Agenda and minutes

Standards Committee - Friday 14 December 2012 9.30 am

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Items
No.	Item
1.	Welcome The Monitoring Officer welcomes Members to the first meeting of its Committee following the coming into effect of the new Standards regime on the 1^st July 2012. Minutes: The Monitoring Officer welcomed everyone to the first meeting of the Committee following the coming into force, on the 1^st July 2012, of the new Standards arrangements under the provisions of the Localism Act 2011.
2.	Apologies for Absence Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillor Val Smith (substitute Councillor Pat Kennedy) and Godfrey Cole (Independent Person).
3.	Declarations of Interests Members serving on the Committee are asked to declare any interests they may have in any of the following agenda items. Minutes: There were no declarations of interests.
4.	Appointment of Chair and Vice Chair Recommendation: That the meeting appoints a Chair and Vice-Chair of the Standards Committee for 2012/13. Minutes: The Monitoring Officer reported that unlike the previous statutory Standards arrangements which required, by law, the Committee to be chaired by an ‘Independent Member’ the present arrangements did not require that or indeed require the formation of a Standards Committee at all. The Council had, however, appointed the Committee in order to deal with complaints of breaches of the locally adopted Code of Conduct but the Committee could only be chaired by an elected Member as the ‘Independent Persons’ only had an advisory role within the new arrangements and were not voting Members of the Committee. The Committee resolved to appoints Councillor Gill Sanders as Chair and Councillor Michael Gotch as Vice-Chair of the Standards Committee for 2012/13.
5.	Powers and Duties of Standards Committee PDF 11 KB View item 5. as DOC 27 KB The Standards Committee’s powers and duties for 2012/13 as resolved by Council in May 2012 are appended. Recommendation: That the Committee NOTES the powers and duties of the Standards Committee. Minutes: The Monitoring Officer introduced the Standards Committee’s terms of reference for 2012/13 as resolved by Council in May 2012. There was a discussion over whether the Committee’s quorum should be 3 (as resolved by Council) or 5. There was concern that if the quorum was only 3, that political proportionality might not be achieved. However because the Committee is now allowed substitute members this will maintain political proportionality. The Committee still felt that 3 Members was too low a quorum and felt 5 a more suitable number. Councillor Royce queried whether it was wise having two Members from one household on the Committee. But as both are elected members, Members did not see a problem with it. Councillor Royce felt that as a member of the Committee she had not been kept well informed about the current investigation. She queried why the investigation was taking so long out of concern for the human rights of the member investigated. The Monitoring Officer explained that formal investigations never provide speedy resolutions and his role was to ensure that everyone had correct information so that a decision based on evidence could be reached. Progress was being made with the investigation, the Independent Persons are meeting next week and the case will be determined in January. The Committee noted its terms of reference. The Committee wished to recommend to Council that the quorum of the Standards Committee for 2012/13 be amended to 5 members.
6.	Appointment of Parish Council Representative The Committee is invited to appoint a Parish Council representative on the Standards Committee for 2012/13. The Head of Law and Governance will update the meeting as to nominations received from Parish Councils. Minutes: The Monitoring Officer reported that Council, in establishing the Committee, had resolved to appoint one Parish Council representative to the Committee to represent the four Parish Councils Officers had invited the four Parish Councils to nominate a single representative but each Parish Council had nominated a Member so the Committee had four nominees. The nominees were: Fred Mogridge – Littlemore PC Nils Bartlett – Old Marston PC Julia Gasper – Risinghurst and Sandhills PC Gordon Roper – Blackbird Leys PC The Monitoring Officer suggested to the Committee that because Fred Mogridge and Neil Bartlett had both served full terms on the previous Standards Committee that the appointment should be made from one of the other Parish Councils. The Committee took into consideration the length of service of the remaining nominees and noting that Gordon Roper had served as a Parish Councillor for a considerably longer period than Julia Gasper agreed to recommend to Council that Gordon Roper be co-opted as the non - voting Parish Council representative.
7.	Update report on Council's standards matters PDF 84 KB View item 7. as DOC 165 KB The Head of Law and Governance has submitted a report outlining the progress made in collecting Members’ declarations of interest forms, the Members’ training programme and the appointment of independent persons. Officer recommendation That the Committee NOTE the report Update on Council’s Standards Matters. Minutes: The Monitoring Officer presented the report outlining the progress made in collecting Members’ declarations of interest forms, the Members’ training programme and the appointment of Independent Persons. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that two Members had yet to return their declaration of interest forms and one had not attended code of conduct training and had subsequently had their allowance reduced. The Committee felt that the relevant Group Leader(s) should be informed so that they could raise the issue with the Member(s) involved. The Committee was assured that all Committee Members had returned their declaration forms and attended code training. The Committee thanked the Independent Persons for volunteering their time to take on the role. The Committee resolved to NOTE the report Update on Council’s Standards Matters.
8.	Decision Making - Pre-determination and Bias The Head of Law and Governance will be circulating an advice note to all Members on the issue and will circulate it to the Committee as so as it is available. The Committee will be recommended to note the advice. Minutes: The Monitoring Officer presented the advice note to all Members on the issue of pre-determination and bias. The note had originated from a query from a Chair of a Planning Committee. The Chair advised Members to contact the Monitoring Officer if they had any comments on the draft advice note, before it was issued to all Members.
9.	Monitoring Officer update Minutes: The Monitoring Officer advised the Committee that they were required to hold a hearing in relation to a complaint which had been the subject of an investigation. This will be held at 10am, on the 16 January 2013 in the Judges Room of the Town Hall. The press and public will be excluded from the hearing but the Committee will publish a decision notice. The Committee will receive the investigation report and written advice from the Independent Persons at least 5 clear days before the meeting date.
10.	Minutes PDF 30 KB View item 10. as DOC 43 KB The Minutes from the meeting on 27 April 2012 That the Committee APPROVE the minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2012 as a true and accurate record. Minutes: The Committee resolved to APPROVE the minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2012 as a true and accurate record.
11.	Dates and Times of Future Meetings The Committee will be invited to determine the frequency of future meetings. Minutes: The Committee agreed that they should meet 6 monthly and that the next meeting will be held at 10am on Friday 7 June 2013.