| 56 | RECORD OF THE MEETING |
| | | The record of the meeting held on 14 April 2005 was signed by the Chairman as correct. |
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| 57 | APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE |
| | | Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Kearney, Alan Povey (Vice-Chairman) (independent member) and Parish Councillor David Warrington (St James, Isle of Grain). |
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| 58 | URGENT MATTERS BY REASON OF SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES |
| | | The Chairman announced that the report responding to the consultation on the code of conduct is admitted as a late item as the committee needed to give it urgent consideration to meet the Standards Board for England's deadline for response. |
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| 59 | RESPONSE TO CONSULTATION ON CODE OF CONDUCT |
| | Discussion: |
| | The Monitoring Officer presented a report that asked members to agree a response to the Standards Board's consultation on the proposed revision to the members' code of conduct.
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| | > Licensing code of conduct report (pdf file 15.1kb) |
| | > Licensing code of good practice (pdf file 24.4kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | The committee agreed the suggested draft response that was appended to the report together with the amendments agreed at the meeting. The committee thanked Cliffe and Cliffe Woods parish councils for their comments. |
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| 60 | LICENSING CODE OF CONDUCT |
| | Discussion: |
| | | The Monitoring Officer presented a report that asked members for their comments on the proposed draft licensing code of conduct and to authorise the Monitoring Officer to consult on the code and seek approval from council for its adoption. |
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| | > Licensing code of conduct report (pdf file 15.1kb) |
| | > Licensing code of good practice (pdf file 24.4kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | (a) | | Members approved the licensing code of conduct for consultation. |
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| | (b) | | The committee agreed that the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Chairman, be authorised to make any revisions to the code of conduct arising from the consultation exercise and to submit the code of conduct for adoption at the Full Council meeting on 14 July 2005. |
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| 61 | LOCAL INVESTIGATION AND DETERMINATION OF COMPLAINTS AGAINST MEMBERS OF MEDWAY COUNCIL AND PARISHES WITHIN MEDWAY |
| | Discussion: |
| | | The Monitoring Officer presented a report that asked members to approve revised procedures for dealing with the local investigation and determination of complaints which are referred to the Standards Committee for determination. The report also recommended the same procedures be used to deal with breaches of locally adopted protocols.
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The report also considered changes to the indemnity provisions.
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| | > Appendix 1 - Procedure for local investigation of complaints against members of medway council and parishes within medway's jurisdiction (pdf file 23.0kb) |
| | > Appendix 2 - Procedure for local determination of allegations about the conduct of council members following a local investigation (pdf file 27.2kb) |
| | > Local investigation and determination of complaints against members of Medway Council and Parishes within Medway (pdf file 18.9kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | Members agreed:
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| | (a) | to adopt the procedure for local investigation of complaints, as set out in the report;
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| | (b) | adopt the procedure for local determination of complaints following local investigation, as set out in the report;
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| | (c) | that the investigation and local determination procedures be used where a member has breached either the local planning protocol or the member/employee relations protocol;
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| | (d) | to recommend that the council indemnify a Medway member against the costs of involvement in any proceedings pursuant to part 3 of the Local Government Act 2000 provided that a member who admits a breach of the code of conduct or who is found to have failed to comply with the code of conduct must reimburse the council or any insurer in respect of any sums expended in relation to part 3 proceedings. |
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