the number and
outcome of Code of Conduct complaints received since the last meeting on 3 October 2024 and providing a summary of the complaints considered by the
Assessment Sub-Committee (ASC).

Between 24 September 2024 and 31 March 2025, the Monitoring Officer (MO) received 44 complaintsunder codes of conduct. Of these:

·       37 had been dismissed by the MO, for varying reasons, including that the actions were of a corporate body rather than an individual councillor, where multiple complaints related to the same incident, where a complaint was out of time, where they related to the actions of a councillor in their private capacity and where the subject member was no longer a councillor.

·       1 was withdrawn by the complainant.

·       2 were determined as requiring No Further Action by the ASC.

·       2 had been referred by the ASC to the MO for alternative resolution (an apology from the subject member).

·       2 were awaiting assessment by the MO.

Under Protocol 11 – Arrangements for Dealing with Code of Conduct Complaints, the council aimed to assess all such complaints within 5 working days of receiving the subject member’s response.

The 5-day target was often challenging due to the complexity of a complaints, the requirement for legal input and the need to review large amounts of background information. During the period noted above, complaints assessed by, or on behalf of the MO took an average of 6.1 working days.

No complaints had been referred for investigation by the ASC during the period.

A table of current cases had been provided to the Chairman on multiple occasions for a dip sample of cases to be undertaken to enable oversight.

The Chairman noted that the team dealing with what was sometimes a large number of complaints was very small and suggested that the 5-day deadline may be an unrealistic target for turnaround of a response, considering the often-complex nature of the code of conduct complaints.

The Committee discussed the impact of increasing the response target to 10 days. Whilst this was supported by some members of the committee, others felt that increasing the target would lead to a slowed down process and would draw out the time frame for Subject Members to wait for a decision.

The Chairman moved the motion to amend the response target to 10 days from 5. This was seconded by Cllr Ruth Hopkinson.

Following a vote, the motion was not carried.

It was also confirmed that when the Hearing Sub-Committee found a breach of the code of conduct and applied sanctions to a Subject Member of a Town or Parish Council, the Complaints Team followed up on each case by seeking feedback of the implementation of sanctions.

After a discussion, it was,

Resolved:

To note the position on Code of Conduct Complaints.

To consider two motions referred to the Committee by Full Council on 25 February 2025:

• Motion 2025-02 – Cllrs Jon Hubbard and Ian Thorn – Questions Procedure at Cabinet Meetings
• Motion 2025-03 – Cllrs Edward Kirk and Mike Sankey – Procedure for appointment of Portfolio Holders

The Committee considered two motions which had been referred by Full Council on 25 February 2025. Both of the motions related to proposed changes to the Constitution and are set out below:

·       Motion 2025-02 – Cllrs Jon Hubbard and Ian Thorn – Questions Procedure at Cabinet Meetings

·       Motion 2025-03 – Cllrs Edward Kirk and Mike Sankey – Procedure for appointment of Portfolio Holders

Motion 2025-02

This motion sought to update and amend the rules for public participation at Cabinet meetings.

The Committee noted that current Cabinet Procedure Rules as set out in Part 7 of the Constitution, gave broad discretion to the Leader of the Council, stating that the arrangements would be kept under review and were a matter for determination by the Leader, which had been the case since the formation of Wiltshire Council in 2009.

Part 7 was last reviewed in 2024, having not been updated since 2010. The updated Part 7 was approved by Full Council on 21 May 2024, retaining the Leader’s discretion on public participation arrangements.

The motion sought to permit Members to ask a maximum of three questions at the beginning of Cabinet meetings without notice, and without the question needing to relate to items on the agenda. At present the Leader had indicated that questions may be asked without notice, but only for items on the agenda, with any questions not relating to items on the agenda requiring three clear days’ notice.

If approved, the suggestion was for a 12 months review, to ensure that there was an appropriate balance between democratic scrutiny and meeting efficiency.

The Committee was asked to consider whether it supported the principle of the changes proposed by Motion 2025-02 and if so to consider the appropriate constitutional wording for such a principle.

Cllr Jon Hubbard, as lead submitter of the notice of motion made a statement, setting some background and addressing the reasons for the motion. Cllr Hubbard stated that previously members had been able to ask questions at Cabinet meetings which did not relate to matters of business on the agenda and without having to submit such questions in advance. It was suggested that this practice allowed members to address local issues relevant to their constituents directly and publicly and enabled an instant response by the relevant Cabinet member without intervention by officers.

The Committee discussed the current process which allowed for questions on items on the agenda without prior notice, but excluded other questions relating to matters not on the agenda.

The Committee discussed an option of allowing up to a maximum of three questions per member on matters unrelated to the agenda items, but that to enable tabled business to be conducted efficiently within the meeting time available, suggested that these be taken at the end of the agenda.

The Committee also discussed the option for all members to contact Cabinet members at any time to seek information and responses to queries and it was suggested that therefore there was no requirement to introduce a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To note the update on the council’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) operational policy for Elected Members, to recommend basic checks for all elected Members, and enhanced checks for those in particular positions as specified.

The Committee considered the report which set out the Council’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) operational policy for Elected Members and the recommendations for basic checks for all elected Members, and enhanced checks for those in particular positions as specified in the report.

It was noted that in accordance with Ministerial Best Practice, the council currently undertook Enhanced DBS checks for Members in positions and roles likely or potentially involving work with children’s services or vulnerable adults, or exempt information relating to them, which amounted to approximately 25% of all Members.

The Committee considered the various approaches taken with regards to DBS checks by other authorities and noted that the Corporate Leadership Team had updated the extent of checks which took place at the Council, with those in the following roles currently requested to undertake enhanced DBS checks:

• All Members of the Cabinet
• Relevant Portfolio Holders (eg those relating to Children and Vulnerable Adults)
• All Members and Substitutes of the Corporate Parenting Panel and Safeguarding Children & Young People Panel
• Any Member that carries out at Regulation 44 inspection visits to any Wiltshire Council residential settings.
• All Members and Substitutes of the Children’s Select Committee and Health Select Committee
• Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee
• Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Health and Wellbeing Board
• Any Member appointed to a Task Group or Working Group reviewing the provision of children’s services or services for vulnerable adults.

The Committee discussed the confidential aspect of the process in that a person having a DBS check was not obliged to disclose the results further if they so wished.

It was explained that in practice, all members would be asked to agree to a standard DBS check being carried out at the start of the 4-year term of office, and that it would be for each member to decide whether to share the results confidentially with the Monitoring Officer (MO). Should any issues be raised and shared with the MO, the matter would be assessed on its own merits in terms of making a safeguarding judgement only. A member could also not be mandated to undertake a check.

The Committee discussed the scope of a Councillors role which extended beyond being a member on a committee where safeguarding was a consideration, noting that may members were invited to organised community events and at times, into residents’ homes. It was noted that whilst having all members take a DBS check may give the public some level of a sense of assurance, the DBS check was not absolute.

Members discussed the possibility of a person with a clear DBS check being able to carry out actions at any time thereafter which could raise safeguarding concerns and noted that in some scenarios DBS clearance could lead to a false sense of security.

The Committee discussed but did not support listing whether a member had undertaken a DBS on the council’s website.

The Chairman invited Cllr Jon Hubbard in his capacity as Chairman of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

There were no urgent items.