Agenda and minutes

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

None.

Cllr B Birch introduced those present, explained the purpose of the hearing, the procedures to be followed and the documents to be considered, as set out on the agenda.

The Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager submitted further copies of pages 30, 44, 45 and 76 of the agenda pack, printed in colour, because the highlighted sections of those documents had not been clearly visible on the black and white versions previously circulated.

Cllr Rogers confirmed that he intended to call Cllr Emma Anderton as a witness, but he would not now be calling Cllr Michael Barrowclough who was unable to attend because of work commitments.

The Investigating Officer, Liesl Hadgraft, confirmed that she would not be calling any witnesses.

Mrs Hadgraft, presented her report and findings. In doing so, she made the following comments:

·         This case was incredibly complex and therefore difficult to unravel.

·         As stated in her report, there was a substantial amount of background information, about issues which had been ongoing for a number of years.

·         To add to the complexity, historical issues had been dealt with by the previous Monitoring Officer.

·         Over the years a large amount of documentation had been provided by the complainant. This had all been reviewed, either by her or the previous Monitoring Officer to understand its relevance.

·         To help build a picture of the overall situation and the relationship issues between the subject member, the complainant and a third party over the last few years, some background documentation had been included in the agenda for this hearing, some of which, relating to a third party, had been printed on green paper and had not been made publically available.

·         During the course of her interview with Cllr Hewitt, a matter was discussed which highlighted an area of concern that would require further investigation.

·         Standing Order 29 of Fleetwood Town Council’s procedural rules dealt with disorderly conduct at meetings and how such behaviour would be dealt with.

·         Her interview with Cllr Hewitt had highlighted that Cllr Rogers may have used this standing order inappropriately at various councils meetings to prevent Cllr Hewitt from speaking.

·         She stressed that the issues was not that Cllr Rogers had used this Standing Order - clearly it is there to enable the Chairman to keep order at meetings – it was more a question of the circumstances surrounding how the Standing Order had been used.

·         Section A of SO 29 stipulated that all members must observe the code of conduct adopted by the Town Council

·         Section B stated that “No member shall persistently disregard the ruling of the Chairman, wilfully obstruct business, or behave irregularly, offensively, improperly or in such a manner as to bring the Council into disrepute”.

·         The minutes of the meeting of the Town Council held on 23^rd February 2017 (submitted as Appendix 14 of her report), showed that the meeting had been opened by Cllr Rogers, Following the receipt of apologies for absence and declarations of interest, Cllr Rogers had adjourned  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.