Issue - items at meetings - Review of documentation available to Sub-Committees

Issue - meetings

Review of documentation available to Sub-Committees

 

 

Meeting: 19/05/2010 - Standards Committee (this Committee has now been combined wit the Audit, Standrds and Governance Committee and no longer meets) (Item 10)

10 Documentation Accompanying Reports to Assessment and Review Sub-Committees pdf icon PDF 89 KB

[To review the documentation currently available to Assessment and Review Sub-Committees when assessing complaints against Members.]

Minutes:

The Committee’s views were sought on reviewing the local assessment system that had run for 2 years with regard to the documentation made available to Assessment and Review Sub-Committees when assessing a complaint that a Member might have failed to follow the Code of Conduct.

 

The Deputy Monitoring Officer (“DMO”) advised Members that on the advice of Standards for England (“SfE”) it had been agreed by the Committee that the Assessment and Review Sub-Committees would be presented with the complaint accompanied by a short report and any publicly-available documentation which related to the facts at issue.  SfE had since revised its guidance to include “easily obtainable information”.  The DMO advised Members that the current process protected the Sub-Committees from criticism, made it clear what information would be received by the Assessment and Review Sub-Committees and removed the need for the Monitoring Officer (“MO”) to exercise discretion or subjectivity in the preparation of the report.

 

RESOLVED:

(a)       that the policy on documentation in general terms remains the same,   subject to it being noted that the Assessment and Review Sub-        Committees could always make a request to the MO for a piece of             information to be made available, with the MO reporting back if            appropriate under the circumstances identified; and 

(b)       that the Committee monitors the current process used and reviews in              12 months’ time.