This report introduces the investigation report prepared on behalf of the Monitoring Officer into complaint CCC/2018/001 and also the view of the Independent Person and seeks a decision on the complaint.
Minutes:
Discussion
The Committee considered the outcome of an external investigation into a complaint from a member of the public that Councillor Carr remained in the committee room for an agenda item at a Planning Committee meeting on 17 January 2018, after declaring that he was friends with the occupant of a neighbouring property, Councillor Purdy. The complainant was the applicant for the planning application which was the agenda item in which Councillor Carr had declared his Other Significant Interest (OSI). The planning application was refused.
Before reaching a decision on this matter the Committee also considered the views of an Independent person, in accordance with Section 28 of the Localism Act 2011.
Councillor Carr and the Complainant were invited to address the Committee under its procedures for dealing with complaints about Councillor Conduct. Councillor Carr accepted this invitation. The Complainant was not in attendance.
Decisions
1) The Committee agreed as a finding of fact that Councillor Carr was acting in capacity as an elected Member at the Planning Committee meeting on 17 January 2018 and that having properly declared his Other Significant Interest (OSI) in the complainant’s planning application, he then failed to withdraw from the room for the consideration and decision of that item.
2) The Committee agreed that Councillor Carr had acted in breach of paragraph 13.3 of the Medway Council Member Code of Conduct at the Planning Committee on 17 January 2018.
3) The Committee agreed that the following sanctions should be applied to Councillor Carr:
i) censure
That Councillor Carr be censured for failing to leave the committee room on 17 January 2018 when he was a member of the Planning Committee considering a planning application in which he had and declared an Other Significant Interest (OSI).
That the censure should express the view of the Committee that as a very experienced Councillor and after clear legal advice on the point to all Planning Committee members, prior to and at the meeting, he should have known to leave the committee room when he stated clearly that Councillor Purdy was his friend, knowing that her home was next door to the applicant’s property.
That the disappointment of the Committee that Councillor Carr, rather than accepting his error, had been critical of the complainant and the Council’s Legal Officers, should be included in the notice of censure.
ii) Removal from the Planning Committee and the Licensing and Safety Committee
That the Leader of the Council be recommended to remove Councillor Carr from the Planning Committee and the Licensing and Safety Committee, for the remainder of the municipal year.
iii) Letters of apology
That Councillor Carr be required to write a letter of apology to the complainant and to the Head of Legal Services for his critical comments.
iv) Training
That Councillor Carr to undergo training on the Code of Conduct.
4) The Committee also recommended that when Councillors undertake training in relation to quasi-judicial committees (such as those with responsibility for planning or licensing matters or appeals), they be asked to sign a form which confirms they have both undergone the required training and understood it. It was agreed that this be put into place from the next municipal year.