Present at the meeting
Councillors
- Councillor Mrs J Prescott
- Councillor B J Fagan
- Councillor F B Walker
- Councillor R Winkworth
Independent Members
- Mr P G Pennington (Chairman)
- Mr R Kidd
- Mrs P Wheal
Parish Council Members
- Councillor Mrs A Thomson (Haigh)
Officers in attendance
- Martyn Kenyon – Head of Risk Management
- Diane Adshead – Committee Services Officer
Officers presenting reports
- Kevin Lawson – Service Director, Borough Solicitor
48 Apologies for absence: Councillor Mrs S Dewhurst, J Ellis, T W Halliwell, P Thompson and Councillor M J Crosby (Shevington Parish) and Mr D A Lea.
49 Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 26 January 2010 were approved as a correct record subject to the inclusion of Mr R Kidd’s apologies being recorded. The Monitoring Officer, Kevin Lawson, reminded Members that there would be a workshop on Member/Officer Protocol at 6.00 pm on 29 March 2010 at the Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan.
50 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 |
Local investigation Z38/13 |
55 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 |
51 Annual report of the Standards Committee: The Service Director – Borough Solicitor, Kevin Lawson, presented to the Committee the first annual report of the Standards Committee.
It was intended that the annual report would be submitted to the Council to review the activities of the Committee over the previous 12 months and its planned activities for the next 12 months. As this was the first annual report, it was considered appropriate to consider the overall role of the Committee, in particular, the operation of the procedures established in May 2008 concerning the management of the local assessment of complaints.
The Standards Committee operated in part through a number of Sub-Committees including the following:-
- The Assessment Sub-Committee – to consider all complaints submitted to the Committee at first instance with a view to deciding whether or not they should be investigated further or whether no action is appropriate;
- The Review Sub-Committee – to consider those decisions of the Assessment Sub-Committee to take no further action which the complainant wished to review;
- The Determination Sub-Committee – a Panel to determine and hear the outcome of complaints which have been investigated; and
- A Dispensation Sub-Committee – to consider appeals from Council officers for exemption from political restriction.
The Committee was advised that there had been a substantial reduction in the complaints received in the year 2008/2009 even though there was substantial publicity given in relation to the new local assessment process. While this last year had seen a slight increase on those numbers the number of complaints pursued by a member against another member has not increased.
The report went on to explain that Standards for England had developed indicators from which a Standards Committee could assess how well it is functioning within a local authority. Details of how well Wigan Council’s Standards Committee was performing against each indicator was presented to the Committee.
Resolved: The Committee notes the report
52 Adjudication panel for England/Ethical Standards Officers’ decisions: There were none.
53 Parish issues: There were none.
54 Issues raised by Members: Resolved: The Committee requests that the Chairman, Mr P G Pennington, arrange to meet with the Leaders of all parties following the Election on 6 May 2010 to discuss ethics and Member’s code of conduct in the Council Chamber.
55 Local investigation Z38/13: The Committee considered a report of the Service Director – Borough Solicitor, which informed Members of the outcome of an investigation of a complaint referred by the Assessment Sub-Committee for local investigation and determination. The case related to an allegation that a Member had behaved in an intimidating, malicious, insulting and humiliating fashion over a period of time towards the complainant. The complainant further alleged that the Member had attempted to undermine her in a work capacity by refusing to communicate directly with her and by expressing derogatory comments about her to colleagues. This had made it difficult for the complainant, her team and other partners to carry out their roles effectively.
The complaint was referred to Mrs A Johnson, a former Director of Legal and Democratic Services at Oldham Borough Council for investigation. Following a thorough investigation, the investigator concluded that the Councillor had breached paragraph 3(1) of the Members’ Code of Conduct which said “you must treat others with respect.”
The Committee was advised that it now had to consider the report of the investigator and in considering the report, the Local Authorities (Code of Conduct)(Local Determination)(Amendment) Regulations 2004 provided that the Standards Committee may only make one of two findings:-
- that the matter should be concluded at a hearing of the Standards Committee conducted under the Regulations; or
- that the matter should be referred to the Adjudication Panel for determination.
Resolved: The Standards Committee agrees to refer the report to the Adjudication Panel for England for determination.
56 Local Investigation Z38/8: This item was deferred.
57 Vote of thanks: Resolved: The best thanks of this Committee are extended to the Chairman and the officers for the excellent services rendered by them during the past Municipal Year.
