Meeting documents

Standards Committee
Tuesday, 23rd February, 2010 7.30 pm


Time:	7.30pm	Place:	Council Chamber, Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City

PRESENT:	Mr N. Moss (Independent Chairman), Mr P. Chapman (Independent Vice-Chairman) and Mr P. Joester. Parish Councillor M. Goddard and Parish Councillor R. Wornham. District Councillor Sal Jarvis, District Councillor Bernard Lovewell and District Councillor M.R.M. Muir.
IN ATTENDANCE:	Acting Corporate Legal Manager (Acting Monitoring Officer), Strategic Director of Customer Services and Senior Committee and Member Services Officer.
ALSO PRESENT:

Item	Description/Resolution	Status	Action
PART I
1	APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of District Councillors Mrs A.G. Ashley, A. Bardett and L.W. Oliver and Parish Councillor B. Hillan.	Noted
2	MINUTES Minutes RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 10 November 2009 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and signed by the Chairman, subject to the replacement of the word "or" with the word "of" in the first line of the fourth paragraph of the preamble of Minute 5 - Update from Annual Assembly of Standards Committees.	Agreed
3	NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS No other items were presented for consideration.	Noted
4	CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS The Chairman reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.	Noted
5	UPDATE ON WORK PROGRAMME Report Appendix 1 The Acting Monitoring Officer presented a report updating Members on the Work Programme agreed by the Committee at its meeting held on 10 November 2009. The following appendices were submitted with the report: Appendix 1 - Work Programme; Appendix 2 - Quarterly Return to Standards for England (Part 2 document). The Acting Monitoring Officer advised that the Work Programme had been re-formatted in line with the request made at the previous meeting of the Committee, and continued to explain the progress made for the individual items of work. The Acting Monitoring Officer reported that she had attended a Monitoring Officer Conference on 11 February 2010, at which presentations had been given by Chief Executive and Director of Risk of Standards for England. The Chief Executive's presentation focussed on Standards for England's view that design principles should be drawn up by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to underpin the Code of Conduct. The Director of Risk had advised that the intention of Standards for England was to introduce a system (possibly in March/April 2010) for analysing and assessing the performance of Local Authorities in dealing with standards issues. The Acting Monitoring Officer proposed to bring a report on this matter to the next meeting of the Standards Committee. The Acting Monitoring Officer reminded the Committee that, at its meeting held on 15 December 2008, it had agreed a response to the DCLG in respect of consultation on proposed changes to the Code of Conduct. The consultation had closed on the 24 December 2008 and the DCLG had indicated that a revised Code could be expected in May 2009. Monitoring Officers had been advised that the long anticipated changes to the Code would not now be laid before Parliament prior to the General Election, due to a lack of parliamentary time. In respect of training, the Acting Monitoring Officer stated that, following the successful Standards Committee joint training with Broxbourne Borough Council on 28 July 2009, she had been discussing opportunities for other joint standards training with the Head of Legal Services from Broxbourne. This was scheduled to be early in 2010, as agreed at the last meeting of the Standards Committee, possibly based on a mock Assessment Sub-Committee, similar in format to that offered by Hertsmere for the Hearings Training on 4 November 2009. The intention would also be to offer it to other Council's within Hertfordshire. In terms of induction training for new Members on the Code of Conduct, the Committee agreed that this should be carried out for new District and Parish Council Members following the Elections in May 2010, with all existing Members being invited to this training session should they require some refresher training. In respect of the suggestion that appropriate officers might attend Parish Council meetings to train Parish Members on the Code of Conduct, the Acting Monitoring Officer was requested to contact other local Monitoring Officers to ascertain how other Local Authorities interacted with their Parish Councils on standards matters. The Committee noted the resource implications associated with visiting each parish Council to carry out the training, but suggested that the training could perhaps be targeted towards those Parishes which had experienced particular problems with Code of Conduct issues. The Acting Monitoring Officer reported that the draft Member Interests Checklist and the Protocol for Appointment of Parish and Town Councillors agreed at the Committee meeting on 10 November 2009 would be submitted for approval to Council on 8 April 2010. With regard to the forthcoming review of politically restricted posts, the Acting Monitoring Officer advised that there had been some changes to the rules around political restriction. From 12 January 2010, salary level restriction of posts had been lifted, and political restriction of posts now fell into two categories of Specified posts and Sensitive posts. This meant that all those posts that fell within Hay scale grades 10, 11 and 12 that were listed on salary criteria only would no longer be restricted. Heads of Service and Corporate Manager posts would be restricted under the Specified post category and other staff would either be non-restricted or restricted on the grounds of the Sensitive post category. The Council must hold a list of all of its restricted posts. A review was currently underway, led by Human Resources, and all Heads of Service and Corporate Managers had been asked to update the list of politically restricted posts by 26 February 2010. The Acting Monitoring Officer reported that work had been underway to roll out a new Corporate Governance web page on the Council's intranet. This had been finished and the new web page provided links to all the major governance and ethics areas which were the responsibility of the Monitoring Officer. It was the Acting Monitoring Officer's intention to roll out a similar page onto the Council's internet site by 31 March 2010, which would also reference the work of the Standards Committee. RESOLVED: (1) That the updates in the report be noted, and the Work Programme be agreed; (2) That the Committee's views regarding induction training on the Code of Conduct for new District Council and Parish Council Members, and training for existing Parish Council Members, as detailed above, be taken on board by the Acting Monitoring Officer in progressing these matters, and reported back to the Committee at its next meeting. REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure good governance within the Council.	Agreed	Acting Corporate Legal Manager
6	MEMBERS' REGISTER OF INTERESTS / GIFTS AND HOSPITALITY / EXPENSES Report Appendix 1 Appendix 2 The Acting Monitoring Officer presented a report on the feasibility of the Members' Register of Interests, Register of Gifts and Hospitality and Members' Expenses being made available on the Council's website. The following appendices were submitted with the report: Appendix 1 - Members' Protocol for Gifts and Hospitality; Appendix 2 - Members' Allowances Scheme 2010/11. The Acting Monitoring Officer advised that the Local Government Act 2000 required that copies of the Register of Members' Interests be made available at an office of the Council for inspection by members of the public at reasonable times. The public were made aware of the existence of the Register, as the Council was required to advertise the fact of its existence in one or more newspapers circulating in its area, informing people of its existence and the arrangements for its inspection. The nature of the wording of the legislation leads to the conclusion that it would be a `hard copy` Register that was available for inspection. The issue then arose as to whether or not the Council could or should make the register available by electronic means, such as by publication on its website. In respect of gifts and hospitality, the Acting Monitoring Officer reminded the Committee that under the Members' Code of Conduct, a Member must register any gifts or hospitality worth Â£25 or more that they received in connection with their official duties as a Member within 28 days of receiving it, including the source of the gift or hospitality. The Council had adopted a Members' Protocol for Gifts and Hospitality which set out procedures adopted by the Council to provide clear rules for the protection of Members and the Council. This was set out at Appendix 1 to the report, and covered the rules set out in the Code of Conduct and additional provisions that it had adopted. The Protocol included General Principles that Members should be mindful of and reporting requirements for gifts and hospitality of any value including values below Â£25. The Acting Monitoring Officer had made an enquiry to the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors (ACSeS) regarding the above matters, and the following reply had been received: "The issue of electronic publication arose recently as there was a paragraph in the Audit Commission guidance to auditors on CAA assessments urging that it was 'best practice' to include the register on the Council's website. However, after intervention from ACSeS this was changed. There is no law requiring it, nor is it accepted best practice'. It may be thought to be a good idea, but there are risks, having regard to the detail required to be registered. There is a big difference in information available for public inspection and publishing information on websites. Some interests are personal information which would otherwise be protected under the Data Protection Act. It is acknowledged that some Councils do include the register on the website and have done so for a while. It is suggested that Members have presumably agreed to the practice or have not objected. As publication on the website is somewhat beyond the mere right of the public to inspect the register, It is suggested that obtaining the agreement of the Council should be a requisite. It might be sensible for the Standards Committee to consult all Members on the proposal and then make a recommendation to full Council if there appears to be a majority in support. If a Member subsequently challenges, having voted against, it may be the case that a Court would be not minded to set aside a democratic decision. Several public organisations including the Standards Board for England do show their members interests on their websites. There is likely to be considerably more detail shown in a local authority register than are registered by other such bodies. Account should be taken of the content of the register (and quality and clarity of the information recorded) before considering the issue of publishing it." In respect of Members' expenses, the Acting Monitoring Officer referred to the Members' Allowances Scheme attached as Appendix 2 to the report, which set out Members' Basic and Special Responsibility Allowances, together with the way in which travelling, subsistence and other allowances should be claimed. It was noted that this scheme was currently published on the Council's website, as were the outturn figures of Allowances and expenses claimed by each Member over the previous financial year (as required by the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances)(England) Regulations 2003). The Committee also noted the observations made by the Strategic Director of Customer Services that full details of senior officers' salaries and benefits would appear on the Council's website by the end of March 2010. The Committee debated the issue of the publication of the Register of Members' Interests and Register of Gifts and Hospitality, and considered that the various options available should be reported to Council by the Acting Monitoring Officer. The Committee noted also that any information about such matters should be set in a clear context, covering issues that might include comparisons with payments made to Members of other local authorities; and indications of the time and any other relevant commitments involved in carrying out their duties. RESOLVED: That the Acting Monitoring Officer be requested to report to Council at the appropriate time in respect of the various options for publishing the Register of Members' Interests and Register of Gifts and Hospitality, including: - Full publication on the Council's Website (with appropriate contextual information); - Advertising on the Council's Website that the registers are available for inspection and that an electronic version could be provided on request; and - Retaining the current system of non-publication, but making the registers available for inspection should this be requested. REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that any consideration of the disclosure on the Council's website of the receipt of Gifts and Hospitality, Register of Interests and Members Expenses should be proportionate when considering the potential benefit, cost and time involved and the risk of prejudice to individuals.	Agreed	Acting Corporate Legal Manager
7	MEMBER / OFFICER PROTOCOL The Acting Monitoring Officer advised that due to the pressure of work and the unavailability of other senior officers, she was not in a position to provide a report on the Member/Officer Protocol at the present time. She apologised for this situation, and commented that the revised Protocol would form part of the forthcoming Constitutional Review, with the matter being reported back to the Standards Committee in due course.	Noted	Acting Corporate Legal Manager
8	EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC RESOLVED: That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following discussion, on the grounds that the item may involve the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).	Agreed
PART II
9	APPENDIX 2 TO UPDATE ON WORK PROGRAMME REPORT - QUARTERLY RETURN TO STANDARDS FOR ENGLAND Data/Standards Committee/201002231930/Agenda/Appendix 2 to Item 5 The Acting Monitoring Officer informed the Committee that she anticipated that all of the Case Files currently listed as "open" would be "closed" by the time she was required to submit her annual return to Standards for England. She confirmed that there were currently no outstanding complaints which required determination by the Assessment Sub-Committee. RESOLVED: That the latest Quarterly return to Standards for England, as set out in Appendix 2 to the Update on Work Programme report, be noted.	Noted	Acting Corporate Legal Manager
10	DATE OF NEXT MEETING It was provisionally agreed that the next meeting of the Standards Committee take place at 7.30pm on Tuesday, 29 June 2010 in the Council Chamber, NHDC Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City.	Noted