Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Howard Marshall.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2012.

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2013 were presented for consideration. It was,

Resolved:

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

To receive and note the minutes of the Dispensation Sub-committees held on 24 January 2013

The minutes of the Dispensation Sub-Committee minutes from 24 January 2013 were presented. It was,

Resolved:

To note the minutes of the Dispensation Sub-Committee.

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

There were no declarations.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

1)    The Chair announced that the longstanding Democratic Services Officer for the Standards Committee, Pam Denton, had retired from the Council. The Chair thanked Ms Denton for all her work and assistance over the years, and would send a letter of appreciation on behalf of the Committee.

2)    Following the Council meeting on 09 July 2013, Councillor Pip Ridout was added to the Committee as a substitute.

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 03 July 2013 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 questions or statements submitted.

To appoint the membership of the Focus Group on the Constitution for the forthcoming year.

The report on the appointment of those members of the Focus Group on the Constitution to be appointed by the Standards Committee was received and noted.

It was also noted that the Focus Group was not well balanced with regards to gender, and though the appointment of other members was not within the gift of the Standards Committee, it was felt a more balanced membership would be beneficial.

It was,

Resolved:

To re-appoint Mr Paul Neale and Miss Pam Turner as the two co-opted non-voting members of the Standards Committee to serve on the Focus Group on the Constitution.

a)    To note minutes of the meeting of the Focus Group on the Constitution held on 12 March 2013 and consider the recommended changes to the following documents of the Constitution:

I.      Protocol 2 – Councillor/Officer Relations (Appendix A – Pages 21-30) 

II.    Protocol 3 – Guidance to Members on Outside Bodies (Appendix B – Pages 31-54)

III.   Protocol 4 – Planning Code of Good Practice (Appendix C – Pages 55-68)

IV.  Protocol 12 – Code of Conduct (Appendix D – Pages 69-72)

b)    To recommend Council to adopt the revised documents as agreed by the Committee

The Committee noted the minutes of the Focus Group on the Constitution meeting held on 12 March 2013 and debated the suggested changes to Protocols 2, 3, 4 and 12 of the Constitution, as detailed in the agenda pack.

For Protocol 2, Councillor-Officer Relations, the suggested changes were accepted, subject to amendments in paragraph 9.1, 15.1 and the retention of paragraph 15.5

For Protocol 3, Guidance to Members on Outside Bodies, the Committee agreed the revised document, subject to amendments to paragraph 15 to provide an explanation of the meaning ‘dual-hatted’ members, paragraphs 17 and 18, and 22.

For Protocol 4, Planning Code of Good Practice, the Committee agreed the changes as set out in the document attached to the report, subject to revisions to paragraphs 5.3 and 6 to be drafted by the Monitoring Officer to bring these paragraphs in line with the rest of the document.

For Protocol 12, Code of Conduct, the Committee noted the suggested changes and deferred a decision until concluding discussion of the item under Minute 34 below.

In relation to Protocols 2, 3 and 4 the Committee, therefore,

Resolved:

To recommend Council to adopt the revised documents as attached to these minutes.

To consider the report from the Monitoring Officer.

Appendix A  - Consultation letter to parish, town and city councils - December 2012 (Pages 79-82)

Appendix B  - Summary table of results of consultation (Pages 83-84)

Appendix C  - Comments received from consultees (Pages 85-92)

Appendix D - DCLG Guidance ‘Openness and transparency on personal interests’ A guide for councillors (pages 93-108)

The Monitoring Officer presented a report on whether the Council’s Code of Conduct should be amended to provide for the registration and disclosure of additional interests in accordance with the Council’s power under the Localism Act 2011. Parish, Town and City Councils had been consulted on the issue and their responses were summarised in the report. 

It was noted that many of these councils had adopted the same Code as Wiltshire Council, as the principal authority, and therefore any changes to Wiltshire Council’s Code might impact upon these councils; they could decide to go with the changes, stay as they are or do something different.  It was preferable from the point of view of consistency and enforcement for most councils to have the same Code of Conduct, but this was ultimately a matter for each council.

Members were minded to adopt an advisory approach rather than a mandatory one involving amendment of the Code of Conduct. The DCLG’s revised guide for councillors ‘Openness and transparency on personal interests’ in Appendix D to the report would assist with this and should be drawn to the attention of parish, town and city councils.

The Committee were also advised by the Monitoring Officer that Wiltshire Council’s Code of Conduct at paragraph 6 in any event requires councillors to ‘declare any private interests, both pecuniary and non-pecuniary, that relate to your public duties, and must take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest ....’

The Committee went on to consider whether the Council’s Constitution should be amended to include a requirement for councillors with a disclosable pecuniary interest to withdraw from a meeting when business relating to their interest is being considered. Opinion was divided on this issue but overall the Committee were minded to support the introduction of such a requirement.

Finally, the Committee considered whether the Code of Conduct should include more specific provisions on gifts and hospitality, as suggested in one of the consultation responses.  However, they felt that this was already sufficiently covered by the existing Code, at paragraph 2, ‘you must not place yourself under a financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence you in the performance of your official duties.’

The Committee, therefore,

Resolved:

To recommend Council:

(1) Not to amend the Code of Conduct to impose a requirement to register additional interests over and above the statutory disclosable pecuniary interests, but to rely on the existing provisions of the Code, in particular, paragraph 6, and guidance from the DCLG ‘Openness and transparency on personal interests’ and to draw this guidance to the attention of parish, town and city councils.

(2) To amend the Council’s Constitution to require councillors with a disclosable pecuniary interest to withdraw from a meeting when business relating to their interest is being considered.

(3) Not to make any changes to the Code of Conduct on gifts and hospitality on the basis that the existing provision is adequate.

To note the report on complaints.

The Monitoring Officer introduced a report on Complaints received and processed since the last meeting of the Standards Committee.

It was noted that fewer complaints had been brought under the new regime and so far no complaints had been referred for investigation. The Committee considered the reasons for this, including the extent to which this was attributable to the absence of specific provisions on behaviour in the Code of Conduct.  The Committee felt that a review of the operation of the council’s arrangements under the new standards regime was now appropriate as these had been in place for 12 months.  The Committee, therefore,

Resolved:

To note the contents of the complaints status report and ask the Monitoring Officer to review the operation and effectiveness of the Code of Conduct and Complaints Procedure in the light of the first year of operation of the new arrangements and to report back to the Committee at its next meeting in October.

To consider the report of the Monitoring Officer on the draft Annual Governance Statement.

The Monitoring Officer presented the draft Annual Governance Statement for 2012/13, which had been considered by the Audit Committee on 18 June 2013 and was due to be considered by Cabinet on 23 July The draft had been sent to the council’s external auditors, KPMG, for consideration and comment, and would be referred back to the Audit Committee for final approval on 4 September 2013.

The Committee had particular regard to the relevant ethical governance sections of the draft Statement, with which they were satisfied.   They noted that the draft was consistent with guidance from CIPFA.

The Committee

Resolved:

 To confirm that the Standards Committee were content with the draft document and noted that this would go back to the Audit Committee with any further changes on 4 September 2013 for approval and publication with the Statement of Accounts.

The Forward Work Plan was received and noted. A request for the Committee to consider an item on councillors being added to the staff benefits scheme was referred to the Monitoring Officer to consider if it was a matter for the Standards Committee. It was,

Resolved:

To approve the Forward Work Plan, subject to the addition of an item requesting the Monitoring Officer to update the Committee on the position regarding dispensations for voting on the setting of council tax and the budget.

There were no urgent items.