Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillors Desna Allen, Allison Bucknell, Howard Greenman, Sheila Parker, John Noeken, Terry Chivers, Miss Pam Turner and Mr Paul Neale.

Councillor Noeken was substituted by Councillor Jerry Wickham.

Councillor Chivers was substituted by Councillor Ernie Clark.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2014.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2014 were presented for consideration and it was,

Resolved:

To APPROVE as a true and correct record for the Chairman to sign.

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.

There were no announcements.

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 1 October 2014. 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.

No questions or statements were received for the meeting.

To receive a report on the outcomes of the Code of Conduct Seminar held on 23 July 2014.

At its meeting held on 9 July 2014 the Committee requested a formal update following the Code of Conduct Seminar open to all Members held on 23 July 2014 led by Hoey Ainscough Associates Ltd., which the Committee had instructed be arranged at its 25 April 2014 meeting to consider the effectiveness of the current Standards regime.

The Chairman introduced the item, noting some of the concerns which had led to the Committee requesting the Seminar, such as the lack of engagement with the complaints process by members, and whether the current Code of Conduct and its attending complaints procedure were robust enough for its purpose.

The Monitoring Officer then presented a report on the outcomes from the Seminar on 23 July, and the Committee considered the issues that arose.

It had been noted that in some authorities the Standards Committee itself, not only its Sub-Committees, was not subject to rules on political proportionality. The Committee considered that with Sub-Committees determining any complaints brought to Review or full Hearings, there was no additional benefit gained from altering the makeup of the Committee itself when the Sub-Committees were not subject to political proportionality rules.

There was discussion around the lack of specificity in the current Code, and whether this led to difficulties for members of the public in identifying which part of the Code was relevant to the specific circumstances and behaviour they wished to complain against, and whether this could have a reputational effect on Wiltshire Council and other councils which utilized the same Code. Members noted the risk of a highly detailed code giving rise to vexatious and trivial complaints, and whether the current procedure was robust enough to filter out such complaints, and so whether the balance between focusing on the serious complaints through the broadness of the Code versus the difficulties in categorizing some councillor actions perhaps felt to be deserving of action under a specific section of the current Code, was appropriate or if further work on the Code was necessary.

Members were in agreement that under the current regime the lack of firm sanctions other than recommending a member be publicly censured had created problems for the perception of councils’ effectiveness, particularly where a subject member chose not to engage with the process. It was also noted that a recommendation from a Wiltshire Council Standards Sub-Committee as the leading authority for a town or parish council to censure a member, could in any case be ignored by that council. Some members had concerns that the lack of sanctions prevented councillors from properly fulfilling their duties to their council employees. It was stated, however, that the government would have to alter existing rules to permit additional sanctions such as reintroducing the power to suspend members, if this was deemed appropriate.

The procedure for dealing with Code of Conduct complaints was assessed, and seeking an initial response from subject members to a complaint and permitting complainants and subject members the right to review an initial assessment decision  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

To receive a report from the Monitoring officer on the current status of Complaints under the Code of Conduct.

The Monitoring Officer presented an update on the status of complaints received under the Code of Conduct complaints procedure. It was noted that investigations relating to two complaints remained ongoing.

It was further stated that following comments and consideration at the Code of Conduct Seminar held on 23 July 2014, future reports would provide more detailed information on the complaints that had been received and action taken, to enable the Committee to have a fuller view of the processes and outcomes regarding complaints received under the Code of Conduct.

Resolved:

To note the update and the intention for more detailed reports to be received at future meetings.

To note the date of the next meeting as 21 January 2015.

To confirm the details of the Forward Work Programme.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 21 January 2015.

An annual Forward Plan would be presented to the next meeting.

To consider any other items that, in the opinion of the Chairman, should be taken as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.

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 10  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 1 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.

Paragraph 1 - information relating to an individual

Resolved:

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 Minute Number 43  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 1 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.

To consider the minutes of the Standards Review Sub-Committees held on 5 June 2014, 10 July 2014 and 11 September 2014.

The Committee received the minutes of the Standards Review Sub-Committee meetings held on 5 June 2014, 10 July 2014 and 11 September 2014.

Resolved:

To note the minutes of the Review Sub-Committees and reiterate recommendation three of Minute 38.