Agenda item

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.

Audio recording – 5 minutes 0 seconds

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

·         There had been 30 complaints in 2022, 2 of these were informal and a further 20 came from the same complainant.

·         This year there had been 2 complaints.

·         Clarification had been requested regarding complaint 30/2022 and the information requested from the Complainant has been provided, and while the complaint was ongoing it was not pending due to lack of information requested.

·         Code of conduct training for Members had been provided last year based on the Local Government Association and would be conducted again this year. There would not be a separate Parish Councillors session this year and they would instead be invited to attend the virtual session for District Councillors.

·         The Independent Persons attended their annual training which included relevant updates on the Law.

·         The Committee on Standards in Public Life continued to flag that there was a need to update and strengthen public standards at Local Government level.

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Clare Billing

·         Councillor Richard Thake

·         Councillor Claire Strong

·         Councillor Val Bryant

·         Councillor Gerald Morris

·         Councillor Ralph Muncer

In response to questions the Monitoring Officer advised that:

·         In respect of complaints from one complainant, it was confirmed that no further complaints had been received at this point in time.

·         The Council had criteria for repeat complaints and the matter was considered under the unreasonable customer procedures and these were applied.

·         In response to issues raised by Councillor Claire Strong, regarding alleged time limits provided to the Complainant, Cllr Morgan Derbyshire, on complaint 9/2022, to review the proposed apology on a few hours’ notice, the Monitoring Office advised that this was the first time this had been raised, and no complaint had been received from Cllr Morgan Derbyshire regarding the proposed apology , and the Monitoring Officer would be happy to discuss this further with the Complainant outside of this meeting, but this would not have been just a few hours’ notice.

·         That on the Friday 2 December, a proposed apology had been received prior to the hearing of complaint 9/2022 set for 5 December. The Monitoring Officer had, in consultation with the Independent Person, decided that this addressed the complaint and accepted this according to the Procedure.

·         In response to an enquiry from Councillor Ralph Muncer there is no requirement under the Complaint Handling Procedures for the Complainant to accept the apology. They are consulted.  If no response is received from a Complainant, and in the 9/2022 case, bearing in mind the time constraints and potential for a hearing on the day, it was accepted having consulted the Independent Person.

·         In response to an enquiry from Councillor Ralph Muncer regarding the investigation report for 9/2022, this case never went to a full hearing and any request would be considered in the light of the ICOs decisions and the information regimes.

·         In response to an enquiry from Councillor Ralph Muncer final hearings for complaints, were usually public, but this would be dependent on representations made by the Councillor subject to the complaint/ their legal representatives and the Members of the Sub-Committee would consider in the light of legal advice.

·         In response to an enquiry from Councillor Richard Thake on 30/2022, this would be raised with the Deputy Monitoring Officer with regards to this case.

In response to points raised the Independent Person responded that the whole process regarding complaint 9/2022 had been time consuming and careful consideration was given to the apology to ensure fairness for all parties.  He did not have the papers before him, but from memory believed the notice given would have been more than a few hours. He also noted that this meeting was being held in public and the complaint was being discussed demonstrating transparency in the process.

Cllr Val Bryant, also indicated that she had been the Chair of the Standards Sub-Committee for 9/2022, and was content with the apology and her memory was that there was adequate notice provided of this.

Councillor Ruth Brown, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Clare Billing 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.