Meeting documents

Standards Committee
Wednesday, 10 December 2008

Standards Committee
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Record of the meeting

This record is subject to approval at the next meeting

PRESENT: 
Committee members:Councillor Coomber (Parish Council representative)
Michael Coulson (Independent Member)
Anthony Dance (Independent Member)
Janet Gray (Independent Member)
Councillors O'Brien, Mrs Shaw and Smith
530RECORD OF THE MEETING
 
The record of the meeting held on 8 October 2008 was signed by the Chairman as correct.
531APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
 
Apologies for absence were received from Parish Councillor Buckwell, Beverley Jenkins (Independent Member), Alan Povey (Independent Member) and Parish Councillor Alan Marsh.
532URGENT MATTERS
 
The Monitoring Officer reported that three letters requesting dispensations had been received from Members of the Isle of Grain Parish Council relating to planning applications for the new power station on the Isle of Grain. She stated that in her opinion these Members did not require dispensations and only needed to declare personal interests when dealing with issues relating to the proposed new power station. The reason for this was that as the power station was so large it affected all residents of Grain.

It was agreed that there was a need for a the Independent Members of the Committee to meet with Group Leaders in the New year in order to discus Member conduct and the implications of the possible revisions to the Model Code of Conduct for Members.
533GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION ON REVISIONS TO THE MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR MEMBERS AND ON THE INTRODUCTION OF A MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES
 Discussion:
 
The Monitoring Officer introduced a report that invited Members to give their views about the publication of a consultation paper concerning proposals to revise the model code of conduct for local authority Members and for proposals for the introduction of a model code of conduct for local authority employees.
The Monitoring Officer informed the Committee that since the papers for this meeting had been despatched, Chapter 3 of the consultation document that related to the proposals for a Model Code of Conduct for local authority employees had been before the Employment Matters Committee and the response written by the Assistant Director, Organisational Services on behalf of that Committee was circulated at the meeting. The Monitoring Officer advised Members that they should therefore concentrate their responses only to Section 2 of the consultation document relating to the code of conduct for local authority members.
 > Government consultation on revisions to the model code of conduct (pdf file 15.1kb)
 > Appendix 1 Code of Conduct consultation covering letter October 2008 (pdf file 101.6kb)
 > Appendix 1 Code of Conduct consultation October 2008 (pdf file 280.2kb)
 > Appendix 2 Suggested response to consultation document (pdf file 10.8kb)
 Decision:
 
Members agreed that the following responses to Section 2 of the consultation document relating to the code of conduct for local authority Members should be sent as the Committee's response to the Communities and Local Government (CLG):
Chapter 2: Code of conduct for local authority Members
Question 1 - Do you agree that the Members' code should apply to a Member's conduct when acting in their non-official capacity?
Yes. We agree that conduct of Members that would constitute a criminal offence, even when acting in their non-official capacity, ought to be caught by the Code of Conduct.
Question 2 - Do you agree with this definition of 'criminal offence' for the purpose of the Members' code? If not, what other definition would you support, for instance should it include police cautions? Please give details.
We agree that some fixed penalty offences such as minor motoring offences ought to be excluded. Members receiving a caution for criminal conduct should also be included.
Question 3 - Do you agree with this definition of 'official capacity' for the purpose of the Members' code? If not, what other definition would you support? Please give details.
Yes
Question 4 - Do you agree that the Members' code should only apply where a criminal offence and conviction abroad would have been a criminal offence if committed in the UK?
Yes.
Question 5 - Do you agree that an ethical investigation should not proceed until the criminal process has been completed?
Yes.
Question 6 - Do you think that the amendments to the Members' code suggested in this chapter are required? Are there any other drafting amendments which would be helpful? If so, please could you provide details of your suggested amendments?
The amendments that are suggested are helpful.
Question 7 - Are there any aspects of conduct currently included in the Members' code that are not required? If so, please could you specify which aspects and the reasons why you hold this view?
No.
Question 8 - Are there any aspects of conduct in a Members' official capacity not specified in the Members' code that should be included? Please give details.
No.
Question 9 - Does the proposed timescale of two months, during which a Member must give an undertaking to observe the Members' code, starting from the date the authority adopts the code, provide Members with sufficient time to undertake to observe the code?
Two months is sufficient time.
Question 10 - Do you agree with the addition of this new general principle, applied specifically to conduct in a Member's non-official capacity?
No it was felt that this was superfluous.
Question 11 - Do you agree with this broad definition of 'criminal offence' for the purpose of the General Principles Order? Or, do you consider that 'criminal offence' should be defined differently?
Yes, subject to the response set out in question 2 relating to cautions.
Question 12 - Do you agree with this definition of 'official capacity' for the purpose of the General Principles Order?
Yes