Issue - meetings

The report updates Members of the Committee on standards issues locally and nationally. It contains a summary of the complaints received since the last report was presented, as well as any other relevant issues that have arisen between Committee meetings on national standards issues and training.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the contents of the report and made suggestions on future actions.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure good governance within the Council.

Audio recording –3 minutes 43 seconds

The Monitoring Officer presented the report entitled ‘Standards Matters’ and highlighted that:

·       There had been ten complaints received so far this year, two of these complaints were open and the remaining eight had been completed.

·       There was a link at 8.2 of the report to review previously completed complaints.

·       The complaint handling procedure was reviewed at the March 23 meeting, no changes were currently being proposed.

·       The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman had launched a consultation of the Code of Practice under the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023 and a link to this consultation was at 8.4 of the report. The results of the consultation if relevant would be brought to the Committee in 2024.

·       Virtual Code of Conduct training was provided to new District Councillors and extended to Parish Councillors, with training slides distributed.

·       The training for May 2024 was being reviewed with the aim to make it more interactive and accessible.

·       A review was scheduled for section 8 of the Constitution and the Planning Code of Good Conduct, however the Lawyers in Local Government were currently reviewing this matter to initiate a national model. When this matter had been revised the proposal would be considered by the Committee for adoption at Full Council.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor David Levett

·       Councillor Ruth Brown

·       Councillor Dominic Griffiths

·       Councillor Ralph Muncer

In response to questions the Monitoring Officer stated that:

·       If a Councillor had already undertaken safeguarding training and had a valid certificate, this could be submitted as evidence and considered for the safeguarding audit.

·       Hertfordshire County Council had different parameters for their Code of Conduct, and all North Hertfordshire District Councillors were required to complete the NHDC Code of Conduct training which followed the LGA model.

·       After the election in May 2024 there would be various training modules for Councillors to complete. Work was ongoing to schedule these and make them more interactive.

·       If mandatory training was not completed a Councillor would initially be contacted by the Monitoring Officer, or their PA, to resolve the issue. Ultimately, failure to comply with mandatory training was a Code of Conduct breach and therefore, if it could not be resolved, action could be taken. However, this had not been required in recent years.

Councillor Ruth Brown, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Ian Albert seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the contents of the report and made suggestions on future actions.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure good governance within the Council.