Agenda and decisions

Members are required to notify any substitutions by midday on the day of the meeting.

Late substitutions will not be accepted and Members attending as a substitute without having given the due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Simon Bloxham, Mandi Tandi, James Denselow, Raj Bhakar and David Levett.

Having given due notice Councillor Gerald Morris substituted for Simon Bloxham and Councillor Richard Thake substituted for Mandi Tandi. It was also noted that, having given due notice, Councillor Ian Albert would be attending as substitute for the Labour Group Vacancy on the Committee.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 22 June 2022.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 22 June 2022 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business notified.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda.  Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)  The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council policy this meeting would be audio recorded.

(2)  The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and 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.

(3)  The Chair advised for the purpose of clarification Clause 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution does not apply to this meeting.

(4)  The Chair paid tribute to the late former Councillor Judi Billing and noted the commitment she demonstrated to standards across local politics, including Chair of this Committee.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

There was no public participation.

REPORT OF THE MONITORING OFFICER

To update the Committee on standards issues.

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.

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

The report covers a further review of the Complaints Handling Procedure, as requested in June 2022. These are minor changes to the Procedure to cover issues that have arisen since October 2021, when it was last updated.

The report also briefly covers the updated Protocol with the Police regarding referrals to them for potential offences under the Localism Act 2011 (in respect of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests).

RESOLVED:

(1)  That the Standard Committee considered and adopted the updated Councillor Complaints Handling Procedure at Appendix A, amended as follows: that references to ‘NHC’ be updated to ‘North Hertfordshire District Council’, that references to ‘days’ be updated to ‘calendar days’ except in cases where working days is already specified, and that ‘stage’ be added to the investigation part of the process in Section 6 of the procedure.

(2)  That the Standards Committee delegated to the Service Director: Legal & Community the authority to make any consequential amendments to the Procedure, in consultation with the Chair of Standards Committee, Independent Person and Reserve Independent Persons.

(3)  That the Committee noted the updated Protocol recently signed with the Hertfordshire Constabulary regarding referrals/ complaints relating to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (Appendix C).

REASON FOR THE DECISIONS: To ensure an updated Procedure is in place and to maintain effective arrangements within the Council.