Issue - meetings
PUBLIC SERVICES OMBUDSMAN FOR WALES REVISED GUIDANCE ON THE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR ELECTED MEMBERS
Meeting: 30/11/2012 - Standards Committee (Item 8)
To consider a report by the Monitoring Officer (copy enclosed)
advising members of the publication by the Public Services Ombudsman for
Minutes:
The Monitoring Officer (MO) submitted a report
(previously circulated) advising members of the publication of the Public
Services Ombudsman for Wales revised guidance for elected members in respect of
the Code of Conduct. Links to the full
revised guidance had been made available to the committee prior to the meeting.
Further to the Ombudsman’s guidance for members
published in April 2010, revised guidance had now been issued in two separate
documents for (1) Members of County and County Borough Councils, Fire and
Rescue Authorities and National Park Authorities, and (2) Members of Community
Councils. The rationale behind providing
separate guidance for Community Councillors was to provide greater clarity and
examples which specifically applied to them.
The MO summarised the content of the revised guidance which included
reference to –
·
the new
procedure for dealing with complaints whereby the Ombudsman would refer matters
that he considered not investigating to Monitoring Officers and Standards
Committees for local investigation
·
local
resolution procedures (such as the Self Regulatory Protocol adopted by
Denbighshire County Council) which would apply to principal councils in the first instance but
could be made available to community councillors in due course, and
·
changes to
the substance of the guidance relating to treating others with respect and
consideration – the threshold beyond which the Ombudsman would investigate
complaints arising from political debates must take into account the fact that
members needed to have a ‘thicker skin’ in dealing with politically motivated
comments.
In terms of the changes to the investigation of
politically motivated complaints the MO advised that the revised guidance had
taken into account a recent High Court case which overturned an Adjudication
Panel decision on the basis that a member’s freedom of expression attracted
enhanced protection when his comments were political in nature. The MO elaborated upon the details of the
case and advised that Monitoring Officers across Wales were concerned about the
approach taken by the Ombudsman as they believed the tone of the guidance to be
almost permissive which had not been the intention. Those concerns had been raised with the
Ombudsman who had agreed to reconsider the wording of that particular section
in the guidance.
The Chair thanked the MO for his clear
description of the High Court case and subsequent implications of the revised
guidance for members. Councillor David
Jones felt that despite the clear explanation it was still a complex issue to
interpret. The Chair queried whether the
revised guidance would result in extra work for the committee. The MO replied that the Ombudsman was
unlikely to investigate complaints made at county level between members which
may instead be dealt with via the Self Regulatory Protocol which would have
implications for the committee. Ms.
Margaret Medley thought that an increase in cases investigated locally might
help to improve councillors’ behaviour.
RESOLVED that the contents of the
Ombudsman’s revised guidance be noted.