Issue - meetings

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR - LEGAL & COMMUNITY / MONITORING OFFICER

To update Members of the Committee on standards issues generally.

RESOLVED: That the contents of the report entitled Standards Matters be noted.

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

Audio recording – 4 minutes 49 seconds

The Service Director – Legal and Community and Monitoring Officer presented the report entitled Standards Matters.

The following Members asked questions and entered into debate

·               Parish Councillor Julia Magill;

·               District Councillor Judi Billing;

·               Independent Person Nicholas Moss:

·               Parish Councillor Helena Gregory;

·               District Councillor Ruth Brown;

·               District Councillor Claire Strong;

·               District Councillor Richard Thake;

·               District Councillor David Levett.

In response to questions the Service Director – Legal and Community advised:

·                That training regarding Planning and Licensing had to be undertaken before a Member could sit on those Committees. Code of Conduct training was not compulsory; however, Members were encouraged to attend other training.

·                Dependent on the awaited response from Central Government to the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s report and recommendations, Parish Councils would potentially have to adopt the model Code of Conduct. In response to the issue of offering training to Parish Councils, it was suggested that it would be better to see what the Governments response was to the recommendations; this was unlikely to be immediate and the position should be reviewed at the next meeting of the Committee in February.

Members commented that:

·               Parish Councils should have the same code of conduct as the District Council;

·               That the District Council is drawn into complaints that are based on the relationship between Parish Councillors and Parish Clerks.

RESOLVED: That the contents of the report entitle Standards Matters be noted.

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