Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr L Shires and Cllr G Bull.

None received.

To approve as a correct record, the minutes of the Standards Committee Hearings held on 23^rd and 30^th June 2023.

      i.        The Chairman noted that in addition to the minutes from June 2023, there were minutes to approve from October 2022, as a result of the November meeting being inquorate.

     ii.        Cllr H Blathwayt noted that he had excused himself from the meeting held on 23^rd June as the Subject Member was well known to him.

    iii.        Minutes of the meetings held on 11^th October 2022, 23^rd June and 30^th June 2023 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

None to discuss.

To determine any items of business which the Chairman decides should be considered as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

None received.

Members are asked at this stage to declare any interests that they may have in any of the following items on the agenda. The Code of Conduct for Members requires that declarations include the nature of the interest and whether it is a pecuniary interest.

None declared.

To receive and note excerpts from the annual Monitoring Officer’s Report for 2022-23 that relate to the Standards Committee and Code of Conduct complaints.

The MO introduced the item and informed Members that appendix F contained information relating to Code of Conduct matters for 22-23. She added that between April 22 and March 2023 there had been a total of twenty Code of Conduct complaints, seventeen of which related to Parish and Town Councils, whilst three related to the District Council, which was slightly reduced from the twenty-three received in 21-22. It was noted that upon receipt of a complaint, an initial assessment was undertaken to determine whether further action was necessary, at which point officers would liaise with the Independent Person. The MO stated that the most common cause of complaint was alleged disrespectful behaviour, and that the majority of complaints received resulted in no further action, though advice was often given to improve procedures and conduct. She added that whilst two complaints had resulted in Standards Hearings, they had taken place in the current year to avoid the pre-election period. It was noted that GRAC had received the full report, which contained information on Members’ registers of interest, and the register of gifts and hospitality.

Questions and Discussion

      i.        Cllr N Dixon referred to notes on page 4 relating to Standards Hearings, and suggested that these complaints should be listed alongside others within the table. He added that referring to these complaints in notes meant that less information had been provided. The MO replied that the complaints were from 21-22 and would have been covered in the corresponding report, though the investigations had been delayed meaning that the cases were still active throughout the following year. She added that given that the complaints weren’t raised in 22-23, the decision had been made to add them as a note, as opposed to including them in the table. Cllr N Dixon stated that it would be helpful to have comparable information to other complaints to know when the complaints were received, for consistency and transparency of reporting. The Chairman suggested that any future reports should include ongoing complaints within the table. The MO stated that she could make reference to previous year complaints within the table, if required.

     ii.        Cllr N Dixon noted that the minutes of the October meeting included an outstanding action related to the investigation of early intervention methods to resolve issues prior to the point of complain. He added that discussions had taken place with NALC in November, but the meeting had been inquorate, and as a result no resolution had been reached. The MO replied that a NALC representative had attended an inquorate meeting in November and discussed a number of issues and early interventions, though it was important to remember that the Council and its partners must not seek to remove or impede peoples’ rights to submit a formal Code of Conduct complaint. Cllr N Dixon agreed that it was important not to restrict the right of complaint, but efforts should be made to help improve the Standards process, given that the recent Hearings could potentially have been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

To receive and note an update from the Monitoring Officer on any dispensations granted under delegated authority.

The MO introduced the item and informed Members that the Committee held responsibility for consideration and granting of dispensations, but it had been agreed that waiting for Standards Committee meetings to undertake these responsibilities was not an efficient process. As a result, delegated authority was granted for the MO sign-off dispensations in liaison with Committee Members. It was noted that Cllr V Holliday had therefore been granted a dispensation to allow her to debate matters related to second homes and holiday lets.

RESOLVED

To receive and note the update on any dispensations granted.

To receive an update on any current complaints from the Monitoring Officer.

The MO reported that were no Hearings planned for the foreseeable future, though three Code of Conduct matters were at the assessment stage and officers were liaising with the Independent Person.

To pass the following resolution:

“That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Act”.