Agenda and minutes

Members will be invited to nominate representatives for the position of Vice-Chair of the Committee.

Resolved - That Councillor Vera Tomlinson be appointed Vice-Chair of the Standards Committee for the Municipal Year 2019/20.

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 21^st January 2019.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 21^st January 2019 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Please refer to the explanatory notes below.

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 public be excluded during the discussion of the matters referred to in the items listed below on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the respective paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

The Committee was asked to consider its Draft Annual Report for 2018/19 which provided a record of the work of the Standards Committee for the period 1^st June 2018 to 31^st May 2019.

It was noted that the number of Code of Conduct complaints considered by the Standards Assessment Panel during 2018/2019 (9) had been significantly lower than the previous year (36).

Resolved – (1) That the Draft Standards Committee Annual Report 2018/19, attached at Appendix 1 to the report, be agreed.

          (2) That the Chief Legal Officer be authorised to finalise the Annual Report for publication on the Council’s website.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Legal Officer inviting the Committee to agree its Work Programme for the 2018/2019 Municipal Year.

Resolved – (1) That the Committee’s draft Work Programme for 2018/2019, as attached at Appendix 1 to the report, be agreed.

          (2) That it be noted that the proposed work programme was sufficiently flexible to accommodate any unforeseen matters that might arise in relation to the Council’s Ethical Framework.

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

Dispensations

The Committee noted that the eight councillors newly elected in May 2019 had applied for a dispensation in relation to any meeting at which any matter which has a bearing on the setting of the Council Tax and Precept, the discounts and exemptions for Council Tax, or the Council Tax Support Scheme, is being or is due to be considered. These had all been granted until 6^th November 2020, in line with the previous resolution of this Committee, and had been listed in Appendix 1 to the report.

The Committee noted that no other dispensations had been sought since its last meeting.  

Membership of the Standards Committee

Parish Representatives

The Committee noted that the Council had extended its engagement meeting to include all parish and town councils in Swindon, having previously met only with representatives from the Swindon Area Committee of the Wiltshire Association of Local Councils, and that a new set of working principles would be created to replace the Parish Charter.

The Committee noted that there is a subsequent affect on the recruitment process for two Parish Representatives, who are currently nominated by the Swindon Area Committee and confirmed by Council. All parish and town councils in Swindon have been invited to consider how they wish to nominate Parish Representatives in future.

Until such time as a new procedure is in place, the Committee was invited to agree that the existing Parish Council representatives on the Standards Committee, Messrs Mike Compton (Blunsdon) and Richard Hailstone (Haydon Wick), remain in post as their current nomination terminates in September 2019.

In response to a question, the Committee were advised that the Administrator for the Swindon Area Committee would be contacting the parish and town councils within Swindon regarding this matter.

Lay Representatives

The Committee noted that the existing Lay Representatives on the Standards Committee, Messrs Trevor Davies and David Dawson, had indicated their willingness to remain on the Committee for a further two year period, ending in 2021, and had been duly appointed by Council at its Annual Meeting held on 17^th May 2019.

Independent Persons

The Committee noted that Messrs Paul Morris and Keith Strickland had been duly appointed to the position of Independent Persons at the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 18^th May 2018, for a period of four years ending in May 2022. 

Annual Governance Statement

The Committee considered the Annual Governance Statement (AGS), set out in Appendix 2 to the report, which is the formal statement that recognises, records and publishes an authority’s governance arrangements. It was confirmed that the Council has approved and adopted a local code of corporate governance which is consistent with the principles of the CIPFA/SOLACE Framework for Delivering Good Governance in Local Government. The AGS explained how the Council had complied with the local code,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

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, and the outcome of any completed investigations in relation to these.

In response to a question, the process for appointing members to a Standards Assessment Panel was confirmed. It was noted that additional training can be offered to members of a Panel, prior to the meeting, if requested.

Resolved – That the Ethical Compliance report be noted.