Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Debbie Parker-Jones
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Election of Chairman Minutes: RESOLVED that Mr. N. A. Burke be elected Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing municipal year. |
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Election of Vice-Chairman Minutes: RESOLVED that Mrs. N. E. Trigg be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the remainder of her term of office. |
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Apologies for absence Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors E. C. Tibby and Miss D. H. Campbell JP and Mr. J. Cypher, Parish Councils' Representative. |
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Declarations of Interest Minutes: No declarations of interest were received. |
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Minutes: The public minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 31st March 2009 were submitted.
RESOLVED that the minutes be approved as a correct record. |
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[To receive a report informing the Committee of the decisions made by the Council at its meeting on 29th April 2009 in relation to the terms of office of the Parish Council's Representatives on the Standards Committee and the Planning Services Code of Practice.] Minutes: A report advising of the decisions made by the Council at its meeting on 29th April 2009 in relation to the Terms of Office of the Parish Councils' Representatives on the Standards Committee and the Planning Services Code of Practice was submitted.
RESOLVED that the report be noted. |
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[To note the position in relation to the final reports of the Standards Board for England's Ethical Standards Officer on investigations undertaken following three separate complaints against a District Councillor for alleged breaches of the Bromsgrove District Council Code of Conduct.] Additional documents:
Minutes: Following referrals from the Standards Assessment Sub-Committee in June and July 2008, the Committee received, for information only, the final reports of the Standards Board for England's Ethical Standards Officer on the outcomes of the investigations into three separate allegations that Councillor Peter McDonald had breached the Bromsgrove District Council Code of Conduct. It each of the cases the Ethical Standards Officer had made a finding that Councillor McDonald had not failed to comply with the Code.
Copies of the Ethical Standards Officer's final reports, which were both exempt in accordance with Section 100 I of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, as they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 7A of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act, and confidential in accordance with Section 100 A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, as they included information provided under Section 63 of the Local Government Act as part of an Ethical Standards Officer's investigation under Part III of the Local Government Act 2000, appeared later in the agenda. Copies of the Standards Board's public case summaries of the Ethical Standards Officer's reports were included in the open part of the agenda.
RESOLVED that the Standards Board for England's Ethical Standards Officer's findings of no breach in relation to the three separate allegations against Councillor McDonald be noted. |
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Monitoring Officer's Report [To receive a report from the Monitoring Officer on matters of relevance to the Committee.] Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee noted the contents of the Monitoring Officer's report and the following issues were raised during consideration of this:
(i) Member Investigations/Associated Matters and Complaints for Local Assessment
The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that no new complaints had been received since publication of the agenda.
(ii) Member Training
The Monitoring Officer stated that a meeting of the Member Development Steering Group had taken place the previous week, at which it had been agreed that elected Members had until mid June 2009 by which to complete any appropriate training for the committees, boards or panels on which they now sat. A date had been set for Councillor Mrs. Doyle to attend Standards Committee/Code of Conduct training and it was noted that Councillor Mrs. Doyle had also attended the Mock Standards Assessment Sub-Committee training which had taken place on 11th May 2009. The Committee heard that 38 of the Council's 39 elected Members were due to attend planning training the following evening, which represented the seriousness with which Members took their regulatory commitments.
In relation to the Council's success in achieving Primary level of the West Midlands Local Government Association Member Development Charter, and with the onset of the 2009/10 municipal year, the Monitoring Officer was currently working with the Council's Learning and Organisational Development Manager to identify any Member requirements over the proceeding twelve months. Monitoring and evaluation would be the key elements in obtaining the next level of the Member Development Charter.
The Council's further success in obtaining Level 3 of the Equality Standards for Local Government was also noted, which was felt to be of particular significance given the limited resources available in this area to district councils.
(iii) Parish Council matters
It was noted that a report detailing the Council's decision in relation to the Terms of Office of the Parish Councils' Representatives on the Standards Committee appeared later in the agenda.
(iv) Annual Report of the Standards Committee
Officers apologised that it had not been possible for a draft of the Annual Report to be produced in time for the meeting. It was agreed that this would be drawn up as soon as possible and that a copy of the draft Report be sent to all members of the Committee for comment, following which officers could finalise this in consultation with the Chairman, without the need of referring this back to a further meeting of the Committee for final approval.
(v) Standards Board Annual Assembly
The Deputy Monitoring Officer highlighted the Standards Board's Annual Assembly which was taking place in Birmingham on 12th and 13th October 2009. Members of the Committee were asked to contact the Monitoring Officer if interested in attending this. No expressions of interest were expressed at the meeting.
(vi) Standards Board Annual Return
The Deputy Monitoring Officer informed the Committee that officers had recently completed the Standards Board's annual on-line return, which covered the period 8th May 2008 (the introduction date of local assessment) to 31st March 2009. ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
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Parish Councils' Representatives Report [To receive an oral update from the Parish Councils' Representatives on any matters of relevance to the Committee.] Minutes: Mr Hodgetts advised that no meeting of the Bromsgrove Area Committee of the Worcestershire County Association of Local Councils had taken place since the last meeting of the Standards Committee. The next meeting of the Area Committee was due to be held on 3rd June, at which nominations for the Parish Councils' Representatives on the Standards Committee would be considered.
RESOLVED that the position be noted. |
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Review of the Local Assessment Regime [To receive a report on the findings of the review undertaken by officers on certain aspects of the local assessment of complaints about Members regime.] Additional documents: Minutes: Further to Minute 59/08 of the 31st March 2009 meeting of the Committee, a report was received on the findings of the review undertaken by officers on aspects of the local assessment of complaints about Members regime. The Deputy Monitoring Officer provided an overview of the key aspects of the report and the following were noted/agreed:
(i) Publicity to and promotion of the ethical framework and complaints process
Members were advised of the various methods which were to be used in publicising and promoting the ethical framework and standards regime. A new "brand" was to be developed for use in all publicity, literature, information etc., which it was anticipated would be implemented in September 2009, following the Council's adoption of the new members' Code of Conduct. The primary aim of the new branding was to portray the positive benefits of the framework, in a language that was not legalistic and which would therefore be easily understandable to the public. The introduction of the new branding would coincide with the launch of the Council's new website and it was proposed that there a high profile press release, or series of releases, to promote the standards regime. Regular updates on progress in this regard would be given in future Monitoring Officer Reports.
(ii) Assessment criteria
The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that an immediate change was required to the Standards Assessment Sub-Committee Assessment Criteria form to specify whether, at the time of the alleged breach of the Code of Conduct, the subject member was acting in either a personal or official capacity. Such a change was necessary as, save for conduct which constituted a criminal offence and which had resulted in a conviction, the Code currently only applied to Members acting in an official capacity. It was noted however that this issue might need to be revisited following the introduction of the new Code of Conduct, and that the form was an ever evolving document which was under constant review.
(iii) Notification of complaint to subject member prior to assessment
Members noted the legal advice detailed in the report as to whether or not a subject member should be notified of a complaint prior to the complaint having been assessed: in particular, the prohibitions in place under s63 of the Local Government Act 2000 on the disclosure of any information obtained by a monitoring officer in the course of performing any of his or her duties relating to complaints about members, except in specified circumstances. Were the Committee to decide that it intended to notify the subject member of a complaint prior to assessment, the only information which could be given to the subject member at that stage was the fact that a complaint had been made, the name of the complainant (subject to Data Protection and any request by the complainant for confidentiality) and the relevant paragraph(s) of the Code which may have been breached. A written summary of the actual allegation could only be provided once the Assessment Sub-Committee ... view the full minutes text for item 10. |
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Review of operation of the Committee [Members are asked to give consideration to the general operation of the Committee over the last twelve months and to comment on any aspects of this as appropriate. No separate report.] Minutes: The Committee was asked to give consideration to the general operation of the Committee over the preceding twelve months and to comment on any aspects of this as appropriate. Officers advised that this would be an annual report from hereon, the aim of which was to give members an opportunity to raise any issues of relevance or concern, and that this would usually be programmed for the last meeting of the municipal year, prior to any change in membership following the Annual Meeting of the Council.
Members felt that the Committee had operated in a very positive manner and it was noted that the Committee was currently undertaking a major review of the local assessment of complaints about Members regime, which had now been in operation for twelve months.
RESOLVED that the position be noted. |
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[To consider the future Work Programme of the Committee.] Minutes: Consideration was given to the Committee's Work Programme.
It was noted that no items were currently scheduled for consideration at the July 2009 meeting. Officers advised that the date of the next meeting would depend on when the new Code of Conduct was issued.
RESOLVED that the Work Programme be approved. |
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Local Government Act 1972 "RESOLVED: that the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business on the grounds:
a) that under Section 100 I of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act, as amended, the relevant paragraphs of that part being as set out below, and that it is in the public interest to do so:
b) that under Section 100 A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, they involve the likely disclosure of confidential information, namely information provided under Section 63 of the Local Government Act as part of an Ethical Standards Officer's investigation under Part III of the Local Government Act 2000:
Minutes: RESOLVED: a) that under Section 100 I of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act, as amended, the relevant paragraphs of that part being as set out below, and that it was in the public interest to do so:
b) that under Section 100 A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of confidential information, namely information provided under Section 63 of the Local Government Act as part of an Ethical Standards Officer's investigation under Part III of the Local Government Act 2000:
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Confidential minutes Minutes: The confidential minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 31st March 2009 were submitted.
RESOLVED that the minutes be approved as a correct record. |
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Standards Board for England final reports on alleged breaches of the Bromsgrove District Council Code of Conduct [To note the final reports of the Standards Board for England's Ethical Standards Officer on investigations undertaken following three separate complaints against a District Councillor for alleged breaches of the Bromsgrove District Council Code of Conduct.]
Minutes: Further to Minute 07/09 above, the Committee received, for information only, the final reports of the Standards Board for England's Ethical Standards Officer on the outcomes of the investigations into three separate allegations that Councillor Peter McDonald had breached the Bromsgrove District Council Code of Conduct. It each of the cases the Ethical Standards Officer had made a finding that Councillor McDonald had not failed to comply with the Code.
The Committee noted that it was bound by the Investigating Officer's findings and that it had no powers to either investigate or make its own findings on the cases. The Assessment Sub-Committee needed to give careful consideration when referring possible breaches of the Code to the Standards Board for investigation, rather than to the Monitoring Officer for local investigation, and it was noted that the Monitoring Officer could appoint an independent external investigating officer should the particular circumstances warrant this.
RESOLVED that the Standards Board for England's Ethical Standards Officer's findings of no breach in relation to the three separate allegations against Councillor McDonald be noted. |
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