Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: BY VIDEO CONFERENCE
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APOLOGIES Minutes: None. |
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS PDF 116 KB Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: No declarations were raised. |
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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: There were no urgent items. |
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MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING PDF 346 KB To receive the minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 4 September 2020 (copy enclosed). Minutes: The minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 04
September 2020 were submitted. Matter of accuracy – ·
It was highlighted the chair’s name was not
included correctly on the minutes. RESOLVED that, subject to the above, the
minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on the 04 September 2020 be
received and confirmed as correct records |
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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: It was noted that since the last meeting, due to
restrictions members had not been able to attend any meetings of city, town and
community councils. The Monitoring Officer (MO) stated if members wished to
attend any meetings they should inform him. He would then consult with the
relevant clerk to make arrangements to attend in person or remotely. Members raised concerns about the Community Councils
throughout Denbighshire and how were they dealing with the pandemic. It was
queried whether they were conducting meetings through virtual means? The MO
informed the committee that some of the Community Councils were still
conducting meetings. The committee members highlighted their interest in
attending Community Council meetings once again and the committee suggested
reassessing the list of Community Council meetings, and rearranging attendance
through virtual means. The support which
was provided to the clerks of the town, city and community councils was raised,
especially since the pandemic. The MO assured the committee that there was
regular contact with the clerks and that guidance has been circulated with regards
to holding remote meetings. Clarity was sought
in respect of County Council meetings and members queried whether they could
receive a list of the council’s meetings. The MO guided members through the
Denbighshire website to the calendar showing when all the meetings were held.
Members queried whether they could attend part 2 items of meetings and the MO
stated that Standard Committee members were allowed to stay for part 2
confidential items in County Council meetings. However they were not allowed to
observe during Part 2 discussion at Town, Community and City Councils meetings,
unless they were invited to do so. RESOLVED that the above mentioned points be noted. |
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SPECIAL STANDARDS COMMITTEE HEARING - LESSONS LEARNED To receive a verbal report by the Monitoring Officer on the lessons learned following the Special
Standards Committee Hearing. Minutes: The Monitoring Officer (MO) reported the lessons learned
during the special standards committee. The MO informed the committee that it was the first special
standards hearing that had been held during his time as the monitoring officer. The first point was
that it felt that the process for the hearing took a long time. The MO also
highlighted that there could have been better liaison with the ombudsman to
make the whole process flow better. For future
hearings, the MO advised that we would have to focus on supporting those
invited to participate in order to prepare them and encourage attendance. The MO reported that the ombudsman and legal officers were
asked to present the legal arguments in paper format prior to the standards
hearing. A pre-hearing meeting would be
beneficial to all in attendance, and if witness statements could be agreed
prior to the hearing this would alleviate the need for witnesses to attend, if
they were unable to do so. The chair agreed
the pre-hearing meeting would streamline matters for any future hearings. He
added that it would be a good opportunity to review the statements and that it
was important to ensure that witnesses understood what would be required of
them. Other members who were in attendance in the hearing gave
their opinion of the hearing and how it was conducted, Anne Mellor (Independent Member), thought it went well and she agreed
with the holding of pre-meetings to consider arrangements and any issues such
as personal interests in the case. Peter Lamb
(Independent Member) agreed with Mrs Mellor’s comments but added that he felt
there were too many witnesses present at the hearing. The committee
agreed that at any future hearings, the seating arrangements would need to be
considered prior to the hearing, this was to ensure that all parties present
were comfortable. RESOLVED –
that the committee
notes the lessons learned from the special standards committee hearing |
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE To receive a verbal report by the Monitoring Officer on the annual report of the standards committee.
Minutes: The Monitoring Officer (MO) made the committee aware that
there has not been an opportunity to produce a report for 2020 due to the
pandemic. The committee were informed that the next annual report of the
standards committee would encompass all the work carried out during 2019 and
2020, and would be presented in 2021. The Annual Report of the Standards Committee would not be
ready until January 2021 at the earliest. The MO would present a report in May 2021 with all the work which had
been carried out prior to presenting the report. RESOLVED that the above
mentioned points be noted. |
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STANDARDS COMMITTEE FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME PDF 14 KB To consider the Standards Committee Forward Work Programme (copy attached). Minutes: The Monitoring Officer (MO) introduced the
Standards Committee Forward Work Programme (previously circulated). The code of conduct case book had not been
published at the time of the deadline for today’s meeting. However the MO
stated the report should be available for the March meeting. The Terms of Reference of the Standards
committee could be brought to the committee at the March meeting. RESOLVED that subject to
the above, the Standards Committee’s forward work programme be approved. |
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Standards Committee is scheduled for 5th March 2021. Minutes: The next meeting of the Standards Committee
was scheduled for Friday 5th March 2021. RESOLVED that under Section
100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from
the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it would
involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 12
and 13 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Act. |
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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: The Monitoring
Officer (MO) presented the confidential report (previously circulated) to
provide Members with an overview of complaints lodged with the Public Services
Ombudsman for Wales since 1st January 2018. Members were
informed that other than complaint reference 304 there were no other
outstanding complaints to the Ombudsman that involved the Council. The MO
reported on complaints submitted involving community councils in Denbighshire,
giving outline details of the nature of the complaints made and the actions
taken by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. It was confirmed
that the Ombudsman had continued to use the same procedure to ascertain if a
complaint needed investigating and local resolution processes were still being
encouraged. RESOLVED that the Standards Committee notes the
contents of the report. |
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INVESTIGATION REPORT OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES OMBUDSMAN FOR WALES To consider a confidential report under the Standards
Committees Wales Regulations 2001 by the Monitoring Officer (copy not attached)
regarding an investigation
by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. Minutes: The Monitoring
Officer (MO) presented the confidential report (previously circulated) in
regard to the Investigation Report of the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. The committee agreed that the matter would need to be
investigated further. The MO informed the
committee that he would liaise with the parties involved. RESOLVED –
that the Standards Committee agree that the matter be investigated further. |