Present at the meeting:
Elected Members
- Councillor F B Walker (Vice Chairman)
- Councillor B J Fagan
- Councillor P Thompson
- Councillor R T Splaine
Independent Members
- Mr G Wood (Chairman)
- Mr R Kidd
- Mr D A Lea
- Mr P G Pennington
- Mrs P A Wheal
Parish Council Members
- Councillor Mrs M A Thompson (Haigh)
Also present as an observer: Councillor M J Crosby (Shevington Parish Council)
45 Apologies for absence: Councillors Mrs S Dewhurst and J A O’Neill.
46 Minutes: The Minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 20 November 2007 were approved as a correct record.
47 Exclusion of the public - Section 100a Local Government Act 1972: Resolved: The public is excluded from the meeting when the Committee discusses the following item for the reason set out below:-
| Agenda item no |
Title of report |
Minute no. |
Description of exempt information by reference to the paragraph number in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 |
| E1 |
Standards Board decisions |
54 |
1 (Information about any named person).
The public interest in making the exception is that the Standards Board itself does not publish the decision as they have not been the subject of a full investigation |
Items not subject to confirmation by the Council
48 Adjudication panel for England/ethical standards officers’ decisions: There were none.
49 Draft response to the Standards Board Direction: The Committee considered a report seeking Members’ comments on a draft response set out in a draft letter of the Deputy Director of Legal and Property Services to the Standards Board for England to the Direction issued in September 2007 about both the volume and nature of complaints received by the Board about Wigan Members. Also attached to the report was a proposal given to the Council by Professor Alan Lawton and Dr David Bright in relation to training and mediation.
Resolved: The Committee
- requests the Deputy Director of Legal and Property Services to respond to the Standards Board for England along the lines now indicated; and
- endorses the proposal given to the Council by Professor Alan Lawton and Dr David Bright in relation to training and mediation.
50 Parish issues: Mrs Thompson informed the Committee that the parish was about to undergo process to redefine the conservation area. She also informed the Committee that the Parish Council had recently appointed a new Chairman.
51 Discussion period for Members to raise issues: There were no issues.
52 Dates and times of meetings 2008/09: The Committee considered a draft programme of dates and times of meetings of the Council, Cabinet, Committees and Panels for 2008/09. Cabinet at minute 207 had invited comments from Committees and Panels.
Resolved: The Committee endorses the draft programme of dates and times of meetings for 2008/09 now submitted.
53 Consultation on new Standards Committee arrangements: The Chairman agreed to this additional item being taken as urgent, the special circumstance being the need to enable the Standards Committee to consider the issues and make comments within the Government’s prescribed time limit.
The Committee considered a report seeking comments on a consultation document issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government entitled: ‘Orders and Regulations relating to the Conduct of Local Authority Members in England’. The consultation document contained a series of questions and Members expressed their views on those questions.
Resolved: The Committee notes the consultation document issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government entitled: ‘Orders and Regulations relating to the Conduct of Local Authority Members in England’ now submitted and requests the Deputy Director of Legal and Property Services to report further on the outcome of the consultation and regulations to be made pursuant to the consultation.
54 Standards Board Decisions – Case SBE 20251.07: The Committee considered the findings of the Referrals Unit for the Standards Board for England in the above-mentioned case. This related to an allegation that a Member:-
- had failed to register his interest in two properties which was considered in SBE19324.07; and
- had failed to declare that his son was employed by the Council.
In relation to the allegation that the Member had failed to register his interest in the property from 1998 until recently, it was considered that the alleged conduct could disclose a potential failure to comply with the Code of Conduct. However, it was noted that the Member had now registered the interest and that his register of interest had been updated. In the circumstances, it was not considered that the alleged conduct should be investigated.
In respect of the allegation that the Member had failed to "declare" that his son was employed by the Council, it was considered that the nature of the complaint was uncertain.. Furthermore, the complainant had not provided dates of meetings or details of situations where the Member may have been required to declare an interest on the basis of his son's employment with the Council.
The Standards Board for England had decided that the allegation should not be referred to an ethical standards officer for investigation. The Standards Board for England made no finding of fact.
Resolved: The Committee
accepts the report now submitted; and
requests the Deputy Director of Legal and Property Services to remind Members of the Council to ensure that they keep their register of interests up to date and that should a Member have a relative who is employed by the Council, that Member should consider his/her position in relation to declarations of interest at meetings.
(Councillor B J Fagan declared a prejudicial interest in this item because of his association with the caser and left the meeting during consideration of this item).
(With the consent of the Committee, Councillor I A Franzen remained in the public gallery during consideration of this item).
