Agenda, decisions and minutes

To confirm the Chairman of the meeting who must be an Independent member.

In accordance with the requirement that the hearing is chaired by an Independent Member, it was

 

Resolved:

To confirm Mr G Robson as Chairman for one meeting only.

 

Mr G Robson in the Chair

 

The Chairman introduced those present, and ran through the procedure, as outlined in the Agenda.

To receive any declarations of personal or prejudicial interest. 

 

There were no declarations of interest by the members of the Sub-committee.

 

Mr Francis Morland, in attendance as a representative of Cllr Maurice Flanagan, the subject member, wished to declare for the record that although he was himself a member of Dilton Marsh Parish Council, and also Wiltshire Council, he had taken no active part in the events preceding the complaint.

To consider passing the following resolution:

 

To agree that in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in Item Number 4 because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in  paragraph 7(c) of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

 

The Chairman explained that following the pre-hearing meeting the members of the Sub-committee were minded to hear the complaint in public, subject to any representations from those present advising or requesting otherwise. In the absence of such representations and in the interests of transparency the Sub-Committee agreed that the matter should be heard in public.

The Chairman asked the investigating officer to summarise the complaint and the relevant facts, as set out in her report. The complaint alleged that Councillor Flanagan had failed to comply with the statutory requirement, in paragraph 13 (1) of the Code of Conduct, to register his interests within 28 days of his appointment as a member of Dilton Marsh Parish Council.

 

In accordance with the Council’s procedure for determination hearings circulated with the agenda the hearing was conducted in three stages, addressing firstly findings of fact, secondly the question of whether there had been a breach of the Code and finally the matter of sanctions.

 

At each stage the Investigator and the Subject Member through his representative were given the opportunity to address the Sub-Committee, and each Member of the Sub-Committee had the opportunity to question them. The Legal Adviser gave advice as and when required.

 

The Sub-Committee adjourned the meeting to consider its decision at each stage of the hearing process and each time the meeting was reconvened the Chairman delivered the Sub-Committee’s findings as detailed in the attached Decision Notice.

 

The Clerk attended the Sub-Committee’s deliberations to record their decision at each stage, and the Legal Adviser was present to advise and assist on matters of law and procedure.

 

Resolved:

 

To determine the complaint as set out in the attached Decision Notice.

 

 

 

 

To consider an investigation report (produced under Section 59 of the Local Government Act 2000) pertaining to a complaint made to the Standards Committee regarding the conduct of Councillor Maurice Flanagan, Dilton Marsh Parish Council.

Please see attached summary.

Please see attached protocol.

Full Decision Notice for a complaint against Councillor Maurice Flanagan, Dilton Marsh Parish Council.

 

 

 

DECISION NOTICE

BREACH OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT – SANCTION IMPOSED

 

Wiltshire Council Reference No: WC 38/09

 

Date of Determination       05^th July 2010

 

Subject Member

Councillor Maurice Flanagan, Dilton Marsh Parish Council

Represented by Mr. Francis Morland                                 

 

Complainant

Mr E Whiting

 

Hearing Sub-Committee Membership

Mr G Robson OBE – Chairman (Independent Co-Opted Member)

Councillor M Hewson (Wiltshire Council Member)

Mr P Neale (Town / Parish Co-Opted Member)

 

Monitoring Officer / Legal Adviser

Mr I Gibbons

 

Investigating Officer

Miss M Lindsay

 

Clerk                           

Mr L Paul

 

Complaint

 

The Hearing Sub-Committee of Wiltshire Council’s Standards Committee met to consider an investigation report on a complaint that Councillor Maurice Flanagan had failed to comply with the Model Code of Conduct for Members, adopted by the Dilton Marsh Parish Council.

 

The complaint alleged that Councillor Flanagan had failed to comply with the statutory requirement, in paragraph 13(1) of the Code of Conduct, to register his interests within 28 days of his appointment as a member of Dilton Marsh Parish Council.

 

Paragraph 13(1) - Subject to paragraph 14, you must, within 28 days of -

a. this Code being adopted by or applied to your authority; or

b.     your election or appointment to office (where that is later),

 

register in your authority’s register of members’ interests…details of your personal interests where they fall within a category mentioned in paragraph 8(1)(a) by providing written notification to your authority’s monitoring officer

 

The complaint was assessed by the Standards Assessment Sub-Committee of Wiltshire Council on 19 November 2009, who referred the complaint to the Monitoring Officer for investigation.

 

The Monitoring Officer delegated his investigatory powers to Miss Marie Lindsay, Investigating Officer, pursuant to section 82A of the Local Government Act 2000.The Investigating Officer found that there had been a breach of paragraph 13(1) of the Code of Conduct.

 

The Investigating Officer’s report, dated 09 March 2010, went before the Standards Consideration Sub-Committee on 15 April 2010, who resolved that the matter should be referred to the Hearing Sub-Committee for determination.

 

A hearing was therefore conducted by the Hearing Sub-Committee of the Standards Committee of Wiltshire Council on 05 July 2010 in accordance with Regulations 18 and 19 of the Standards Committee (England) Regulations 2008 and the Council’s Procedure for Determination of Complaints.

 

 

Summary of Evidence Considered and Representations Made

 

The Sub-Committee considered the following evidence and representations:

 

1. The written complaint;
   
   
2. Extracts from the Investigator’s report dated 09 March 2010, compiled on 15^th June, which contained evidence from interviews conducted with the subject member, the complainant, as well as copies of relevant documents, including correspondence with the clerk of Dilton Marsh Parish Council. 

 

3. Representations at each stage from the subject member, his representative, Mr. Morland, and the Investigating Officer.

 

4. Oral evidence from the Subject Member at Stage 3 of the proceedings and a written statement from Alison Irving in support of his character.
   
   

FINDINGS OF FACT (Stage 1)

 

The Standards Hearing Sub-Committee made the following findings of fact:

 

1)     Cllr Maurice Flanagan was co-opted to Dilton Marsh Parish Council on 16^th October 2008 and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office form, which included an undertaking to abide by the Code of Conduct from that date onwards.

 

2)     He submitted a Register of Interests form to the Monitoring Officer of West Wiltshire District Council in March/April 2009.

 

3)     A degree of confusion surrounded the process for submitting Register of Interests at town and parish councils at the material time.

 

4)     Councillor Flanagan submitted a fresh Register of Interests of his own volition on 15 March 2010.

 

These findings of fact were then used as the basis for the Sub-Committee’s consideration on the question of breach and sanction, at stages 2 and 3, as set out below. The Sub-Committee also had regard to relevant guidance from Standards for England.

 

 

 

DECISION ON A POSSIBLE BREACH OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT (Stage 2)

 

Paragraph 13(1) - Subject to paragraph 14, you must, within 28 days of -

a. this Code being adopted by or applied to your authority; or

c.      your election or appointment to office (where that is later),

 

register in your authority’s register of members’ interests…details of your personal interests where they fall within a category mentioned in paragraph 8(1)(a) by providing written notification to your authority’s monitoring officer

 

The Sub-committee found that:

 

1)     Upon his appointment as a Parish Councillor on the 16^th October 2008 to Dilton Marsh Parish Council, Councillor Flanagan was subject to the Council’s Code of Conduct.

 

2)     On the basis of the above findings of fact, Cllr Flanagan failed to submit a written notification of his registerable interests to the Monitoring Officer within 28 days of his appointment, in breach of the Council’s Code of Conduct, specifically paragraph 13 (1).

 

 

 

SANCTION (Stage 3)

 

After hearing representations from the parties, and from the subject member in person, the Sub-committee decided to take no further action for the reasons set out below:

 

Reasons for Decision

 

• The Sub-Committee wished to be clear that compliance with the Code of Conduct is important to members at all levels. On the particular facts of this case this was a technical breach of the code.
• The subject member had been through an investigation process, which is stressful for all who are involved.
• The Sub-committee had taken account of the arguments presented in mitigation.
• The Sub-committee recognised the need for the decision to be reasonable and proportionate to the circumstances.

 

Observations and Recommendation

 

The Sub-Committee were minded to recommend the Standards Committee to note the investigator’s report with regard to the procedures surrounding the submission of Councillors’ Interests forms, and to ask the Monitoring Officer to undertake a review of the position, highlighting the importance of the Code of Conduct and, in particular, the importance of registering personal interests.

 

 

Right of Appeal

 

A member subject to a standards committee finding may apply in writing to the President of the First-tier Tribunal (Local Government Standards in England) for permission to appeal against the finding.

 

The President must receive the member’s written application within 21 days of the member receiving notice of the Standards Committee’s decision.

 

This decision notice is sent to the complainant, the subject member and Standards for England.