Agenda and minutes

None received.

None received.

To approve as a correct record, the minutes of the meetings of the Standards Committee held on 1^st October 2019 and 3^rd March 2020.

Cllr N Dixon suggested that with no formal process for ensuring that resolutions or actions from previous meetings had been completed, it would be helpful for future agendas to include an ‘actions arising from the minutes’ item. He then asked whether recommendations from the 2019 Monitoring Officer’s Report had been completed. The MO replied with regards to the recommendations, that training had been provided on access to information both during the Members’ induction and again later in the year, as well as training on data protection and freedom of information. On the third recommendation, it was reported that group leaders had been asked to remind members of their obligation to give their apologies and arrange substitutes when unable to attend meetings. Cllr N Dixon sought further clarification on when the training had taken place, to which the MO replied that in addition to the training provided during the induction, further training on access to information had been included as part of the good governance and decision making session.

RESOLVED

Minutes of the meetings held on 1^st October 2019 and 3^rd March 2020 were approved as a correct record. It was agreed that future Agendas would include an ‘Actions Arising from the Minutes’ item

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.

Members are reminded that the Parish and District Members’ Register of Interests and Officer Register of Gifts and Hospitality are available for inspection in the Democratic Services section.

Members’ register of interests and the officer register of gifts and hospitality were available to view in Democratic Services.

To receive and note the Monitoring Officer’s Annual Report.

The MO introduced the item and informed Members that the report had already been seen by the Governance Risk & Audit Committee (GRAC) as it was presented to the Committee alongside the Annual Governance Statement and covered a number of topics that fell within the Committee’s remit. It was presented to Standards Committee because it covered Member Code of Conduct issues. She added that the report covered the statutory obligations of the Council during the 2019-20 year, as well the responsibilities of the Monitoring Officer. It was noted that the report covered the period up to 30^th April 2020, and any issues that occurred after this date were not included for discussion. In addition, it was noted that recommendations from the project governance review were still in the process of being implemented by the Corporate Delivery Unit, but would be included in the annual governance statement actions plan, which would allow Members to monitor progress. It was reported that the performance management framework was also due for review in the coming year, and in agreement with the S151 officer, the expanded framework would include service planning and risk. The MO noted that at the time of writing the report, the Corruption, Fraud and Anti-bribery Policy was due for review, though this had now been completed and approved by Cabinet. A new LGA Member code of conduct had also been consulted upon, and finally, it was anticipated that the Member-Officer protocol would soon be due for review. The MO stated that if Members wanted to ask more detailed questions on code of conduct complaints, then a resolution would be required to move the meeting into private business.

Questions and Discussion

A discussion then took place regarding the Register of Interests during which it was raised that there had been instances during the reporting year when Members Register of Interests were not up to date and to that extent, it could be considered that the report was inaccurate. It was also acknowledged that there were systemic weaknesses in the current system and that it should be reviewed to address these.

Cllr N Dixon referred to a statement on page 29 item C on Members’ Registers of Interests, and asked whether this was an accurate statement given recent reports that had come to light. The MO suggested that in order to discuss issues regarding any individual Member’s register of interests in more detail, it would be necessary for the meeting to move into private business. It was proposed by Cllr J Rest and seconded by Cllr N Dixon that the press and public be excluded from the meeting.

RESOLVED

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.

A discussion then took place regarding the Registers of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

None to report.