Committee Administrator – Chris Mathews F823280

 

To:    Independent Members :

 

His Honour John Wroath (Chairman), Mr Claxton, Prof. D Farnham, Mr D Hansford, Mrs J Harding, Mr R Phillips (One Vacancy)

 

Representative of Town and Parish Councils :

 

Mr D Russell

 

Isle of Wight Council Members :

 

Mrs T Butchers, Mr A Coburn, Mr M Cunningham (1st Deputy), Miss H Humby (2nd Deputy) and Mr V Morey (3rd Deputy)  (All are invited to attend (including Deputies) but if there is a vote only the first two (or their deputies) can vote).

 

Meeting :          Standards Committee

 

Date :              11 June 2002

 

Time:               2:30 pm

 

Place :             Committee Room 1, County Hall, High Street, Newport, Isle of Wight

 

AGENDA

 

1.                  ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

 

To Elect a Chairman (from the Independent Members) of the Committee.

 

2.                  MINUTES

 

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2001 (Paper A).

 

3.                  DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

To invite Members to declare any interest they might have in the matters on the agenda.

 

4.                  URGENT BUSINESS

 

To consider any maters which the Chairman considers are urgent.

 

5.                  ADOPTION OF THE CODES OF CONDUCT

 

To consider the attached report form the Monitoring Officer on the Adoption of the Codes of Conduct on the Isle of Wight (Paper B).

 

6.                  PARISH AND TOWN COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE

 

To consider a request from the Isle of Wight Association of Parish and Town Councils that Mr R Mew be Mr D Russell’s deputy on this Committee.

 

7.                  DISPENSATIONS UNDER SECTION 81(4) OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 2000

 

To consider the attached report from the Monitoring Officer on the implications of this for the Committee (Paper C).

 

8.                  LOCAL INVESTIGATION AND DETERMINATION OF MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS

 

To consider the attached report from the Monitoring Officer on the Consultation Paper on the Local Investigation and Determination of Misconduct Allegations (Paper D).

 

9.                  REFERENCES FROM COUNCIL

 

To consider the following recommendation of the Independent Panel on Members Remuneration that has been referred by the Council to this Committee for consideration and to make any necessary recommendations back to the Council:

 

“That the Council considers adopting mechanisms of accountability that Members have to abide by for the receipt of their allowances. In particular, the Panel recommends that at the very least that the Council continue to publish attendance records of Members. Furthermore, the Panel recommends that this be done more frequently than is currently the case, which is annually as is the annual publication of allowances each Member receives. The Panel recommends that these attendance figures be published every quarter so that constituents have a more meaningful and ongoing means by which they can judge the formal performance of their elected Members. This is a common practice elsewhere and is fairly straightforward to implement. Nor does it preclude the Council from advertising more widely Members’ attendance records, such as in local libraries. The Council could go much further if it wishes (see below). In addition, the Panel also suggests that Members have the opportunity to fill in a pro forma on a periodic basis to allow them to give an account of their activities outside County Hall. This should enable them to give an account of their own activities beyond their attendance at formal meetings of the Council and its outside bodies. These activity statements could be posted on the Council’s web pages for electors and other interested parties to evaluate. Alternatively, the Standards Committee could have a role collecting and publishing these activity statements. The Standards Committee should also define what constitutes an excused absence from a meeting by a Member. The Panel also recommends that in the interests of clarity and transparency that there is a sharpened definition of the roles Members are expected to perform and these roles should be also publicised in an appropriate fashion. It gives the electorate a means by which they could potentially measure Members’ performances and informs potential and current Members what they are expected to do in return for their increased allowances. “