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 any known interests in any matters to be considered at the meeting.  No declarations were made.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 19^th October 2010.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 19^th October 2009 be approved.

(See explanatory note below.  Please phone the Committee Clerk whose name and number appears at the top of this agenda if you need further guidance.)

            No public questions were received during the meeting.

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 in Agenda Item 10 on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 12A to the Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information concerned (Minute 28 refers.)

            The Committee received a report of the Director of Law and Democratic Services and Head of Internal Audit advising that the current Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy, Whistleblowing Policy and Fraud Response Plan were being reviewed.  The Head of Internal Audit Invited comments from the Committee at this early stage of the consultation.  The updated documents would be brought back to a future meeting of the Committee for formal approval.

            The Committee discussed the documents in detail and raised a number of queries and recommendations.  In relation to the Whistleblowing Policy, the Committee considered that paragraph 4.3 encouraging staff to report concerns early should be amended to recommend that this is not until staff are convinced that there is a real issue to answer and there is evidence available.  The Committee also considered that junior staff should be encouraged to pass on any evidence to their managers, as long as the manager was not implicated in the complaint, rather than be required to hold it themselves. 

            In relation to the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy, the Committee discussed the way in which the delivery of the Strategy was monitored, how it was communicated to staff and this understanding tested, and implications for partnership working.  The Head of Internal Audit confirmed that there was an infrastructure in place to monitor the delivery of the Strategy, and agreed this could be referenced in the Strategy.  He advised that sub-contractors carrying out services on the behalf of the Council were required to work under these rules, and agreed to consider further how this applied to public sector partners working jointly.  Finally, the Head of Internal Audit confirmed that the strategy was publicised on the intranet and in staff briefings, and awareness of it was tested via the staff survey, and this was used to target training.

            Resolved - 1) That the Standards Committee note the commencement of the consultation process in relation to the review of the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy, Whistleblowing Policy and Fraud Response Plan.

            2) That the Committee recommend that the Head of Internal Audit update the documents to take into account the comments of the Committee as set out above. 

            3) That the Director of Law and Democratic Services (Monitoring Officer) and the Head of Internal Audit seek to bring back the updated Strategy and Policy to a future meeting of the Standards Committee for formal approval following consultation with relevant parties.

            4) That the Head of Internal Audit provide an update on the operation of the Whistleblowing Policy during the past year at the next meeting.

To view the Standards for England’s training DVD, Assessment made clear , which uses case studies to consider the criteria that guide Standards Committee decisions, including what to take into account before referring a complaint for local investigation or to Standards for England, when taking no action on a complaint or considering other action.

            Resolved - That the Director of Law and Democratic Services be requested to arrange a dedicated training session in May or June 2010, following Annual Council, for the Committee to view the training DVD and discuss a Standards for England Case Study.

            The Committee received a report from the Director of Law and Democratic Services (Monitoring Officer) providing an update of various matters relating to the Ethical Framework including:

a)           Outcome of consultation and review of the Monitoring Officer Protocol, Councillor Role Definitions, Media Guidelines for Councillors and Protocol for Member/ Officer Relations.

b)           Delay to the outcome of the national review of Members Code of Conduct.

c)            Action plan from the Standards in Partnership Masterclass with progress to date.

d)           Advice from the Monitoring Officer that no formal governance arrangements were currently required for Connecting People, Connecting Places.

e)           Recommendations for changes to Standards Committee Membership.

f)        Update on Ethical Training undertaken by Parish Councils and reminders sent to Borough Council members and staff on registering gifts and hospitality and registers of interests.

g)           Information on research into notable practice within ten Local Authority Standards Committees.

h)            Standards for England Bulletin Issue 46.

            Resolved – 1) That the Ethical Framework Update be noted;

            2) That the Monitoring Officer Protocol and Media Guidelines be adopted unchanged, and the Protocol for Member / Officer Relations and Councillor Role Definitions be adopted as amended as set out at Appendix‘1’ and ‘3’ of the Agenda report, subject to the new Councillor Role Definitions for Chair and Members of the Planning Committee being referred to the Planning Committee for comment and being brought back for final approval to the April meeting of the Standards Committee.

             3) That the Action Plan arising from the Standards and Partnership Masterclass set out at Appendix ‘4’ to the Agenda report be endorsed and progress against the targets be welcomed, and the Director of Law and Democratic Services (Monitoring Officer) be requested to include a regular 6 monthly report on progress in the Committee Work programme for 2010/11.

            4) That the Committee notes that the Monitoring Officer will be advertising for an independent member to take up position from May 2010, and affirms its view that Independent Members should be able to apply to serve more than two four years terms on the Committee, following a public advertisement of the position and interview if they wish to do so.

            5) That the Committee recommend to Full Council that the membership of the Standards Committee be increased to include an additional Parish Council representative (from two to three representatives) in line with Standards for England recommended best practice, to be nominated by the Swindon Area Committee of the Wiltshire Association of Parish Councils, and to sit on the Standards Committee from May 2010.

            6) The update on Parish Council Ethical Training and reminders to staff and officers on gifts and hospitality and registers of interests be noted.

            7) Further to 6), the Monitoring Officer write to all Parish Councils where less than half of their Parish Councillors have been training inviting them to arrange training with the Monitoring Officer, and write to the Clerk to Bishopstone Parish Council to understand the nature of the training undertaken.

            8) That the research into notable  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

At its meeting in May 2009, the Committee requested the opportunity to explore a case study at each meeting to enable members to keep up to date with case law and procedures.  

Attached is an Appeals Tribunal decision from the Adjudication Panel for England made on 15th October 2009, regarding a case concerning Councillor Marc Cranfield-Adams of London Borough Richmond upon Thames 

The Monitoring Officer will use this decision as a case study for the Committee to explore.  As requested at the last meeting, the outcome of the original decision has been removed from the version circulated with the agenda, but will be available to Members at the meeting, following the discussion.

            At the meeting of the Committee held in May 2009, the Committee requested the opportunity to explore a case study at meetings, to enable members of the Committee to keep up to date with case law and procedures. 

            The Committee considered and discussed the Appeals Tribunal decision from the Adjudication Panel for England made on 15^th October 2009, regarding a case concerning Councillor Marc Cranfield-Adams of London Borough Richmond upon Thames, and how they would have approached this case.  The Committee noted the outcome of the case following their discussion.

            Resolved - 1) That the Committee note the Appeal Tribunal Decision as an example of Code of Conduct complaint decision-making.

            2) That the Director of Law and Democratic Services (Monitoring Officer) continue to bring a case study to each meeting having removed the outcomes from the papers in order that the Committee can make its own judgement on how it would deal with such a case.

            The Committee considered a report of the Director of Law and Democratic Services regarding the outcome of various ethical framework compliance matters, including the progress of current whistleblowing complaints, and Code of Conduct complaints.  It was noted that two complaints had been received under the Members Code of Conduct since the last meeting of the Committee.  One complaint had been considered by an Assessment Sub-Committee and resulted in 'no further action', and this decision had been confirmed by a Review Sub-Committee.  The second complaint had been referred by an Assessment Sub-Committee for local investigation and the Monitoring Officer confirmed that he would appoint an Investigating Officer to carry out the investigation.  Finally the Monitoring Officer confirmed the outcome of the Standards Hearing held on 29^th January 2010 in respect of an outstanding complaint.  

            Resolved - 1) That the report on the outcome of various ethical framework complaints matters be noted.