Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Council Offices. View directions

Contact: Matthew Stembrowicz  Email: Matthew.Stembrowicz@north-norfolk.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

None received.

2.

PUBLIC QUESTIONS

Minutes:

None received.  

3.

MINUTES

No previous minutes to approve.

Minutes:

Minutes to be approved at the next meeting.

4.

ITEMS OF URGENT BUSINESS

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.

Minutes:

None received.

5.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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.

Minutes:

None declared.

6.

DISTRICT MEMBERS’ REGISTER OF INTERESTS AND OFFICER REGISTER OF GIFTS AND HOSPITALITY

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.

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer informed Members that the Members’ Register of Interests and the Officer Register of Gifts and Hospitality were available to view in Democratic Services. 

7.

MONITORING OFFICER'S ANNUAL REPORT 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 284 KB

To receive the Monitoring Officer’s Annual Report which summarises the key matters arising from the Monitoring Officer’s work for the District Council from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 and comments on other current issues.

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer introduced the Report and informed Members that the role came with a number of statutory functions outlined in the Constitution designed to ensure satisfactory governance of the Council. As a requirement of the annual audit process, the Report had been completed to provide an overview of these functions from April 2018 to March 2019.

 

Questions and Discussion

 

The Monitoring Officer informed Members that the Code of Corporate Governance was the key framework to which the organisation must adhere, that would ensure that the Council met specific ethical and governance standards. The Monitoring Officer stated that she was obliged to report unlawfulness to the Council, and could postpone any potentially unlawful decisions.

 

A recent change in procedure to improve the Council’s governance arrangements was explained that involved reports from business planning meetings being reviewed by CLT, after which officers could provide appropriate advice. Members were informed that this process helped to produce legally defensible decisions, and identify when  delegated authority was required.

 

The Monitoring Officer reported that there had been no unlawfulness in the year covered by the Report, and no Section 5 Reports completed as a result. In addition, there had been no incidents of maladministration, and no complaints regarding breaches of the Code of Conduct.

 

It was reported that the Council maintained the register of interests for Parish and Town Councils, though the Council’s themselves had responsibility for submitting and updating the registers. Members were informed that the Council also reviewed any standards complaints made at Parish or Town level, with 23 of 24 complaints received in the 2018/19 year at Parish level. It was reported that these complaints often pertained to Parish meeting procedure, in which case NNDC offered advice for improvements.

 

Members were informed that there had been no breaches of the Council’s protocols, and that the Member-Officer Protocol had been updated in the Constitution. Furthermore, there had been no complaints of fraud or impropriety with regards to the whistleblowing process.

 

The Monitoring Officer referred to the advice on vires issues, maladministration, financial impropriety, probity and policy, and informed Members that discussions had taken place around improving the Council’s governance framework. She added that the issues raised were being addressed in a number of ways, including the creation of a Corporate Delivery Unit that would provide a governance framework for individual projects and processes. It was stated that work was also underway to improve the role of the O&S and GRAC Committees, to offer a more robust assessment of new proposals, with monitoring, reviews and outcome setting given considerable attention for improvement.

 

On exemptions under standing orders, which covered issues such as tender levels and when to tender, the Monitoring Officer stated that exemptions were permitted under special circumstances, for instance the continued use of specialist contractors. In these cases, exemptions could be justified and agreed by the Section 151 and Monitoring Officer.

 

Members were informed that no litigation cases had taken place in 2018/19, though it was possible that one case could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

CONSULTATION ON ETHICAL STANDARDS pdf icon PDF 174 KB

Summary:

 

 

 

Options considered:

This report informs Members of the outcome of the Committee on Standards in Public Life review of Local Government Ethical Standards.

 

N/a.

 

Conclusions:

 

The best practice identified is, in most cases, already operating in a number of local authorities. Taken as a whole, this best practice represents a benchmark that any local authority in England can and should implement in their own organisation.

 

Recommendations:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reasons for

Recommendations:

 

It is recommended that the Committee agrees:

 

1.  To note the report and the contents of the review.

 

2.  To endorse the actions contained within paragraph 3.6 in relation to Best Practice recommendations.

 

 

To keep Members up-to-date with developments with the ethical standards regime and seek approval for actions to be taken in light of the review.

 

 

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS AS REQUIRED BY LAW

(Papers relied on to write the report, which do not contain exempt information and which are not published elsewhere)

 

               

Cabinet Member(s)

N/a

Ward(s) affected

All

 

 

Contact Officer, telephone number and email:

Emma Duncan, 01263 516045, Emma.Duncan@north-norfolk.gov.uk

 

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer introduced the Report and informed Members that the Committee had considered the initial Consultation on Ethical Standards at a previous  meeting, and had resolved to issue a collective response. The Report before the Committee sought to update Members on the outcome of the consultation.

 

Questions and Discussion

 

The Monitoring Officer informed Members that the consultation had arisen as a result of concerns regarding the limitations of Standards Committee sanctions. It had been suggested that Standards Committees’ should have their powers returned to be able to suspend Members for a specified period.

 

The Report included a best practice guidance for local authorities, which the Monitoring Officer suggested the Council was almost compliant with, and could be fully compliant with Members agreement. Cllr J Rest agreed that the guide complied with many of the Council’s existing standards, as most were either statutory or common sense. It was confirmed that the Council had to comply with legislation, therefore most of the practices were already adhered to. The individual best practice recommendations were reviewed case by case. It was noted on best practice area 1 that a new bullying and harassment code could be adopted, though it may be more beneficial to await the LGA’s updated version to avoid confusion between codes.

 

The Council was compliant on best practice areas 2 to 6. For area 7, it was noted that the Council already had an independent person, though could benefit from the recruitment of a second. The Council was compliant in best practice areas 8 to 10, though on area 11, the Monitoring Officer stated that Clerks should be advised that complaints must be made by the Parish Council on behalf of the Clerk.

 

On best practice area 12, it was suggested that it would be difficult for the Monitoring Officer to provide the level of support suggested to all 121 Parishes, however the Council would offer any assistance it could. Discussion was held regarding the possibility of centralising Parish Clerks, though it was suggested that this would receive a poor reception from Parish and Town Councils. Cllr L Shires added that doing so could also take away much needed income from Clerks and damage trust in the District Council. It was accepted that centralised training for the Clerks could be beneficial. The Monitoring Officer suggested that this could be considered as part of the customer focus theme within the emerging Corporate Plan, and that the Council must ensure that resources were directed to the areas for the highest impact.

 

Cllr N Dixon asked how many times the independent person had been consulted with in the past year, to which the Monitoring Officer confirmed that they had been consulted on all 24 complaints, and had provided a useful sense check to determine direction.

 

The Council was noted to be compliant in best practice areas 13 to 15.

 

The recommendations were proposed by Cllr J Rest and seconded by Cllr L Shires.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    To note the Report and the contents of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS (TO INCLUDE AN UPDATE ON RECENT STANDARDS COMPLAINTS)

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer informed Members that there was no update to be disclosed at present.

10.

EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

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”.