Agenda and minutes

Members will declare any pecuniary or significant other interests they have in relation to the items on this agenda.

None.

Confirmation of the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 15 November 2018.

Agreed that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 15 November 2018 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Monitoring Officer.

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report on the outcome of a review of Wyre’s code of conduct undertaken by a working group of councillors.

She said that the working group had met on two occasions, the first to establish the remit of the group and provide officers with a clear instruction of what was required.At this meeting it had been agreed that officers should review best practice and undertake research and then report back with a revised code of conduct based on their findings. As part of this process they had been asked to:

·         consider the re-introduction of a number of commitments that were in the code prior to the Localism Act coming into force and considered to be best practice

·         Where appropriate expand on any definitions/provide examples to assist officers and members with interpretation

·         Simplify the wording around pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests

·         Make the advice regarding the registration of interests clearer to avoid misunderstandings that could ultimately lead to complaints

At its second meeting the group had been provided by officers with an updated draft Code of Conduct for consideration, based on codes in other councils and best practice. In addition, consideration had also been given to the type of complaints received.

In summary, the amendments to Part 1 of the Code submitted for consideration, were:

·         To include all possible behavioural elements, namely

§  Uphold the law

§  Respect the law

§  Have due regard for officer advice

§  Not bully a person

§  Not intimidate

§  Not disclose confidential data

§  Not bring office into disrepute.

·         It had also been suggested that, as bullying and intimidating were very similar, those behaviours should be grouped together. An explanation had also been provided, giving examples of what was considered to be bullying and intimidating and also, more importantly, what is wasn’t. The explanatory note also referred to the element of ‘banter’ which took place in the political arena and the intention not to increase the number of trivial complaints.

·         Further information had been provided with regard to public speaking and the need to make clear when views being made were those of the individual and not necessarily the Council.

The working group had agreed that all of the above would enhance the code and go some way to dealing with some of the complaints received in recent times.

The amendments proposed for Part 2 of the Code of Conduct had been intended to provide clarity around what should be included on the register and the requirements for declaring and interest. It had been acknowledged that the wording was currently complicated and therefore could do with simplifying to give a better understanding. It had, therefore, been divided into sections, the first addressed the need to register interests and addressed what should be included. Appendix A & B gave examples of pecuniary and non-pecuniary interest. There was then a section on how non-disclosable interests should be declared at meetings and how these would be managed in terms of discussions and voting. 

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

Executive Summary, List of Recommendations and List of Best Practice.

The Monitoring Officer will provide a verbal update at the meeting.

(The full report can be viewed on the Committee for Standards in Public Life website via the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/777315/6.4896_CO_CSPL_Command_Paper_on_Local_Government_Standards_v4_WEB.PDF

The Monitoring Officer submitted the Executive Summary, the List of Recommendations and the List of Best Practice from the Report on Ethical Standards in Local Government, published by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, in January 2019.

The Monitoring officer reminded members that a consultation document had been circulated in Summer/Autumn 2018, requesting views on current standards in local government and how they might be improved. The Standards Committee had agreed a response on behalf of the Council.

It was pleasing to report that it appeared that a number of concerns shared in this committee and elsewhere with regard to standards having no teeth had been heard. However, legislative changes would need to be made before the recommendations could be implemented and a more robust system put in place. She therefore suggested that, in the meantime, it was worth continuing with the proposed revisions to the Council’s code just approved by the Committee, to ensure that everything possible was being done to promote good ethical standards at Wyre. The changes made today would go some way to aligning Wyre’s code to best practice, as outlined in the report.   

Agreed:

1.    That the recommendations made to the Government by the Committee on Standards in Public Life be noted and welcomed.

2.    That the recommendations on best practice made by the Committee on Standards in Public Life also be noted.

3.    That, the Council be informed, when  the proposed revisions to the Wyre Code of Conduct agreed earlier in this meeting were submitted, to Council, that the recommended changes would bring the Council more in line with the best practice identified by the Committee on Standards in Public Life.

4.    That the Committee would review Wyre’s Code of Conduct again when the Government had responded to the recommendations made by the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the required changes to legislation had been made.

Schedule prepared by the Monitoring Officer.

The Monitoring Officer will report verbally on the latest position with regard to the complaints listed and any issues arising from them.

The Monitoring Officer submitted a schedule summarising complaints of alleged breaches of the Council’s code of conduct whichj were currently being processed or which had been completed since the last meeting of the Committee.

She provided further information on each of the complaints, as follows

Ref 2018/05

The information provided in the initial complaint had been insufficient. She had attempted to contact the complainant a number of times using different methods, but to no avail. Given the information that was available she had decided not to pursue the matter any further.

Ref 2018/04

This complaint was a classic example of s councillor doing something with the best of intentions, but perhaps not handling it in the most appropriate way. Having spoken with the subject member, it was clear that they had no intention of being offensive. However, the subject member had been able to see how their behaviour could have been construed. In light of this, it had been agreed that an explanatory statement and apology would be made by the subject member at the next available council meeting. The statement and apology had duly been made and the matter had therefore been concluded.

Ref 2018/06

This has been a difficult and complex complaint to review, with a number of aspects needing to be considered. In order to investigate it fully, two specific angles had been deliberated. In the first instance, had any breach in actually policy/procedure occurred? Secondly, was there deliberate intention to deceive on the Subject Member’s part? In both instances the answer to those questions had been no and so, no breach of the code was found to have occurred.   

Agreed that the summary of complaints submitted by the Monitoring Officer and her verbal report on each of the complaints referred to, be noted.

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee is due to be held at 6pm on 20 June 2019.

Noted that the next meeting of the Committee was scheduled to be held at 6pm on 20 June 2019.