Agenda and minutes

To note any changes to the membership of the committee following the latest meeting of Full Council.

To note any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Following the meeting of Council on 12 May 2015, there were the following changes to Membership of the Committee.

Councillor John Noeken was removed as a Full Member of the Committee.

Councillor Jerry Wickham was removed as a Substitute Member and added as a Full Member of the Committee.

Councillor Alan MacRae was added as a Substitute Member of the Committee.

Apologies were received for the meeting from Councillors Terry Chivers, Howard Greenman, Sheila Parker and Howard Prickett.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2015.

Resolved:

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2015 were approved and signed as a true and correct record.

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, including:

1)    Code of Conduct

With the assent of the Committee, it was agreed to change the order of the agenda to move the Constitution Focus Group Recommendations on Changes to the Constitution forward.

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 June 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 or statements submitted.

To receive a report on changes to the Constitution recommended by the Constitution Focus Group.

The Monitoring Officer presented recommendations from the cross-party Constitution Focus Group on changes to the constitution following reviews requested by Standards, Council or which were required by legislative changes, as detailed in the report.

Part 4 - Council Procedure Rules

The Committee considered proposed changes to Part 4 of the Constitution in relation to disturbances by the public, recorded voting, the ‘State of Wiltshire’ debate and the submission of and presenting of councillor questions to Full Council.

The Committee accepted the reasoning of the Focus Group regarding the proposed amendments to clarifying the rules on dismissal of a member of the public causing a disturbance at a meeting, noting it was the responsibility of Members to ensure a Chairman was aware of the nature of a disturbance or offence if this was not immediately apparent, and that ordering the dismissal of that member of the public remained an option for the Chairman in consultation with the proper officer, not an automatic decision.

The Committee also agreed to the alterations regarding recorded voting and the deletion of a constitutional requirement to hold a ‘State of Wiltshire’ debate, which was no longer necessary when the presentation of the council’s business plan and subsequent debate had taken on many of the characteristics the ‘State of Wiltshire’ debate had been designed for.

In regards to Councillor questions to Council, members discussed the proposed new procedure, which included a total limit on questions that could be answered at any one meeting, but which still permitted as many questions as councillors wished to submit and guaranteed written responses either before the meeting or within five working days after the meeting depending on which deadline for submission of their question was met. The other key change was to reorder the presentation of questions to Council such that no Member could ask a second question until all other Members who had submitted a question had asked their first questions, with the same rule applying to second and subsequent questions.

The Committee debated whether the proposed procedure was effective and balanced, with some members concerned the procedure might be confusing to implement, although it was noted the elements of the proposed changes had been taken from operations at other councils. It was confirmed that all written responses to questions would be attached to the minutes of the relevant meeting, and it was also felt that as only 20 questions would be received at the meeting, to avoid confusion and delays it was the responsibility of Members to indicate to Democratic Services before a meeting if they did not wish to ask a supplementary question.

It was also requested that the Focus Group consider the paragraphs requiring Members to stand to speak at Council meetings, in particular in the context of equality rules.

Protocols 1 and 2 - Briefing and Information for Local Councillors and Councillor-Officer Relations, and Part 2 - The Constitution

The Committee considered proposed changes to Protocols 1 and 2 of the Constitution as detailed in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

To receive a report from the Monitoring Officer.

The Monitoring Officer presented a report on the draft Annual Governance Statement, as drafted by the Governance Assurance Group which is comprised of senior officers who have lead roles in corporate governance and a representative from the Audit Committee, to review the effectiveness of the council’s governance arrangements.

It was noted that paragraphs 27 and 70 of the draft Statement related to governance arrangements under the responsibility of the Standards Committee, and no objections were raised.

Members discussed the draft, and requested further drafting to ensure consistency across the document.

At the end of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

Tonote thatthe draftAGS will be revisedin the light of commentsfrom the Committee,as detailed above andfurtherwork by the GovernanceAssuranceGroupbeforebeingbrought back to the Audit committeeforfinalapproval and publication with the Statementof Accountsat the end of July.

To receive an update on Code of Conduct Complaints.

The Monitoring Officer presented an update on Complaints received since the last meeting of the Committee, noting that the total number was at present significantly down on those received in 2014, and that very few had been referred for investigation.

Members considered whether the reduction was as a result of the difficulties discussed in previous meetings regarding identifying a specific section of the Code under which to underpin a complaint, or lack of faith in the limited sanctions, but noted they had previously resolved to attempt to lobby the government for increased sanctions to be permitted and to strengthen to Code, and that these would be considered at their next meeting.

Resolved:

To note the update and the intention to bring proposed changes to the Code of Conduct to the next meeting of the Committee.

To approve the latest Forward Work Plan for the Committee.

The Forward Work Programme was approved.

Due to the change in date of the Council meeting from 20 October to 29 September 2015, it was noted the date of the next Standards Committee would need to be brought forward from 7 October.

Details would be circulated to Members and on the council’s website as soon as they were available.

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.