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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Online

Contact: Kieran Elliott 

Media

Items
No. Item

31.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Howard Greenman and Ruth Hopkinson.

32.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2021.

 

To receive the minutes of the Hearing Sub-Committee held on 17 March 2021.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2021 and the minutes of the Hearing Sub-Committee held on 17 March 2021 were presented for consideration. It was noted that the Hearing Sub-Committee had been an unusual case where a Review Sub-Committee had recommended the Hearing go ahead even though the Subject Member had resigned as a parish councillor.


It was then,

 

Resolved:

 

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting on 4 February 2021 as a true and correct record.

 

To receive the minutes of the Hearing Sub-Committee held on 17 March 2021.

33.

Declarations of Interest

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

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations.

34.

Chairman's Announcements

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

Minutes:

Through the Chair there were the following announcements:

 

To note that a further Hearing Sub-Committee was held on 7 April 2021, which resolved that no breach had occurred in that case. The Chairman commented that this was third Hearing in the past year, after four years without a Hearing being held.

 

To note that the Constitution, in particular Part 2, would be updated to reflect recent changes to the Senior Officer Management Structure.

 

To note that the Monitoring Officer, Ian Gibbons, would be retiring from the Council in May 2021 after 33 years’ service. The Chairman paid tribute to the advice, support and hard work Ian had provided across many years, with further tributes made at the end of the meeting.

35.

Public Participation

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

 

Guidance on how to participate in the meeting online

 

Access this link to view the meeting

 

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda no later than 5pm on 12 April 2021.

 

Questions

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 7 April 2021 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on9 April 2021. 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.

 

Minutes:

There were no questions or statements submitted.

36.

Recruitment of Independent Persons

To recommend Council ratify the appointment of three Independent Persons.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

At its meeting on 7 October 202o the Committee delegated to the Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Chairman arrangements for the recruitment of three Independent Persons appointed under s28(7) of the Localism Act to assist with the determination Code of Conduct complaints.

 

The Chairman detailed that an advertisement had taken place in February-March 2021, and there had been a significant number of applications for the positions, many of high quality.

 

Nine applicants had been interviewed, and the Chairman thanked Councillors Richard Britton and Stuart Wheeler for sitting on the interview panel, and to Ian Gibbons, Monitoring Officer, and Caroline Baynes, current Independent Person, for supporting that process.

 

The panel recommended the appoint of three applicants, and the Committee’s endorsement was sought to make that recommendation to Full Council for terms beginning in May 2021.

 

The Chairman also expressed thanks to the Independent Persons who had not sought reappointment after serving two terms, Caroline Baynes and Stuart Middleton, and would write a letter of appreciation on behalf of the Committee.

 

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

 

Resolved:

 

To recommend that Council appoint the following candidates as Independent Persons:

 

Patricia Bunche

Tony Drew

Damian Kearney

37.

Urgent Items

Any other items which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

The Chairman led tributes to the Monitoring Officer, Ian Gibbons, who would be retiring in May after 33 years’ service with the Council. Members gave deep thanks to Mr Gibbons for his hard work, patience and support particularly to Members ever since the Unitary Council had been formed in 2009, and his service beforehand, wished him very well in his well-earned retirement.

 

The Chairman also took the opportunity to note that the advertisement for the four co-opted member positions would be public shortly, and expressed his thanks to the existing co-opted members, particularly for their assistance with Code of Conduct complaints: Richard Baxter, Philip Gill MBE, Michael Lockhart and Pam Turner.