PAPER B

 

 

 

 

ISLE OF WIGHT COUNCIL

 

ANNUAL REPORT OF

 

 THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE

 

1 FEBRUARY 2006 TO 31 JANUARY 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bruce Claxton

Chairman of the Standards Committee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

From time to time it is useful to refer back to the Terms of Reference upon which our work is based.  Part of the terms of reference reflect our statutory duties; the other items are decided and granted by the Council. The exercise of powers conferred by the Local Government Act 2000 on various persons and bodies needs to be reviewed to ensure that our Terms of Reference are kept up to date. Changes may well be brought about in the ensuing months as the Government is entering into consultation on its proposed changes to the Codes of Conduct and possibly wide reaching primary legislation for local government effecting the constitution and role of standards committees. This year we append our terms of reference. Item 1 gives the broad principle upon which our work is based. It has led us to activate item 8 in respect to Ethical Governance in Partnerships and Contracts. Indeed the white paper - “Strong and Prosperous Communities” - has much to say on partnering. Thus our initiative has been timely.

 

In section 10, below, we note the complaints that have been made to the Standards Board for England. Whereas only a few are considered serious enough for investigation, there is nevertheless concern that situations arise that initiate complaints. We ought to reflect on the issues underlying such less serious complaints to determine if there are training pointers. Training that leads to improvement will generally have a consequential impact on governance. Although the Standards Committee work is not directly concerned with governance, there is anecdotal evidence from several studies that show that high standards of conduct influence and promote good governance.

 

The Committee’s work is highly dependent on the work and support of the Monitoring Officer, the two Deputy Monitoring Officers and other members of paid staff. Regular informal meetings with officers take place and these lead to the creation of the agenda and the development of reports and papers required for our work. The Committee thanks the Officers for their hard work. There are also informal meetings with the Leader of the Council in order to exchange views and ideas on the general direction of the Council and the requirements of the ethical agenda.

 

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the benefits our Council gains from the regular attendance by selected members of the Committee at the Annual Assembly of Standards Committees. Similarly, the benefits that accrue from attendance by independent members at the south regional Forum of Independent Members and from membership of the Association of Independent Members of Standards Committees in England.

 

 

 

Bruce Claxton – Chairman Standards Committee

Main Highlights

 

1.                  Changes to the membership of the Committee

 

The membership of the Committee during this year has been very stable. The only change being that Mr Richard Day has been appointed as an additional deputy from the Parish and Town Councils. It was considered that this was a necessary step given the statutory need for the Committee to have a representative from Parish and Town Councils when considered matters affecting them but recognising that the potential for such a representative to have a conflict of interest in the matter under discussion was high. Therefore having a choice of three representatives from the Parish and Town Councils considerably reduces the possibility of the Committee being unable to undertake its business.

 

The Members of the Committee are:

 

Independent Members:

 

Mr B Claxton (Chairman), Mrs S Dalby, Mr K Fagan, Mrs J Harding, Mr G Hibberd, Mr M Southwell, Mr D Watson

 

Representative of Town and Parish Councils:

 

Mr D Russell, Mr R Mew (1st Deputy), Mr R Day (2nd Deputy)

 

Isle of Wight Council Members :

 

Cllrs Mike Cunningham, Heather Humby

 

Deputies: Cllrs Muriel Miller (1st Deputy), Erica Oulton (2nd Deputy)

 

2.                  Terms of Reference of the Committee

 

The current terms of reference of the Committee are as set out in Appendix 1 and have not been amended during the year.

 

3.                  Parish and Town Councils Training

 

The Isle of Wight Society of Local Council Clerks (the Society) in conjunction with the Isle of Wight Council and the Isle of Wight Association of Parish and Town Councils (the Association) organised a two day training session covering a range of items for representatives from all the Parish & Town Councils on the Island and the new Management Committees. As part of this event training was provided on the Code of Conduct and Declarations of Interest.

 

The Committee has identified that there is a clear need for further training on these two subjects to be provided on a rolling basis for Parish and Town Councils and the Management Committees. This training need has been considered by a Partnership of the Society, the Association and the Isle of Wight Council and the Committee is pleased to note that a training package has been developed which includes regular sessions on Codes of Conduct and Declarations of Interests for both Parish Clerks and Local Councillors.

 

4.                  Appointments to Outside Bodies by Isle of Wight Council

 

A review of Outside Bodies was undertaken, a new scheme was now in place with appointments being made for a 4 year term. The new scheme ensures that the Council is fully aware of the role its members are expected to take when appointed to serve on such outside bodies. This in turn ensures that the correct information, advice and support is available to Members who are appointed to these positions.

 

The Committee has commenced a review of those processes and it expects to report in its next Annual Report on its findings.

 

5.                  Ethical Governance in Partnerships and Contracts

 

The Committee has also commenced a review of the ethical arrangements around Partnerships and Contracts entered into by the Council. It has commenced this by reviewing the proposed “Managing Partnerships – A Guide to Good Practice”. This document was reviewed by a small Panel who made a number of small suggested changes that have been included.

 

Early in 2007 a Panel of the Committee will review the Contract Standing Orders of the Council which have recently been amended.

 

6.                  Learning Points for the Standards Committee in Respect of Local Investigations Ordered by the Standards Board for England

 

In our last annual report we referred to a hearing that the Committee had to hear following an investigation made by an Ethical Standards Officer into an allegation against a Town Councillor. This case was ultimately dismissed by an Appeal to the Adjudication Panel. Following this, the Committee reviewed its own procedures and has agreed to a number of changes to ensure that all evidence given at a hearing is given under oath and that whenever possible all hearings are recorded.

 

Particular Parish and Town Councils have also been advised of the need to clearly identify the purpose of all written communication.

 

7.                  Response to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s White Paper – “Standards of Conduct in English Local Government: The Future”

 

A sub committee was set up to draft a response on behalf of the Committee to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in relation to the White Paper on “Standards of Conduct in English Local Government: The Future”. This Paper considered detailed arrangements for the local Standards Committees to increase their role and independence – we were able to comment that the Isle of Wight has a very independent Committee and that we are active in a range of things.

 

The Paper also discussed proposed changes to the actual Code of Conduct – changes that have been announced in the more recent White Paper – “Strong and Prosperous Communities”. The five main areas of change anticipated are around prejudicial interests, division of what was private and therefore not subject to the code, tightening up and definition around bullying, clarity on the disrepute issue, and deletion of the reference to other Members having to report another Member when they became aware of a breach of the code.

At the time of writing this report the expected consultation paper on the proposed changes has still not been released – but when it is the Committee will consider the consultation paper (at a special meeting if necessary). Any changes ultimately made – and it is expected that these will be implemented in time for the May 2007 elections to Borough and District Councils – will clearly need to be explained to Members and the Committee will ensure that adequate training sessions are provided.

 

8.                  Dispensations

 

A request for dispensations was received from Gurnard Parish Council; the dispensations were sought as there was an expectation that the Parish Council would be inquorate at their meeting of 1 August 2006.  The Committee allowed the dispensations but only if the Parish Council was inquorate – as it turned out the dispensation was not required as the Parish Council had a quorum at the relevant meeting.

 

9.                  Monitoring Members’ Attendance

 

In accordance with the then procedure the Committee has continued to have an overview of the Members’ Attendance figures published on a 6 monthly basis. The Committee is very aware that Councillors are working hard for the benefit of their constituents, and that there are all sorts of elements in a councillor’s service to the community which were not measurable.  It appeared to be easy to have a 100% attendance record especially if a Councillor only had 5 meetings to attend per year whereas some had up to 30, it did not show a true record of work undertaken.

 

The following press statement from the Standards Committee was released :

 

We have received the analysis and on the whole although headline figures can give a distortion of real underlying effort nevertheless the majority of councillors are performing extremely well and their records are to be commended.

 

Following the adoption in October of the new Members’ Allowances Scheme the Committee will no longer monitor member attendance at meetings – this has been replaced by a narrative annual report from each member that will enable a better reporting to the public of Members successes in their areas.

 

10.             Complaints to the Standards Board

 

During the calendar year 2006 one complaint was made to the Standards Board for England in relation to Isle of Wight Council Member and two in relation to Parish and Town Councillors on the Island. Of those complaints the one relating to an Isle of Wight Councillor was not investigated (either by the Standards Board for England or locally), and of the other two one was investigated but no further action was required to be taken.

 

In the other case the Standards Board for England asked the Council to undertake a local investigation. The Council used a reciprocal arrangement with a Monitoring Officer from another Local Authority who had assisted with the task and his report was considered by the Committee in October.

 

The Committee gave careful and full consideration to the evidence presented, the findings and recommendations within the report. Generally the Committee was concerned that the Town Council should have been found in that position and believed that it should serve as a wake up call to all council’s in relation to the standard of ethical behaviour expected on the Island.

 

The Committee agreed with the finding in the report that there had been no breach of the Code of Conduct. However a number of recommendations were made and one of the Deputy Monitoring Officers is working through these recommendations with the Town Council and will report back to the Committee in due course.

 

With regard to the complaints in general an overall analyses of these does not suggest any pattern of any particular behaviour.

 

One complaint remains unresolved at this stage and is not included in the figures or discussion set out above.

 

11.             Standards Board Annual Conference

 

The Chairman attended the Annual Assembly of Standard Committees held in Birmingham in October. The intention of the Assembly had been to prepare Standards Committees for future change. 

 

The Chair attended a session on Town and Parish Councils and believed that the Island was well ahead in good governance concerning Town and Parish Councils.

 

12.             Regional Independent Members Forum

 

The Chairman, Bruce Claxton, has continued to be heavily involved in the Regional Independent Members Forum. This was a forum for Independent Members of Standards Committees whereby ideas and thoughts could be discussed. Whilst the Isle of Wight had always ensured that there was a majority of Independent Members on its Standards Committee that was not replicated elsewhere across the country where occasionally Standards Committees had a very restrictive role. There was evidence that the ability for Independent Members to discuss their own thoughts and ideas had helped to increase the role of Standards Committees in some authorities.

 

At the Standards Board Annual Conference we were pleased to see that the work undertaken by the Chairman in this area finally bore fruit with the formal establishment of the Association of Independent Members of Standards Committees in England. Our chairman has been appointed as its first Chairman. There is much work to do for this Association that is the national representative body for all Independent Members of Standards Committees.

 

13.             Whistleblowing Policy

 

Developments and changes had been made to the Council’s confidential reporting code. The original policy had been in place since January 2000 and following a recommendation from the Audit Commission in 2005, the policy had been reviewed and would shortly be re-launched.

 

The main areas of change concerned the title of the policy which was now considered to be a more familiar term to staff, a helpline had been introduced to help support employees in coming forward to raise concerns, and the general process had been made clearer in order to ensure staff used it where necessary.

 

Full consultation had been undertaken through a corporate Human Resources Working Group which included representatives from all Directorates, Unison and Elected Members. Separate consultation had been undertaken with recognised trade unions for which full approval had been received.

 

New staff will be made aware of the policy in their induction packs and the policy will be built into management training. The policy will be re-launched so that all staff were aware of the process.

 

14.             Looking Ahead

 

2007 is looking like another busy year for the Committee, in addition to the various items of ongoing business mentioned above we have identified the following projects that we will be considering: Ethical Governance Audit, Statement of Internal Control, and training.

 

 

APPENDIX 1

 

Terms of Reference

 

1.                  To promote and maintain high standards of conduct by the members and co-opted members of the Isle of Wight Council and the Town and Parish Councils on the Isle of Wight.

 

2.                  To assist members and co-opted members of the Councils on the Isle of Wight to observe the relevant Council's code of conduct.

 

3.                  Specifically the Committee will:

 

·                    Advise the various Councils on the adoption or revision of a code of conduct and monitor the operation of the code of conduct

 

·                    Advise, train or arrange to train members and co-opted members of the Councils on matters relating to the code of conduct.

 

4.                  To consider any other matters that are referred to the Committee by either:

 

·                    The Standards Board (subject to Regulations under Section 66 of the Local Government Act 2000)

·                    The Isle of Wight Council

·                    Any of the Parish and Town Councils on the Isle of Wight

 

5.                  Subject to any regulations issued by the Secretary of State in accordance with Section 81(5) of the Local Government Act 2000 to consider and determine any requests for dispensations to speak and/or vote on any matters in which the member has an interest.

 

6.                  To develop appropriate measures and monitoring systems to ensure Councillors are fulfilling their contract with the electorate (as agreed by the Council at its meeting on 19 April 2000). 

 

7.                  To ensure that the measures and monitoring systems as set out in 6 above are fully and properly exercised within any prescribed timetable.

 

8.                  To enquire of its own instigation into any matter touching or concerning the ethics and standards of the Council.

 

9.                  To submit an annual report on the activities over the last year, to the Council.

 

10.             The Chairman of the Standards Committee may report to full Council, at his initiative, on any ethical/probity issues that he believes ought to be drawn to the attention of he Council.