Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Mr Paul Neale and Councillors Terry Chivers and Howard Greenman.

a)    To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2015.

b)    To receive the minutes of the Standards Review Sub-Committees held since the last meeting of the Committee in June 2015.

The minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 24 July 2015, and the Standards Review Sub-Committee meetings held on 8 July, 9 July and 24 August 2015 were presented for consideration.

Resolved:

To APPROVE and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 24 July 2015 as a true and correct record. And;

To receive the minutes of the Review Sub-Committee meetings held on 8 July, 9 July and 24 August 2015.

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.

Through the Chairman, the Committee endorsed the following announcement::

Nina Wilton, Head of Governance and Deputy Monitoring Officer left the council in August having decided she wishes to spend time pursuing her academic interests. Nina worked as Head of Governance from the creation of the unitary council in 2009 and previously worked for Wiltshire County Council in various roles from 2000. During this time Nina was involved in many aspects of the council’s business ensuring that the council’s governance arrangements are sound, including overseeing the implementation of the corporate complaints process, information legislation and the standards regime for councillors. Nina was closely involved in the work of the Standards Committee.

I am sure you will wish to join me in thanking Nina for her valuable contribution to the work of the Committee and to the Council and to wish her every success in the future.

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 9 September 2015.  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 submitted.

A statement from Mr Francis Morland in relation to Minute no.29 was received under that item.

To receive an update on the status of Code of Conduct complaints.

The Monitoring Officer presented an update on the status of Code of Conduct complaints received under the arrangements provided in the council’s constitution, as well as a summary of the types of complaints that had been received, and how many had been dismissed, investigated, withdrawn or concluded due to alternate resolutions.

It was noted that the council was on course to receive significantly fewer complaints against unitary, town and parish councillors than the previous year, and it was a stated a partial explanation was that a high number had been submitted from multiple individuals in relation to a single or a few incidents, which may have inflated the figures, although the number for the current year was still above the years preceding 2014.

Resolved:

To note the update.

To consider revisions to the Code of Conduct, as requested by the Committee on 21 January 2015.

Public Participation

Councillors Christopher Newbury and Tony Deane and Mr Francis Morland addressed the Committee regarding the proposed potential Code of Conduct changes.

Background

The Chairman and the Monitoring Officer introduced a report on the review of Part 13 of the Constitution: Code of Conduct for Members. It was detailed that the new standards regime as required under the Localism Act 2011, including the current Code of Conduct, had been approved by Council on 26 June 2012. On 24 April 2014 and following more than 18 months of the new procedure and Code being in operation, the Committee received an update on the arrangements and operation since the beginning of the new regime and resolved:

To arrange a seminar as soon as possible for Members of the Committee and any other Wiltshire Councillors who wish to attend, together with the council’s three Independent Persons and Mr Paul Hoey of Hoey Ainscough Associates Ltd. to review the operation and effectiveness of the standards regime and consider whether any changes to the current system are appropriate.

That seminar, open to all Members, was held on 23 July 2014. At the following meeting on 8 October 2014 the Committee received a further update and resolved:

To task the Monitoring Officer with investigating the effectiveness of the Code of Conduct Complaints Procedure by collecting and analysing evidence on complaints received by Wiltshire Council, and to examine the Codes and procedures at other local authorities, and to bring a set of recommendations on any proposed changes to the Committee at its meeting on 21 January 2015.

On 21 January 2015 the Committee received that report reviewing the effectiveness of the Council’s Code of Conduct, determining that improvements could be made to address concerns as detailed in that report, and it was resolved:

That the Monitoring Officer: 1) Draft proposals to strengthen the Code of Conduct, 2)Draft proposals for enabling the recording of gifts and hospitality at an appropriate level, and 3)Continue efforts to work with other Authorities to lobby central government to increase the level of sanctions available to councils, as soon as appropriate.

Prior to the consideration by the Standards Committee the potential amendments to the Code had been assessed by the Constitution Focus Group at its meeting on 2 September 2015, with its comments included with the agenda papers.

General Debate

Before discussing the specific potential amendments referred on by the Constitution Focus Group for further debate and determination, the Committee discussed the present Code and complaints procedure and assessed whether they considered changes proposed to be necessary to improve its effectiveness, where points including the following were raised:

·         Members discussed the previous standards regime which had been abolished by the Coalition government, and the stated intentions of the new regime which included a recommended ‘light-touch’ Code which after consideration Wiltshire Council had adopted. It was stated most authorities had since adopted variations of different levels of detail from that Code, and the Committee considered whether they felt the evidence in Wiltshire  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

To consider the draft Forward plan.

The Forward Work Programme was presented for consideration.

Resolved:

To approve the Forward Work Programme subject to the addition of items in relation to the Annual Letter on Complaints from the Local Government Ombudsman, and Review of the Council’s Whistleblowing Policy.

Any other items of business which, in the opinion of the Chairman, should be taken as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.