Agenda and minutes

To approve as an accurate record, and the Chairman to sign, the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 10 June 2009.

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 June 2009 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings.

No apologies for absence were received.

If a Councillor has any prejudicial or personal interest in a particular report he/she should declare the existence and nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of the item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a prejudicial interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken, unless a dispensation has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

Where members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance, then the Councillor with a prejudicial interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration, unless the disability has been removed by the Standards Committee.

All Members declared a personal interest in that their Allowances and Amounts Paid to each Member under the Allowances Scheme were set out in Item 8.

This Committee is presented with a DVD entitled ‘That’s a Wrap’, which outlines the main stages of assessing local complaints.

The Committee viewed the Standards for England DVD “Assessment Made Clear”, designed to help Standards Committee Members assess complaints about elected or co-opted Members.

RESOLVED THAT:

That Party Groups be encouraged to show the DVD at one of their Group meetings.

This report notes the attendance of two delegates at the Annual Assembly of Standards Committees, and provides their feedback from this event.

The Committee received reports from the Chairman and Christopher Troke on their attendance at the Annual Assembly of Standards Committees in Birmingham on 12-13 October 2009. Their report highlighted possible ways of raising the profile of the Committee within the Council, including making the Standards Committee content on the website more prominent, attendance by Standards Committee Members at Cabinet and Scrutiny Committee meetings and more publicity through H&F News. 

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that agendas for  all these meetings were published on the website and encouraged  Standards Committee members to attend any of these they wished.

RESOLVED THAT:

Areas for further work arising from the suggestions set out above be further discussed under Item 12 (Work Programme).

This report provides the Committee with an opportunity to propose any changes to the Whistleblowing Policy adopted by the Council in 1999.

Following a request at a previous meeting, the Committee received a copy of the Whistleblowing Policy adopted by the Council in 1999.  The Committee noted that the policy was very infrequently used. The Monitoring Officer had had no complaints made under the policy since 2005.  In the longer term there were plans to review the policy and similar HR policies but no changes were currently being proposed although some detailed changes might be made to take account of departments being re-organised within the Council.  In the meantime, the Monitoring Officer

suggested discussions with the Council’s Anti-Fraud service might be useful in

re-branding this policy, taking account also of other best practice in the public sector.

A view was expressed that the policy’s lack of use might be a result of fear of victimisation amongst staff.  Good formal processes were required to protect whistleblowers particularly against retaliatory action from management.  The Committee requested a report back on why this was the case, how it could be made to “work better” and to look at best practice elsewhere.

RESOLVED THAT:

The Monitoring Officer discuss the Whistleblowing Policy with the Council’s Anti-Fraud Service and the Director of Finance and Corporate Services with a view to reporting back to the Committee at a future meeting on a possible review of the policy.

This report outlines activity by the newly constituted sub-committees to discharge the Standards Committee’s new functions, and arrangements for the co-option of an Independent Member of this Committee to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, if approved.

The Committee noted only one local complaint case had been considered during 2008-09 and none so far during 2009-10.

The Committee also received a report proposing that a Member of the Committee be co-opted to the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s Standards Committee, as required, to assist them with local complaints.

RESOLVED THAT:

That Mr. Christopher Troke be co-opted to the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s Standards Committee and the arrangements for his co-option, as set out in the agenda, be approved.

Further to a previous request from the Standards Committee, this report provides an annual report on the Members’ Allowance Scheme.

All Members declared a personal interest in that their Allowances and Amounts Paid to each Member under the Allowances Scheme were set out in this item.

The Committee noted that these reports had been submitted following a request at the June meeting that an Annual Report on this issue should be presented to the Standards Committee.  It was agreed that similar reports  be presented annually to the Committee.

This report outlines recent guidance issued by Standards for England and how it affects the Council.

The Committee received a report enclosing recent guidance issued by Standards for England following the Standards Committee (Further Provisions) (England) Order 2009.  The new guidance corrected an anomaly in the previous regulations.

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that although there had been several requests for Dispensations in 2005, there had been none since.  It was noted that each request would be dealt with on its own merit rather than for the Council to draft new guidelines. 

RESOLVED THAT:

The report be received and that, as to the criteria to apply in considering requests for dispensations in the future, each case be considered on its merits.

This report outlines recent guidance issued by the Local Government Association about a revised Code of Conduct for Members in relation to Planning.

The Committee received a report on recent Guidance issued by the Local Government Association about a revised code of conduct for Members in relation to Planning.  The Guidance complemented and updated the Council’s own “guidance for Councillors and officers dealing with Planning and Licensin”, as set out in pages 510-520 of the Council’s Constitution. It was agreed that all Members of the Council should be sent an e-copy of the document for information.

RESOLVED THAT:

The revised LGA Guidance be noted and Members of the Planning Applications Committee  be informed of the changes.

This report outlines suggested arrangements for the joint meeting with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council’s Standards Committee on 3 December 2009.

The Committee received a report on proposed arrangements for the joint meeting with the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s Standards Committee at Hammersmith Town Hall on 3 December 2009.

RESOLVED THAT:

The arrangements be agreed, as set out in the report, and that a reminder be sent to Members and officers concerned.

The appendix attached to this report sets out the future work programme of the Standards Committee and outlines scheduled reporting dates. 

The Committee noted proposed items for its Work Programme for the remainder of 2009-10.  Following the earlier discussion under Item 5 (Annual Assembly), the Committee agreed that there was scope for the Committee to take some extra steps to improve its profile and standing amongst other Standards Committees, particularly in making the Standards Committee information on the Council’s web page more prominent and in securing more press coverage of its work.  It was also agreed that a draft Member induction pack  be submitted to the next meeting and a leaflet for new Memberson the work of the Standards Committee.

RESOLVED THAT:

The Committee pursue the suggestions outlined above and accept Mr. Troke’s offer to propose some changes to the web pages based on practice in other comparable authorities.

The Chairman mentioned a proposal from the Chairman of the GLA’s Standards Committee to hold a Seminar at City Hall in January 2010 for all London authorities to exchange best practice.

RESOLVED THAT:

The Committee support the proposal and welcomed the circulation of the event’s details once they have been finalised.