PAPER F

Purpose : For Decision

Committee : STANDARDS COMMITTEE

Date : 23 JUNE 2004

Title : MATTERS FROM THE STANDARDS BOARD

REPORT OF THE MONITORING OFFICER

PURPOSE

1. To consider a matter of local significance following complaints to the Standards Board for England.

BACKGROUND

2. I have received notification from the Standards Board for England of a number of complaints against Island Councillors (both Isle of Wight Council and Parish/Town Council) that they will not be investigating on the grounds that insufficient evidence was presented to warrant an investigation.

3. I shall brief members of the Committee on the precise details of these if they wish in private session.

4. However one matter of particular local relevance is the issue of Freemasonry.

5. The Committee may be aware that following earlier advice from the Standards Board for England (which in itself arose from a complaint to the Board about an Island Councillor) I gave advice to all Members that any Member who is a Freemason should register that fact in the Register of Members Interests.

6. Subsequently an Island resident submitted a complaint to the Standards Board for England against 16 Isle of Wight Councillors alleging that as they had not disclosed that they were (or were not) Freemasons they were in breach of the Code of Conduct. I am pleased to say that the Standards Board for England concluded that as no evidence of membership was submitted that the complaints should not be investigated. All 16 Members have been formally informed of this by the Standards Board for England.

7. The interesting point with this case is that despite Members complying with the legal requirements, and my advice, they can still be the subject of unwarranted and inappropriate complaints to the Standards Board. In this particular case the Standards Board responded relatively quickly – however there was still some concerns for Members.

8. The Committee may also be interested to know that as part of our continuing efforts to improve the level of ethics and probity within the Council I write to all Members on an annual basis enclosing their current Register of Financial and Other Interests and inviting them to update this if necessary. This helps to ensure that the Registers are kept up to date and serves as a reminder of the need to register such interests.

RECOMMENDATION

That the position be noted.

BACKGROUND PAPERS

Contact Point : Chris Mathews, F 823280 ([email protected])

JOHN LAWSON

Monitoring Officer