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BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL STANDARDS COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE HELD IN THE HADLEIGH BUSINESS CENTRE, CROCKATT ROAD, HADLEIGH ON THURSDAY, 15 MAY 2008
PRESENT:
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Members |
Co-opted Members
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Mr P K Beer
Mrs S P Clarke |
Mr R L Feltwell
Mr J B Newton (Chairman)
Mr J G Watson |
Miss P F Cook, Mr P Jones and Mr R E Kemp were unable to attend.
1. Declaration of Interests
2. Minutes
3. Petitions
4. Questions from Members
5. Appointment of Parish/Town Council Representative
6. The Standards Committee (England) Regulations 2008
7. Members' Code of Conduct Case Reports
8. Seventh Annual Assembly of Standards Committee
1 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
There were no declarations of interest.
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2 MINUTES
RESOLVED
That the Minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2008 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.
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3 PETITIONS
None received.
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4 QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS
None received.
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5 APPOINTMENT OF PARISH/TOWN COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE
The Monitoring Officer reported that following the Council’s agreement to expand the membership of the Committee so that it totalled 10 Members (including 3 Parish/Town Council representatives and 3 independent members) a recruitment exercise for an additional Parish/Town Council member had been undertaken, as a result of which a panel comprising the Chairman, Vice Chairman and the Monitoring Officer recommended the appointment of Councillor Tasia Kavvadias of Kettlebaston Parish Council. The Monitoring Officer further reported that an exercise to recruit an additional independent member was ongoing.
RESOLVED
(1) That the recommendation of the Interview Panel that Ms T Kavvadias be appointed as a Parish/Town Council representative on the Standards Committee for a four year term commencing on 15 May 2008 be adopted.
(2) That the position in relation to the recruitment of an additional independent member be noted.
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6 THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE (ENGLAND) REGULATIONS 2008
The Monitoring Officer presented her report (Paper H28) on the above-mentioned Regulations, which came into force on 8 May 2008 and described the procedures that needed to be followed in relation to the local assessment of complaints. The Monitoring Officer advised that, despite these detailed procedures, the relevant section of the primary legislation had still not been enacted, although it was anticipated that this would shortly be rectified.
The Regulations specified, amongst other things, the proportion of the Members of Standards Committees who were required to be either independent co-opted members or Parish/Town Council representatives. They also required the establishment of three Sub-Committees to undertake, respectively, the initial assessment of allegations, the review of a decision to take no action in respect of an allegation and hearings, and it was noted that this Committee had already established a Sub-Committee for the latter purpose. It would be necessary, however, to appoint the two other Sub-Committees and it was suggested that their membership be drawn, in the appropriate proportion, by the Director of Corporate Services from the entire membership of the Standards Committee. Rules were included concerning the quorum for such Sub-Committees and the different categories of member required to be present at meetings. There were also rules concerning the confidentiality of reports, the exclusion of the public from meetings, the procedure for referring a matter to a hearing and the range of findings available to the Sub-Committees, as well as the sanctions that might be imposed.
Appended to the report were a copy of issue 38 of the Standards Board for England’s publication, “The Bulletin” (which included further detailed advice on the content of the Regulations) and copies of various model documents (including a complaints form) and letter templates that formed the Standards Board’s ‘Local Assessment Toolkit’.
During the course of the discussion about the Regulations the Monitoring Officer undertook to seek further clarification regarding the requirement to dispatch copies of the agenda for Standards Committee and Sub-Committee meetings to all Parish Councils and also on the potential conflicts of interest that could arise for members of the Sub-Committees as a result of the requirement for the full Standards Committee to consider reports on investigations by the Monitoring Officer before referring those matters to a hearing.
RESOLVED
(1) That a Sub-Committee comprising three members of the Standards Committee be established to undertake the initial assessment of complaints under section 57A of the Local Government Act 2000, such Sub-Committee to be chaired by an independent member of the Committee.
(2) That a Sub-Committee comprising three members of the Standards Committee be established to review decisions under Section 57B of the Local Government Act 2000, such Sub-Committee to be chaired by an independent member of the Committee.
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7 MEMBERS’ CODE OF CONDUCT CASE REPORTS
The Monitoring Officer submitted a report (Paper H29) on recent decisions of the Appeals Tribunal arising from the investigation of alleged breaches of The Members’ Code of Conduct. The report also included a summary of a case in which the Local Government Ombudsman found maladministration against a local authority as a result of the way that it determined a planning application.
RESOLVED
That the information in Paper H29 be noted and the attention of Members be brought to the Local Government Ombudsman case in particular.
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8 SEVENTH ANNUAL ASSEMBLY OF STANDARDS COMMITTEES
The Monitoring Officer reported that the Annual Assembly of Standards Committees would be held at the International Conference Centre in Birmingham on 13 and 14 October 2008 with the theme of “Delivering the Goods – Local Standards in Action”.
RESOLVED
That Mr P K Beer and Mr R L Feltwell be appointed as the Council’s representatives at the Annual Assembly of Standards Committees to be held on 13 and 14 October 2008 and to report back thereon to the Committee. Further, that should either of them be unable to attend, Mr J G Watson be appointed to attend in their place.
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The business of the meeting was concluded at 10.50 a.m.
Chairman
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