NOTES OF AN INFORMAL MEETING OF THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON MONDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2006 COMMENCING AT 6.00 PM

 

Present :

 

Mr B Claxton (Chairman), Mr R Day, Mr K Fagan, Mrs J Harding, Mr G Hibberd, Miss H L Humby, Mr D Russell, Mr M Southwell

 

Apologies :   

 

Mr R Mew, Mrs M J Miller

 

 



Prior to the start of the meeting the Chairman announced that, due to the absence of one Isle of Wight Council Member, the meeting was inquorate. An informal meeting therefore took place and it was agreed that recommendations would be made to the next meeting of the Committee.          

 

1.                  MINUTES

 

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND:

 

THAT the Minutes of the meeting held on 31 July 2006 be confirmed subject to the deletion of the following from Minute 4 (a) paragraph 4 ‘to the Isle of Wight County Press’.

 

2.                  DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

There were no declarations of interest.

 

3.                  REPORTS OF THE MONITORING OFFICER

 

(a)               Monitoring Member/Officer Protocol (email usage, performance issues, role of Members)

 

Due to the absence of the Monitoring Officer this item was deferred to the next meeting.

 

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND :

 

THAT the item be deferred to the next meeting.

 

(b)               Partnering, Contracting and the Ethical Agenda (scoping) – Paper B

 

The Deputy Monitoring Officer updated the Meeting on the scoping of a range of activities that would impact on their work on the Ethical Agenda, particularly in relation to Partnering and Contracting.

 

The activities planned included a review by the Standards Committee of the Members Attendance and role on Outside Bodies, preparation of a Good Practice Guide for Partnerships leading to the preparation of a Partnership Register and Partnership Standing Orders, and a review of ethical issues regarding the Council’s Contract Standing Orders.  A suggested timescale for this work was set out in the report.

 

A Panel had already been established to look at a questionnaire on Members and Outside Bodies and it was suggested that the remit of the Panel be extended to include a review of the Good Practice Guide, the Partnership Register, Partnership Standing Orders, and the Council’s Contract Standing Orders. The Panel would report back to the Committee, where necessary, on its findings. The Panel would be asked to consider the ethical issues around contracting and partnerships rather than a full scale review of all matters relating to this area of work.

 

The Representative for Town and Parish Councils noted that there was no Town or Parish Council representative on the Panel. This was due to it being an Isle of Wight Council matter only.

 

The Chairman requested that the Committee be provided with the Best Practise Guide as soon as it was available and that a framework for the questionnaires be undertaken as soon as possible.

 

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND :

 

THAT the work plan as set out in the report be noted and worked to with the acknowledgement that as other priorities arose there could be slippage and progress would be reported back to the Committee.

 

(c)               Consideration of a Local Investigation

 

The Meeting was informed that the report due to be discussed at the meeting was unavailable. This was mainly due to the August holiday period. The report was expected to be received shortly. 

 

The Meeting was reminded that the Standards Board for England had asked the Council to undertake a local investigation. The Council were using a reciprocal arrangement with a Monitoring Officer of another Local Authority area who was assisting with the task. If the report concluded there was no breach to the Code of Conduct then it would be for the Standards Committee to decide at a meeting if they agreed with that finding.  If they did agree then it should be arranged for a notice to be published giving the findings and the reasons for those findings.  The member involved could ask that the notice not be passed to local newspapers.  If however the committee disagreed with the findings of the report it would be up to the Standards Committee to decide if they felt there was a case to answer. In that case a local hearing would have to be held to make a final determination as to whether the Code of Conduct had been breached. If the report concludes that a breach of the Code of Conduct has occurred it would be necessary to set up a hearing and that would need to be within three months of the report being published.

 

It was agreed that an extraordinary meeting of the Committee would be held on Wednesday 11 October 2006 at 10.00 am to discuss this paper.

 

Members felt that there would only be a short time in which to look at it.  They were advised the time would be short but adequate and the report would be sent to Members of the Committee as soon as it was received.

 

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND :

 

THAT an extraordinary meeting of the Committee be arranged for Wednesday 11 October 2006 at 10.00 am.

 

(d)               Workplan for the forthcoming year

 

Members agreed to schedule an extra meeting for 11 October 2006.

 

The item on Monitoring Member/Officer Protocol (email usage, performance issues, role of Members) would be discussed at the next meeting.

 

It was suggested that the Committee would review their terms of reference on Monday, 29 January 2007.

 

Members requested further training. The Chairman and the Deputy Monitoring Officer would be attending an annual conference in Birmingham and would report back to the Committee in November on any useful training courses.

 

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND :

 

                                                                                i.            THAT an extra meeting be scheduled for 11 October 2006

 

                                                                              ii.            THAT the item on Monitoring Member/Officer Protocol (email usage, performance issues, role of Members) be discussed at the next meeting

 

                                                                            iii.            THAT an item to discuss the Committees terms of reference be added to the meeting scheduled for Monday, 29 January 2007

 

                                                                             iv.            THAT the Chairman and Deputy Monitoring Officer report back to Members in November on any useful training courses.

 

 

 

 

CHAIRMAN