Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 30 July 2012 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 July 2012 were presented.

RESOLVED:

To sign the minutes as a correct record.

To receive any declarations of pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman announced that Item 11 would be brought forward as some members were due to go on a planning site visit.

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 the agenda no later than 5pm on Wednesday 17 October 2012.  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.

There were no members of the public present

To appoint the following as non-voting co-opted members of the committee:

Mr Philip Gill MBE JP

Mr Paul Neale

Mr John Scragg

Miss Pam Turner

The Chairman introduced the persons selected for appointment as non-voting voting co-opted members of the Standards Committee

and it was

RESOLVED

To confirm the appointment of the following as non-voting co-opted members:

Mr John Scragg

Miss Pam Turner

Mr Paul Neale

Mr Philip Gill MBE, JP

Report by the Monitoring Officer

The Head of Governance introduced the report and outlined the progress that had been made in implementing the new requirements in Wiltshire, particularly in respect of the Code of Conduct and the Register of Interests.

The Monitoring Officer then referred to paragraphs 21-24 of the report, which asked members to consider whether it was appropriate to require any additional pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests to be declared and registered under the Council’s Code of Conduct in accordance with its discretion under section 28(3) Localism Act 2011, and whether councillors with disclosable pecuniary interests should be required by standing orders to withdraw from meetings.   The Council had, at its meeting on 26 June 2012, asked the Standards Committee to look into this, in consultation with parish, town and city councils and to report back with proposals at the earliest opportunity.

The Monitoring Officer also referred to the notes of the meeting of the Member Support in the Locality Task Group where further clarification had been requested on the new rules, particularly in relation to ‘dual-hatted’ members and whether member allowances were a disclosable pecuniary interest.  It was recommended that guidanceonthiswouldbeofparticular assistanceto parish, town and citycouncillorsandshouldreflect the environment in whichthey work.

Following discussion it was

RESOLVED:

To recommend the Council toadopt the following as an interim position, pending consultation with parish, town and city councils, and to report back to the Council at its meeting in February 2013 on the outcome of the consultation and any final recommendations for adoption by the Council.

To amend Wiltshire Council’s Code of Conduct to require Councillors  to:

a.  register details of any interest in the following:

·       any body of which the councillor is a member or in a position of general control or management and to which the councillor is appointed or nominated by the Council;

·       any body exercising functions of a public nature of which the councillor is a member or in a position of general control or management;

·       any body directed to charitable purposes of which the councillor is a member or in a position of general control or management;

·       any body one of whose principal purposes includes the influence of public opinion or policy (including any political party or trade union) of which the councillor is a member or in a position of general control or management;

b. declare the existence and nature of any such interest at any meeting
               of the Council where business relating to the interest is being
              conducted.
 
    Having declared such  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

Report of the Monitoring Officer

The Head of Governance introduced the report and explained that 29 assessments had now been conducted and the criteria seemed to work very well.  She recommended that the committee adopt the criteria and use them as a guideline for assessing and reviewing complaints.

The draft criteria set out at appendix 1 to the report reflected the comments of the Member Support in the Locality Task Group

Members requested some minor alterations to the assessment criteria:

Paragraph 1 last sentence to read:  ‘The Monitoring Officer will advise the complainant in such matters that they cannot proceed under local codes of conduct, but that the complainant should contact the relevant council in order to bring a complaint under the appropriate complaints procedure’.

Paragraph 2 – delete the first sentence.

RESOLVED

To approve the assessment criteria as set out in appendix 1 of the report, subject to the amendments detailed above.

To consider the annual review letter of the Local Government Ombudsman (attached)

Report by the Monitoring Officer for information

To receive and note the minutes of a Hearing Sub-committee held on 3 and 4 October 2012.

The Chairman asked the Monitoring Officer to introduce this item.   The Monitoring Officer explained the process that had been followed in hearing the complaint under the Code of Conduct, as summarised in the minutes, and the concerns which had been raised on behalf of Cllr Humphries about the fairness of the procedure, which had led him, on advice from his solicitor, to withdraw. The Monitoring Officer had since received detailed submissions from Cllr Humphries’ Solicitor setting out grounds for seeking a rehearing of the matter.  These were being considered.  The Monitoring Officer was, however, satisfied that the Sub-Committee had dealt with the matter fairly and lawfully in the circumstances.
The Monitoring Officer then responded to questions from members of the Committee arising from the minutes.

RESOLVED

To receive and note the minutes.

There were no urgent items.