Present at the meeting:
- Councillor J Ellis
- Councillor B J Fagan
- Councillor Mrs J Prescott
- Councillor R Winkworth
- Councillor F B Walker
Independent Members
- Mr P G Pennington (Chairman)
- Mr R Kidd
- Mr D Lea
- Mrs P Wheal
Parish Council Members
- Councillor Mrs A Thomson (Haigh)
Officers in attendance
- Martyn Kenyon – Head of Risk Management
- Mike Williamson – Committee Services Officer
Officers presenting reports
- Kevin Lawson – Service Director, Borough Solicitor
31 Apologies for absence: Councillor Mrs S Dewhurst, T W Halliwell and P Thompson and Councillor M J Crosby (Shevington Parish Council.)
32 Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 29 September 2009 were approved as a correct record, subject to the following resolution being included in Minute 30:-
(3) requests the Service Director – Borough Solicitor to clarify what training provision is afforded to all Members of the Council across all Committees.
33 Adjudication Panel for England/ethical standards officers’ decisions: There were none.
34 Minutes of the Review Sub Committee: The Committee noted the minutes of the meeting of the Review Sub Committee held on 16 October 2009, subject to the following amendment to the resolution, requested by Mrs P Wheal:-
The Sub Committee having taken account of the available information did not believe that a potential breach of the Code of Conduct was disclosed and resolved that no further action be taken. The Sub Committee also endorsed the Assessment Sub Committee’s suggestion that the Member, in the interest of public harmony, may wish to apologise to the complainant for any misunderstanding that may have arisen.
35 Standards for England conference 2009: The Committee considered a report of the Service Director – Borough Solicitor, Kevin Lawson, which informed Members of the key issues that had been identified following the Standards for England conference on 12 and 13 October 2009.
The Committee discussed a number of the issues identified by Standards for England and raised the following salient points:-
- The Committee should consider producing an annual work plan;
- The Committee should consider producing an annual report of its work which would be submitted to Council;
- The Committee should consider the Council’s Annual Governance Statement along with Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee and Audit, Governance and Improvement Review Committee;
- The Committee should be kept abreast of “case law” in order to be effective in promoting good standards of conduct;
- Representatives from the Executive and Senior Management Team should be invited to a future meeting the Standards Committee to discuss what role they expected of the Standards Committee to undertake within the authority; and
- Ethical training could be made mandatory to all Members of the Council to help improve standards of conduct.
Resolved: The Committee:-
- notes the report; and
- requests that the Service Director – Borough Solicitor, in consultation with the Chairman, draft an annual work plan for consideration at the next meeting.
36 Politically restricted posts – requests for exemptions: The Committee considered a report of the Service Director – Borough Solicitor, which provided Members with background information on politically restricted posts and outlined the implications of the Standards Committee’s new responsibility in respect of the granting and supervision of exemptions of posts from political restriction.
Resolved: The Committee:-
- notes its responsibilities in respect of the granting and supervision of exemptions of posts from political restriction within the Council’s establishment; and
- agrees to refer to the Dispensation Sub Committee the determination of appeals from Council officers for their posts to be exempt from political restriction and to consider applications from any person who believes that a post has been wrongly omitted from the list of politically restricted posts.
37 Parish issues: There were none.
38 Issues raised by Members: There were none.
