Agenda and minutes

Members are requested at the start of the meeting to declare any known interests in any matter to be considered, and are reminded that any such interest should also be declared at the start of an item or during any discussion of the matter concerned.

The Chair reminded members of the need to declare known interests in any matters to be considered at the meeting. No declarations were made.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd February 2021.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd February 2021 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The Chair referred to correspondence received prior to the meeting from Councillor Oliver Donachie regarding the Committee’s decision at its last meeting that no changes should be made to the ‘Guidance for Swindon Borough Councillors for interacting with the Media and for using Social Media’ following representations made by the Councillor as to its accuracy. The Chief Legal Officer (Monitoring Officer) advised that they would undertake further research to determine whether any amendments would be required to the document for future approval by the Committee.

Please refer to the explanatory notes below.

During Covid-19, questions must be submitted by 3.00pm two days before the meeting.

There were no public questions.

Certain items are expected to include the consideration of exempt information and the Standards Committee is, therefore, recommended to resolve "That, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded during the discussion of the matters referred to in the items listed below, on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in the respective paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information".

Resolved - That, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded during the discussion of the matters referred to in Agenda Item 8 (Minute 31) on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Committee considered a report from the Chief Legal Officer (Monitoring Officer) inviting it to review the Council’s procedures for dealing with complaints from individuals that an elected Member may have breached the Code of Conduct applicable to them. The report set out how the current procedures for dealing with Code of Conduct complaints can be unwieldy and, in some cases, disproportionate, with the procedure being potentially expensive in terms of resources, including staff and Member time, and out of step with the procedures of many other local authorities of its type. The report also set out how, in line with the existing procedures, the proposals will apply to complaints received about elected Members of the Borough Council and those of the Parish Councils.

The Chief Legal Officer (Monitoring Officer) introduced the report and highlighted how the proposed amendments would enable her initially to review complaints, in consultation with an Independent Person, with a view to rejecting complaints that do not fall under the standards regime. The changes would also allow the complainants name to be withheld from the Respondent only in exceptional circumstances. The Chief Legal Officer (Monitoring Officer) confirmed that it is the intent to undertake a review of the new arrangements in around six months’ time.

The Committee discussed the following matters:

·         That the new arrangements would only apply to complaints received following Committee approval and would not be applied retrospectively.

·         The differences between the proposed Assessment Sub-Committee and the current Assessment Panel being minimal, as only the first stage of the complaints process would vary with the introduction of filtering.

·         That a Parish Council Representative would be present at an Assessment Sub-Committee should the complaint regard a Parish Councillor.

·         That Parish Councils will be notified of any changes to the Complaints process subject to Committee approval, and will be invited to contribute to the review of the new arrangements.

·         That the intent of the new arrangements would be for any Hearing to take place in public with the initial stages being in private.

·         The expected criteria for fulfilling the ‘exceptional circumstances’ requirement on withholding the Complainants name from the Respondent, which is likely to include threats of intimidation, the interference of witnesses, and general grounds of reasonableness to ensure people feel comfortable coming forward with complaints.

·         That the new arrangements would make use of the current assessment criteria and flowchart, with this being made more explicit in the final version.

·         How, at all stages of the process, the Independent Persons will continue to be consulted on any decision-making with this being made more explicit in the final version.

·         Formatting issues highlighted within the draft proposed in Appendix 1, which would be addressed in the final version revised by the Chief Legal Officer (Monitoring Officer) and approved by the Chair subject to Committee approval.

·         That the Assessment Sub-Committee will be asked to review and affirm the Chief Legal Officer (Monitoring Officer)’s findings from their initial review should the Complaint have progressed to that stage. Should this be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

The Committee considered a report from the Chief Legal Officer (Monitoring Officer) that provided an update on the following matters relating to the Ethical Framework and issues of probity in the Council.

Independent Remuneration Panel – Membership and Allowance

The Committee noted that Mr Keith Strickland and Mr Ram Thiagarajah were being replaced as Lay Representatives to the Panel following their resignations. Following the recruitment process undertaken during January and February 2021 the interview panel have put forward Mr Frank Stobrawe and Mrs Julie Card. The Committee was invited to endorse their appointments as Lay Representatives for a period of three years, ending in March 2024.

The Committee has previously agreed that the allowance paid to the members of the Panel should be linked to any percentage increase given to officers in the national pay round (as per the index link in place for Councillors Basic Allowance). The Committee noted that the allowance is currently £240 per annum.

As the current index link for the Panel allowance is coming to an end in May 2021, the Committee was asked to agree its renewal for a further period of four years, ending in March 2025.

Review of Codes and Protocols

At its meeting on 2^nd February 2021 the Committee considered the Members’ Code of Good Planning Practice as part of its annual review of the Council’s Codes and Protocols. Concerns were raised that Section 7 of the Code regarding Site Visits was out-of-date (given that visits no longer appear to be formally arranged by the Council for members) so the Committee agreed it would be prudent to seek the views of the Planning Committee and planning officers on the appropriateness of this section of the Code. The Committee authorised the Chief Legal Officer (Monitoring Officer) to consult on potential changes.

The Committee considered the response that had been received and noted that:

·      The position on site visits is set out in the Planning Committee’s Protocol for dealing with Planning and Related Applications, which was last reviewed and approved by Committee on 6^th October 2020 (Planning Committee Minute 17, 2020/21 refers).

·      Strictly speaking, the Code and the Protocol do not conflict but it is understandable that there are inferences / tones to them that could cause confusion and it would therefore make sense if the Code were updated to mimic the Protocol closer, or even simply referred to the Protocol.

The Committee then considered whether Section 7 of the Members Code of Good Planning Practice could be amended to reflect the position within the Protocol for dealing with Planning and Related Applications. This states that individual members of the committee can, prior to a meeting, visit the site under their own volition with or without the appropriate Planning Officer if they consider it necessary. The following matters were discussed:

·        The alteration of wording within Section 7 of the Code to ‘may’ instead of ‘can’. For example, a member ‘may’ choose to undertake a site visit.

·        The removal of the words  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Legal Officer regarding the outcome of various ethical compliance matters, including the details of any Whistleblowing cases, breaches of the Member / Officer Protocol, and Code of Conduct complaints received since the last Committee.

Resolved – That the Ethical Compliance report be noted.