Agenda and minutes

The Chairman thanked co-opted members for their responses on their interest with regard to moving forward to the new committee. The current position on membership was noted as elected member appointments taking place at Council on 15 May 2012, and co-opted member appointments proposed for Council on 26 June 2012.

To receive any declarations of personal or prejudicial interests.

The revised Planning Code of Good Practice for Members of Wiltshire Council was presented by the Monitoring Officer.  He explained that the Code had been modified to reflect changes to the rules on pre-determination in the Localism Act.  He added that it would need to come back to the Standards Committee at some time in the future to reflect changes in planning law arising from the Localism Act and regulations and new rules to be issued on declaration of interests.

Resolved:

To recommend Council:

(1)  to adopt The Planning Code of Good Practice for Members of Wiltshire Council as amended.

(2)  to note that further revisions will be required when the regulations on planning and declaration of pecuniary interests are available.

Councillor Carter introduced the report which looked at ways to change Overview and Scrutiny to make it more effective. The Scrutiny Manager talked through in detail the proposed changes between the current arrangements shown at Appendix A and those proposed at Appendix B, and a detailed discussion took place.

Concern was raised over the ability of the new sub-committees to set up task groups and the requirement for this to be agreed by the main committee. Following a debate it was agreed that Appendix B should be amended as follows:-

• In the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee box, replace the fourth bullet point with ‘Establish sub-committees/endorse the formation of task groups/appoint representatives to project boards and delegate responsibility as appropriate’
• In each of the three sub-committee boxes remove the wording ‘with the agreement of the Management Committee’

Questions were raised regarding the fourth bullet point in the Budget Overview and Scrutiny Task Group box on Appendix B in that a broader membership might be preferable, similar to the sub-committees.

Questions also raised on the role of the proposed new management committee were clarified by the Monitoring Officer, who explained that there was no intention to stifle initiative in the proposed new structure, rather to ensure that functions and resources were used to best effect on matters prioritised with council objectives. 

Resolved:

To recommend to Council:

1. To approve the outcome of the Overview and Scrutiny Review as set out in the report, subject to the following amendments:-

·          In the Overview and Management Committee box, replace the fourth bullet point with ‘Establish sub-committees/endorse the formation of task groups/appoint representatives to project groups and delegate responsibility as appropriate’

·          In each of the three Sub-Committee boxes remove the wording “with the agreement of the Management Committee”

Draft Code of Conduct

The Monitoring Officer introduced the draft Code of Conduct drawn up by the Standards Task and Finish Group. It was agreed that paragraphs 15 to 19, relating to members interests, would need to be reviewed once the regulations governing the registration and disclosure of pecuniary interests had been released. He explained that the draft Code is based upon the DCLG illustrative text for a code, but included additional provisions to ensure clarity and enforceability.

It was helpful to refer to the Roles and Responsibilities of Wiltshire Councillors, set out in the Council’s Constitution, by way of a preamble to the document. However, it was understood that town and parish councillors would not be expected to adopt this.

The Member Support in the Locality Task Group had considered the draft Code and proposed complaints process. A note of their discussions was tabled at the meeting and fully discussed.

It was agreed to take the draft Code to Council on 15 May for initial consideration and approval for consultation with town and parish councils and for final approval by council at its meeting on 26 June.

Draft Arrangements for dealing with Code of Conduct Complaints under the Localism Act 2011

Members considered the comments of the Member Support in the Locality Task Group in respect of the arrangements for dealing with code of conduct complaints. 

Following a debate it was agreed to support the changes recommended by the Panel, save that:

• the time limit for complaints to be submitted should be within 20 working days on which the complainant became aware of the matter giving rise to the complaint.
  
  
• the  aim should be to complete cases within 3.5 months -  20 working days to initial assessment - 30 working days for investigation and 20 working days to hearing.  This excludes requests for extension by the member, time spent on reviews and exploring alternative resolution. 
  
  

Paragraph 4.8 a. should be amended to read - to dismiss the complaint or take no further action on the complaint.’

Resolved: To recommend council at its meeting on 15 May 2012:

1. To approve the draft code of conduct attached to the report for consultation with Wiltshire Councillors and Parish, Town and City Councils before final approval is sought at its meeting on 26 June 2012, subject to paragraph 1 of the draft being moved to form part of the preamble.
   
   
   
2. To amend the Arrangements for dealing with Code of Conduct Complaints to reflect the comments of the Member Support in the Locality Task Group, as set out above, for consideration by Council as resolved previously.

Any other items of business, which in the opinion of the Chairman, should be taken as a matter of urgency.  Urgent items of a confidential nature may be considered under Part II of this agenda.