Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Conference Room 1a, County Hall, Wynnstay Road, Ruthin LL15 1YN
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APOLOGIES |
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: No Members declared any personal or
prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at the
meeting. |
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URGENT MATTERS AS AGREED BY THE CHAIR Notice of items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972. Minutes: No items were
raised which in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting
as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of
the Local Government Act, 1972. |
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MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING PDF 170 KB To receive the minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 18th July, 2014 (copy enclosed). Minutes: The Minutes of the Standards Committee held on the 18th
July, 2014 were submitted. Matters arising:- 5. Forward
Work Programme - In response to
questions from Councillor D.E. Jones on progress with the provision of training
for Members on the Code of Conduct, the MO explained that attendance levels at
training sessions for City, Town and Community Councils (CTCC) following the
2012 Elections had not met attendance level expectations. The MO and DMO had subsequently been invited
to attend meetings to speak on specific issues, and discussions had taken place
with the Community Engagement Officer regarding the provision of training
specifically adapted for Clerks of the respective Councils. The Chair highlighted the positive report by
the MO for the Isle of Anglesey County Council, on the provision of training by
Clerks, which had been considered by the North Wales Standards Forum. He felt that the adoption of such a model
could be beneficial in aiding the training process. The MO confirmed that consideration could be afforded
to the development of e-learning modules which could be circulated to CTCC and
supported by officers and Members of the Standards Committee. The DMO informed the Committee that the trainer who
had originally provided training had, although now retired, agreed to consider
providing further courses. The MO
explained that concerns had been raised by some of the smaller Community
Councils regarding the cost of the training provision, and he highlighted the
need to provide an explanation for
the charges. The Chair referred to the recommendation made to
approach the Corporate Governance Committee for their opinion regarding
Standards Committee tackling more issues which were currently covered by their
Committee. The MO and DMO provided a
brief summary of the response of the Corporate Governance Committee which would
be incorporated into the review of the Councils Constitution. In response to a question from Councillor W.L. Cowie
regarding the provision of a checklist of all CTCC to enable Standards
Committee Members to indicate their preference as to which meeting they would
attend, the DMO confirmed that this would be presented to the next meeting of
the Committee. The MO agreed to contact
the Community Engagement Officer regarding the issue of the provision of
cluster meetings. 6. Public
Service Ombudsman for Wales Annual Report 2013/14 – The Chair referred to issues which Members’
attention had been drawn to and made reference to paragraph 6. He felt that if a complaint was made and then
dismissed without a hearing there could be a public perception of
unfairness. The MO explained that only
one case had arisen under the circumstances referred to. RESOLVED – that the Minutes be received and approved as a
correct record. (G. Williams and L. Jones to Action) |
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FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME PDF 173 KB To consider the
Standards Committee Forward Work Programme (copy enclosed). Minutes: The Deputy
Monitoring Officer (DMO) submitted a report (previously circulated) presenting
the Forward Work Programme and Review for consideration and adoption. Members considered the Standards Committee Forward
Work Programme for the forthcoming six month period and agreed the following
additions:- 6th
March, 2015:- (a)
Training provision for the
Councillors and Clerks of the City, Town and Community Councils. 22nd
May, 2015:- (a)
Training provision for the Councillors and Clerks of the City, Town and
Community Councils. (b)
Consideration of the Chairman’s Annual Report to Council. RESOLVED –that the Standards Committee agree the Forward Work
Programme with the inclusion of the agreed inclusions. (G. Williams and L. Jones to Action) |
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CHAIR'S ANNUAL REPORT PDF 259 KB To consider a
report by the Deputy Monitoring Officer (copy enclosed) which enabled the
Committee to have sight and contribute to the Chair’s Annual Report, in advance
of the item being presented to the full Council. Minutes: A copy of a report by the Monitoring Officer (MO)
had been circulated with the papers for the meeting. The report enabled
the Committee to peruse and contribute to the Chair’s Annual Report prior to
its presentation to full Council. The MO
had been particularly keen to take into consideration the Chair and the
Committee’s views on the content, and set out the proposed details in section
4. It had been agreed
that the Chair’s Annual Report should be presented on the work of the
Committee, and its findings and observations, to all Council Members as part of
the Committee’s drive to increase standards of ethical behaviour and compliance
with the Members Code of Conduct. This
was the first Annual Report of the Chair to Full Council which covered January
to December, 2014. The report would
inform Members of trends, issues in respect of compliance with the Members Code
of Conduct generally across the County and the work of the Committee in driving
up standards of behaviour at County, Town, City and Community levels. Details of the constitution and powers of the
Committee had been included in the report, particular reference being made to
the appointment process and role of Independent Members. Prior to 2014 the
Committee had been instrumental in amending the Council’s Code of Conduct to
make training on the Code a mandatory obligation; the introduction of a
Self-Regulatory Protocol, ensuring that County wide training to the County and
‘Code’ roadshow events was delivered by the MO and his deputy at Town, City and
Community level, providing training to Chairs of Town, City and Community
Councils and publicity material to assist Clerks in the communities. During the past
year the Committee had been scheduled to meet five times and had met on 4
occasions due to the October meeting being cancelled. A table included in the report provided a
summary of the items under discussion.
The three standing business items included on the agenda for each
meeting included:- (i)
Reports
from Standards Members in respect of their attendance and observations at
Committee and Council meetings whether at County or Community level. (ii)
Overview
of Complaints lodged against Members with the Public Services Ombudsman for
Wales. (iii)
Forward
Work Programme. This was a new
initiative to enable the Committee to adopt the same strategic approach as
other Committees and to target its resources into priority areas. Councillor W.L. Cowie questioned whether the Annual
Report would detail Members reports of visits to CTCC meetings. The MO explained that, subject to approval,
the report could note that routine visits to CTCC were undertaken by Members of
the Committee, and if as a result of the MO or DMO had been requested to take
any action this might be reported dependant of the severity of the issue
raised. Councillor D.E. Jones suggested
that general statistics relating to the number of visits undertaken, and their
subsequent outcome, might be included in the report outlining the general
health and framework of the CTCC’s.
Councillor Jones felt that negative reporting could creating a difficult
atmosphere and be detrimental to encouraging nominations for voluntary
positions on CTCC’s. The Chair questioned the reference to the Crown
Prosecutors Services in Paragraph 4.2.
The MO provided details of his powers of investigation, and made
reference to the statistics available in relation to the number of cases not
pursued. The Committee agreed that the
availability of the backup power be included in the report. During the ensuing discussion the following amendments
to the Draft Annual Report were agreed:- · Paragraph 4.1 – “The Chair of the Standards Committee” be amended to ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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PUBLIC SERVICES OMBUDSMAN FOR WALES - PUBLIC INTEREST TEST PDF 83 KB To consider a report by the Monitoring Officer (copy
enclosed) on a proposal by the Public
Services Ombudsman for Wales’ to introduce a new Public Interest Test when
considering whether or not to investigate allegations that an Elected Member has
breached the Code of Conduct. Additional documents: Minutes: A
copy of a report by the Monitoring Officer (MO), on the proposal by the Public
Services Ombudsman for Wales’ (PSOW) to introduce a new Public Interest Test
when considering whether or not to investigate allegations that an Elected
Member had breached the Code of Conduct, had been circulated previously. The views of the Committee had been sought on the discussion paper
produced by the PSOW, Appendix 1, on a proposal to introduce an additional test
when considering whether or not to investigate a complaint made to him that a
Member had breached the Code of Conduct.
The PSOW’s office had for a number of years applied a two stage test in
considering whether or not to investigate an alleged breach of the Code of
Conduct by a Member. The first stage would be to establish whether there was evidence that a
breach of the Code had actually taken place.
The second stage would be to consider whether the alleged breach, if
proved, would be likely to lead to the imposition of a sanction by a Standards
Committee or the Adjudication Panel for Wales.
In considering the likelihood of a sanction being imposed, the PSOW’s
office would take into account cases considered by Standards Committees across
Wales and the action they had taken. The PSOW had expressed concerned about the number of low level
complaints received by his office and was seeking to introduce an additional
test which would consider whether an investigation or a referral to a Standards
Committee or the Adjudication Panel was required in the public interest. As indicated in Appendix 1 he saw his role as investigating
serious cases in order to maintain public confidence in standards in public
life. He would not open an investigation
unless he considered it proportionate to do so, given the circumstances of the
breach alleged. In determining whether an
investigation was in the public interest, the PSOW would consider a number of
factors, as set out in Appendix 1. Not
all of the factors would apply in every case and the weight to be given to each
would depend on the circumstances of each case.
The PSOW had made it clear that at a time of diminishing resources he
would have to prioritise the matters that his office would be investigating,
and it may no longer be appropriate to apply resources to the investigation of
low level complaints. In addition he would consider whether or
not to continue the practice of referring cases that, although there may be
evidence of a breach he had decided not to investigate, to Local MO’s for
investigation because of the second limb of his current test. Members’ views had been sought on this point. The MO confirmed the risk that if the PSOW’s Public Interest Test was
applied at too high a threshold there could be the possibility that breaches of
the Code of Conduct which should be the subject of a sanction were not
investigated. The Chair understood
the reasoning behind the proposed introduction of the public interest
test. However, he suggested that the
process could dilute the Code of Conduct and that public perception of such an
approach to investigations could reduce confidence in the democratic process,
if introduced solely on the grounds of the availability of resources. The Chair suggested that the utilisation of
the Standards Committee, as a mechanism to deal with low level complaints,
could satisfy complainants that their grievances had been deliberated. The MO outlined the current three stage process and explained that the opportunity to deal with complaints locally may also be removed, which raised concerns that ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
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NORTH WALES STANDARDS COMMITTEES FORUM PDF 49 KB To consider a
report by the Monitoring Officer (copy enclosed) on the meeting of the North
Wales Standards Committees Forum on 26th November, 2014. Additional documents: Minutes: A
copy of a report by the Monitoring Officer (MO) (copy enclosed) which reported
the discussion at the North Wales Standards Committees Forum (NWSCF) on the 26th
November 2014, which had been attended by the Public Services Ombudsman for
Wales (PSOW). The primary business of the meeting had been to meet the new Public
Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW), Mr Nick Bennett, and to seek his views on
current issues facing Standards Committees (SC) in Wales. The NWSCF had posed 13 written questions
in order to structure the discussion with the PSOW. A
copy of the questions put to the PSOW, together with a note of his responses,
had been set out in Appendix 1 to report. The MO summarised the report and explained that the PSOW had been keen
to meet with representatives of SCs and listen to their views and concerns
about current issues. He was very
supportive of the work of the NWSCF and the support that the SCs in North Wales
provided to each other through the Forum.
The MO provided a detailed summary of the proceedings of the meeting. The PSOW set the work of his office into the context of diminishing
public resources and the need for the work of his office to maintain public
confidence in the democratic process while prioritising the scarce resources at
his disposal. He had stressed the dim
view taken of vexatious complaints and the need for investigations conducted by
his office to be proportionate with the public interest in the matter under
investigation. The PSOW had been keen to support the local resolution of
complaints in respect of the Code of Conduct which would increase the speed at
which complaints were dealt with. Confirmation was provided of the PSOW’s intention to issue revised
guidance to Local Authorities in light of a recent judgement and to simplify
the guidance provided to Members, particularly in respect of the declaration of
interests. A public interest test would
also be introduced and this was the subject of a separate report to the SC. The Forum considered an item on the provision of Code of Conduct
training to CTCCs, and they had been informed of the Isle of Anglesey County
Council approach to provide tailored training to the clerks to CTCCs to enable
them to be the first line of advice in respect of Code of Conduct issues. The approach had resulted in a development of
the relationship between clerks and the MO and following the training several clerks
had taken the opportunity to contact the MO to discuss issues concerning their
Councils. A discussion had ensued on the
merit of other Authorities taking a similar approach to the provision of
training to CTCCs. The following responses
were provided to questions from Councillor W.L. Cowie:- -
The
Chair agreed to seek the views of the NWSCF regarding the attendance of County
Councillors at NWSCF meetings. -
The MO
agreed to provide clarification regarding the attendance of Members of the
Standards Committee at meetings of CTCC meetings, during consideration of Part
II business items. Confirmation was
provided that Members of the Standards Committee would be entitled to attend
any meetings of the County Council CTCC, during consideration of Part II
business items. The MO responded to
questions from Councillor D.E. Jones and explained that Community Council
meetings, local Council meetings, were public meetings and could be attended by
any member of the public. Councillor
Jones also highlighted comments relating to the availability of sufficient
resources for clerks of Town and Community Councils to operate a local
resolution protocol. Following further discussion, it was:- ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
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ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS To note the attendance by members of the Standards Committee at County, Town and Community Council and to receive their reports. Minutes: Members of the Committee
were invited to feedback from the County, City, Town and Community Council
meetings that they had recently attended, and Members took the opportunity to
offer a summary of how the respective Councils had operated. Mrs P. White had attended
the January, 2015 meeting of Rhuddlan Town
Council. She explained that the meeting
had been lively with the Town Councillors endeavouring to do their best for the
Community of Rhuddlan. The agenda had been substantial and Mrs White
had vacated the meeting prior to consideration of the Part II business items. Councillor W.E. Cowie had
attended a meeting of Denbigh Town Council on the 12th January,
2015. Councillor Cowie explained that
the meeting had progressed well with Members complying with etiquette. He had been impressed with the manner in
which the business of the meeting had been conducted, and commented on the
professionalism of the Chair. Councillor Cowie had also
attended a meeting of Rhyl Town Council on the 21st
January, 2015. Councillor Cowie had been
very impressed with the organisation of the meeting, and felt that the
procedures adopted could be utilised as an example of
how meetings should be conducted. The Chair had attended a
meeting of Ruthin Town Council on the 20th
October, 2014. He expressed concern
regarding the lack of notice advertising the meeting, and the subsequent
difficulty in locating its venue. The
Chairing of the meeting had been brisk with the level of debate not always
relating to the level of importance of the matter under consideration. In summing up the Chair confirmed that the
atmosphere of the meeting in general had been good. The Chair also attended a
meeting of County Council held on the 17th December, 2014, and it
was felt that there had been a lack of assertive Chairing during the
proceedings. He commented on the
proceedings which related mainly to the issue of Local Government Reform, and
the MO explained that the lead during the meeting had been taken by the Chief
Executive as he had been the author of the main report. In reply to concerns raised
by Councillor D.E. Jones regarding the importance of Member etiquette during
the webcasting of meetings, the MO explained that guidance on webcasting had
been provided for Elected Members. RESOLVED – that the Standards Committee receive and note the
feedback submitted from recent meetings attended by Members of the Committee. |
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Standards Committee is scheduled for the 6th March, 2015. Minutes: Members noted that the next meeting of the Standards
Committee would be held on Friday, 6th March, 2015 at 10.00 a.m. in
Conference Room 1b, County Hall, Ruthin. RESOLVED – that the Standards Committee noted that the next
meeting of the Committee be held on Friday, 6th March, 2015. |
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CODE OF CONDUCT - PART 3 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 2000 To consider a confidential report by the Monitoring Officer (copy
enclosed) providing an overview of complaints against members lodged with the Public
Services Ombudsman for Minutes: exclusion of press and
public RESOLVED –
that
under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be
excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds
that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in
Paragraphs 12 and 13 of Part 4 of
Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. pArT II 11. Code of
Conduct - PART 3 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 2000 A
copy of a confidential report by the Monitoring Officer (MO), which provided an overview of complaints lodged with the
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, had been circulated with the papers for the
meeting. The
Standards Committee had previously requested to be regularly informed of the
level of complaints lodged with the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
PSOW). The tables incorporated in
Appendix 1 provided an overview of complaints lodged since the 1st
April, 2012. It was confirmed by the MO that Case Reference
numbers 251,253 and 254 had now been completed.
He explained that the PSOW had now provided confirmation that Case
Reference number 252 had been closed in April, 2014. There had been no record of notification of
the decision having been forwarded to Denbighshire, and an apology for the
oversight had been received from the PSOW Office. RESOLVED –that the Standards Committee receive and note the
contents of the report. Meeting ended at 12.40 p.m. |