D R
A F T
MINUTES
OF A MEETING OF THE STANDARDS COMMITTEESTANDARDS COMMITTEESTANDARDS
COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON MONDAY, 30 JANUARY 200622 MAY 2006 COMMENCING AT 6.057 PM
Present :
Mr B Claxton (Chairman), Mr M J Cunningham, Mrs S Dalby,
Mr K Fagan, Mrs J Harding, Mr G Hibberd,
Miss H L Humby, Mr R Mew Mrs M J Miller, Mrs E Oulton, Mr D Russell,
Mr M Southwell,
Mr D L Watson
Apologies :
Mr R DayMr D
L Watson
13. MINUTES
RESOLVED :
THAT the Minutes
of the meeting held on 30 January
2006 be confirmed subject to Minute 11, Paragraph 6, Line 2 being amended to read. ‘…..advised that the
Standards Board for England guidance’ ….. and Minute 11 resolution (iii) to read ‘THAT the Monitoring Officer
give the Committee
Terms of Reference in the event of a hearing taking place’.
14. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None
were made as
this stage. Interests
were declared in the following matters:
Cllr Heather Humby declared a personal interest in Minute 15 (b) - Appointments to
Outside Bodies - as she was a Council representative on an Outside Body.
Cllr Erica Oulton declared a personal interest in Minute 15 (b) - Appointments to
Outside Bodies - as she was a Council representative on an Outside Body.
Cllr Mike Cunningham declared a personal interest
in Minute 11 (a) – Parish and Town Councils Update – as he was a
member of the Newport Town Management Committee. Minute 15 (b) - Appointments to Outside Bodies - as he was a Council
representative on an Outside Body, Minute 15 (c) – Learning Points for
the Standards Committee in Respect of Local Investigations Ordered by the
Standards Board for England - as he knew Cllr Alan Wells who was a senior member of
the Conservative Group.
15.
REPORTS OF THE
MONITORING OFFICER
OUTCOME OF THE
ADJUDICATION PANEL ON 6 JANUARY 2006
(a)
Parish and Town
Councils Update
Members were advised if the latest position with regard to
a number of initiatives affecting Parish and Town Councillors. A two day training session had been held with representatives
from the Town Management Committees, Parish
Clerks and Parish and Town Councillors had attended. Members were advised of the topics that had
been covered at the training session. There was
some discussion as to whether anything could be done with regard to the Parish
and Town
Councils who had not attended the training sessions. A check would be made to ensure that the message had been
circulated to all Parish and Town Council members, if it had not then the Programme Lead for
External Governance would try and ascertain why it had not.
The Isle of Wight Council was providing funds to
assist with the training of Parish and Town Councillors and Clerks with a view to them becoming Quality
Parishes. Advice could now be sought through one of the Council’s Deputy Monitoring
Officers.
The Programme Lead for External Governance
advised the Committee that he had attended all the meetings of the
Association of Parish and Town Councils and the Society of Clerks
Branch
meeting. It became clear that both
organisations were looking to replace their secretary’s this year and with that in mind
a
tripartite agreement was reached whereby the Isle of Wight Council provided a secretarial post for both those organisations
from within the Parish and Community Development Team.
There had been some discussion with regard to Town Management
Committee’s
not receiving papers as part of the consultation process. Members were advised that Parish and Town
Councils were statutory consultees, whereas Town Management Committee’s were not although arrangements
were being introduced so that the Management Committees would be consulted
on all planning applications in their areas.
RESOLVED :
THAT the report be noted.
(b)
Appointments to Outside Bodies by Isle of Wight
Council
The Committee was advised of the outcome of the
review of Outside Bodies undertaken by the Isle of Wight Council. The new scheme was now in place with appointments being for a 4 year term. It was anticipated that the scheme would be
reviewed after that time, Members questioned if a review should wait that long. It was decided that a questionnaire should be drawn
up and sent to everyone who had been appointed to an Outside Body. Bruce Claxton, George Hibberd, Erica Oulton and Chris Mathews
would review the responses and bring any outcomes back to the Committee.
RESOLVED :
(i)
THAT a questionnaire be drawn up and sent to appointees on Outside Bodies.
(ii)
THAT Bruce Claxton, George Hibberd, Erica Oulton and Chris Mathews
would review the responses and bring any outcomes back to the Committee.
(c)
Learning Points for the Standards Committee in
Respect of Local Investigations Ordered by the Standards Board for England
The Programme Lead for Internal Governance told
members that they should focus their attentions on the points that had been identified which included Parish
and Town Councils clearly identifying the purpose of all their written
communications, the written evidence presented by the Ethical Standards
Officer, evidence given under oath and the tape recording of hearings.
The Committee asked if Parish and Town Councils had
been advised of the need to clearly identify the purpose of all written
communication and were told that it would be cascaded out as part of their
training.
The Programme Lead for External Governance
indicated that although it may be desirable to tape proceedings it was not a
requirement and did not impact on the hearing as it would always be supported
by a Committee Clerk.
Councillor Wells had received a copy of the report
in response to his letter.
RESOLVED :
THAT the learning points that had been identified be
adopted.
(d)
Response to the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister’s White Paper
A copy of a discussion paper used at a Standards
Board for England meeting held on 6 April 2006 was circulated to
members of the Committee at the start of the meeting.
Members of the Committee believed the paper was too
detailed to comprehend and respond to immediately and felt they needed more
time to deal with the issue.
The Committee suggested that responses be sent via
e mail to the Programme Lead for Internal Governance by Friday 2 June
2006. A Sub Committee of
three be set up to consider the responses and a draft of those
responses then be circulated to all members for their agreement before being
sent to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
There was some discussion with regard to the
training that
had been held
before the meeting, with some members believing that it was too long
a period in which to discuss important issues.
There was a suggestion that the Committee should meet more frequently
than 4 times a year, every two months was put forward.
A broader area of training needs would be
identified and could be linked into the general Training Calendar to enable members to access any training
required, although it was
anticipated that some training could also be undertaken in conjunction with others.
RESOLVED :
(i)
THAT a Sub Committee comprising of Bruce Claxton,
George Hibberd and Pat Szatter be set up to draft a response to the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister.
(ii)
THAT meetings of the Standards Committee be held
every two months for the ensuing year.
(e)
Standards Board for England Investigations and
Decisions
The Programme Lead for Internal Governance
reported on the latest
investigations and decisions from the Standards Board for England.
RESOLVED :
THAT the report be noted.
(f)
A Little Legislation and Case Law and Reports in the
Local Government Chronicle re Standards Board for England
The Chairman advised the Committee that the two
reports on the agenda ‘A Little Legislation and Case Law’ and ‘Reports in the Local
Government Chronicle re Standards Board for England’ be taken as read.
RESOLVED :
THAT
the reports be noted.
CHAIRMAN
The
Chairman indicated that there were a number of things that could be learnt from
the hearing process. He believed there
was a need to take a reflective look at the investigation process as there were
elements which were possibly not as thorough as they could have been. Cases could now be referred to the
Monitoring Officer for investigation and involvement of the Standards
Committee. It was believed the
Committee should look at and develop the procedures which were already in
place. If a situation arose that needed investigation then comprehensive
procedures were in position ensuring
there would be no failure through lack of being prepared. There was appropriate guidance available
from the Standards Board for England.
The
Committee believed there were issues to be learnt from the hearing process and
the Council’s written procedure was not comprehensive enough. There was some question of the procedures
for the taking of evidence on oath or by affirmation, it was believed these
should be written into the Council’s procedures. A draft of the new procedures should be brought to the next
meeting of the Committee.
Members
were reminded that part of the recommendation from the hearing was that when a
letter was sent out by the Town or Parish Council it should show if it was a
formal or an informal response. The
Committee felt that this was a message that was relevant to all Town and Parish
Councils as at times there were dangers and procedures were needed in order to
avoid these.
The
Committee thought that any future hearing a full recording should be taken or
someone present who could take verbatim notes.
The procedure should be speeded up although there was a need to ensure
that all parties were given every opportunity to express their side of the
argument and be satisfied that everyone had been given the opportunity to lay
their facts out.
Members
asked if there would be a written response to the letter Councillor Wells had
submitted and were advised that a response would be sent and copied to all
other parties concerned.
There
was some question with regard to reimbursement of cost. Members were advised that the guidance made
it clear that any costs fell to each party in the proceedings and therefore
there was no recovery of these. The
Isle of Wight Council had adopted a policy whereby it would indemnify its
members for all costs where it was legally able to do so, however, in this case
the allegation was in relation to a Cowes Town Councillor and not Isle of Wight
Councillor.
RESOLVED :
THAT
the management and the process of the hearing which would include costs and
other issues be looked at and a report on how to improve those aspects and
information sharing be brought back to the 22 May 2006 meeting.
THAT
wider advice be given to Town and Parish Councils with reference to the
decision making process and ensuring that it was properly documented.
THAT
proposals be drafted with regard to the Monitoring Officer being asked to step
in before the Committee has done any particular report.
THAT
a response to Councillor Wells letter would be copied and sent all other
parties concerned.
REPORTS
OF THE MONITORING OFFICER
Draft
Annual Report of the Committee
The
Committee discussed the draft Annual report and were advised that it was the
practice of the Committee to send a copy of the report to the Standards Board
for England. There was a suggestion
that the dates on the front be changed to take into account a full year.
RESOLVED :
THAT
the date on the front of the document be changed to read 1 February 2005 – 31
January 2006.
Parish
and Town Councils – Ethics and Probity Update
The
training package for Town and Parish Councils was still outstanding although a
closer relationship between the Isle of Wight Council and Town and Parish
Council’s was being developed. As part
of that the training package would encompass a wider area of subjects.
The
work programme from 7th
October 2005 event was about Town and Parish Council’s relationship with the
Isle of Wight Council. It was felt that
generally the Isle of Wight Council was good but with some weak areas in terms
of decision making. A Parish
Development Team was being established within the Isle of Wight Council whereby
all the Town and Parish Council queries would be dealt with. Those new arrangements were expected to be
in place by 1 March 2006.
With
regard to offering support to the Association of Town and Parish Clerks, Chris
Mathews, Deputy Monitoring Officer, had been to every
meeting of the IW Association of Parish and Town Councils and the Society of
Local Clerks. He had been asked about
ethical issues from 6 Town and Parish Council’s where he had given advice and
the issues had been amicably resolved.
Mediation
had been held for a specific Town Council and support was still being offered
if it was needed.
The
Parish Protocol would be revised by the Parish Development Team.
The
rota for the independent members of the Standards Committee to visit Town and
Parish Councils was circulated, they had been split into three areas. It was suggested that the Clerks be given a
ring beforehand to advise them of the intended visit as a matter of courtesy.
The
Committee were advised that the
Development Control Team had set up Town and Parish Council Forums for the
planning side and cluster training was also in place. Development Control had also put Town and Parish Councils in
touch with Planning Aid who would give them free advice on planning
applications and matters relating to the environment.
RESOLVED
THAT the report of the Deputy Monitoring
Officer be noted.
To
consider whether membership of the Standards Committee should be amended so
that a second deputy is appointed for the Town and Parish Council
representative
Consideration
was given as to whether an additional deputy for Town and Parish Councils could
be appointed. It was believed that
another deputy would be useful and appropriate training would be offered.
RESOLVED :
THAT
a second deputy for Town and Parish Councils be appointed to the Standards
Committee.
Work
Plan for the coming year
Members
discussed the workplan for the coming year and made several changes. There was also some discussion as to the
start time of meetings.
RESOLVED :
THAT
the Cabinet Secretaries be advised that the Standards Committee would prefer to
commence their meeting at 10.00 am with a reserve time of 4.00 pm
THAT
the following changes be made to the workplan
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Town
and Parish Councils
Monitoring
Appointments of Councillors to Outside Bodies
Learning
Process from the Hearing
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CHAIRMAN