PAPER B
Purpose
: For Decision
Committee : STANDARDS
COMMITTEE
Date : 19 OCTOBER
2004
Title : REVIEW OF
PUBLICATION OF MEMBERS ATTENDANCE FIGURES
REPORT OF THE MONITORING
OFFICER
BACKGROUND
1.
At the last meeting of
the Committee it was agreed that the scheme for the publication of the Members
Attendance Figures should continue for the time being but that, subject to the views of the Group
Leaders, the existing form be amended so that the number of absences from
meetings when on other Council business be excluded from the percentage
headline figure.
2.
Following the meeting I
consulted with the Group Leaders and all were in support of this suggestion
except that it was suggested that possibly the definition should be wider to
include any “Local Government Business”.
3.
The point being made is
that a number of members are, by virtue of being members of the Isle of Wight
Council, active in a range of Local Government areas on a national and
international arena. Examples are being commissioned by the Improvement and
Development Agency (IDeA) to work on Peer Reviews of other Authorities, being
appointed to the Committee of the Regions, and the Local Government Information
Bureau. The members concerned are not appointed to these bodies by the Council
and therefore attendance would fall outside the definition as agreed at the
last meeting of the Committee.
4.
However it is highly
unlikely (and probably in some cases a certainty) that the members would not be
on these bodies unless they were Councillors and the Isle of Wight clearly
benefits from their involvement by virtue of raising our profile, by sharing
the experiences gained and having direct access to some key national and
international players that may help the Islands case. It therefore does seem unfair
to penalise members who undertake this sort of activity.
5.
The contrary view however
is that such a wide definition as “Local Government Business” could also
include constituency work and where a Councillors normal business happens on
that occasion to be working for a local authority (for example if a Councillor
happens to be a Solicitor in private practice and is acting for the Council in
a particular case). Such a definition would therefore give a distorted picture
where a Councillor through his normal business activities happens to undertake
Local Government Business.
6.
To overcome this the
definition could be amended to read:
7.
I have sought the views
of the Group Leaders on this suggestion and will report their views at the
meeting.
8.
On a wider note the
Committee will still need to consider if this scheme is achieving the
objectives of explaining to the public exactly how busy and effective members
are. This will be the subject of a report back at a later date.
RECOMMENDATION
That the scheme for the
publication of members attendance figures be amended so that the number of absences from meetings
when on other Council business be excluded from the percentage headline
figure. |
BACKGROUND PAPERS
Contact Point : Chris Mathews, F 823280
([email protected])
JOHN
LAWSON
Monitoring
Officer