Agenda item - Standards Regime - Review of the Arrangements for Standards Hearings

Agenda item

Standards Regime - Review of the Arrangements for Standards Hearings

Minutes:

The Head of Legal, Equalities and Democratic Services also presented a report concerning the Council’s arrangements for Standards Hearings.  During the delivery of this presentation the following points were raised for Members’ consideration:

 

·                Council had agreed that the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee should consider Standards Hearing arrangements following the merger of the Audit Board with the Standards Committee.

·                There was a requirement for the Council to have a set process in place for Standards Hearings, though Members were advised that it was unlikely that a hearing would take place.

·                Officers had reviewed Standards Hearing arrangements in place at other Councils where the Audit and Standards functions were fulfilled by a single Committee and had identified a number of options for the Council’s Standards Hearing procedures from this research.

·                Members were asked to consider both appropriate Standards Hearing arrangements and preferred membership appointment processes.

·                A permanent Standards Sub-Committee was one option available.  Membership appointments would need to be made on a politically proportional basis and this could impact on appointments to other Committees.

·                Alternatively, the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee could establish Standards Hearings on an ad hoc basis as and when required.  Ad hoc meeting arrangements would provide the Council with greater flexibility than a permanent Sub-Committee.

·                Complaints would only reach a Standards Hearing in cases where the complaint had been made by the member of the public and no simple resolution could be identified or the councillor refused to comply with any sanctions that were imposed.

·                A separate process, involving group leaders, had been introduced for handling complaints against Councillors made by another elected Member.

 

Following presentation of the report Members discussed a number of areas in detail:

 

·                The circumstances under which a complaint would be referred to a Standards Hearing.  Members were advised that this was only likely to happen in exceptional circumstances.

·                The potential for the Councillor who was the subject of the complaint to ignore sanctions imposed by both the Monitoring Officer and a standards Hearing.  In these circumstances Members were advised that the case, and the sanctions imposed, would be referred to full Council for consideration in public.

·                The need for complaints to be substantiated before they reached the stage of being referred to a Standards Hearing for further consideration.

·                The extent to which complainants would be willing to make their complaints public and their identity known to the Councillor who was the subject of their complaint. 

·                The potential for political bias to occur in appointments to Standards Hearings if appointments were made in a politically proportionate manner and the legal requirements on this matter.  The Committee was advised that Members had always recognised the gravity of the situation and had in the past carried out Standards Assessment Sub-Committee hearings in a professional manner without political bias.

·                The mechanisms available to elected Members to enable them to defend themselves against any complaints that were made about them by the public.

·                The need for robust training for Members serving on Standards Hearings in order to fulfil their roles fairly and effectively.

 

Following further discussions it was

 

RESOLVED that

 

(a)       Standards Hearings be established by the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee on an ad hoc basis as and when required; and

(b)       Appointments to Standards Hearings be determined on a case by case basis by the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee.

Supporting documents: