Agenda and minutes

It was proposed by Councillor Marriott, seconded by Councillor Oldham that Councillor Suresh Patel is appointed Chair of this Standards Hearing Panel.

RESOLVED: That Councillor Suresh Patel is appointed Chair of this Standards Hearing Panel.

The Chair welcomed all to the Hearing’s Panel and asked attendees to introduce themselves.

There were none.

Members are invited to declare any interests (including the nature of those interests) they have in the item appearing on this agenda.

Note: If any of the Hearing Panel’s Members believe they may have an interest they are asked to inform the Deputy Monitoring Officer before the date of the Hearing as the attendance of a replacement Member may need to be arranged

 The Chair to Move:

“that the public and press be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that there is likely to be disclosure to them of such categories of exempt information as defined by section 100I of the Local Government Act 1972 as listed against such items of business by reference to the appropriate paragraph of Schedule 12a to such Act.”

In order for the Hearing’s Panel to consider further correspondence to the subject Member and emails from the subject Member, it was moved:

“that the public and press be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that there is likely to be disclosure to them of such categories of exempt information as defined by section 100I of the Local Government Act 1972 as listed against such items of business by reference to the appropriate paragraph of Schedule 12a to such Act.”

The motion was carried.

The Hearings Panel to consider the finding of the Investigating Officer into an allegation that a Parish Councillor has breached that Parish Council’s Code of Conduct for Members.

Panel Members should note that the enclosed report of the Investigating Officer is strictly confidential and should not be disclosed to anyone.

Members of the Panel will also note the enclosed proposed procedure for the Standards Hearing which will be explained by the attending Solicitor at the Hearing on 23 July 2019.

NORTHAMPTON BOROUGH COUNCIL

DECISION NOTICE

STANDARDS COMMITTEE HEARING

23 JULY 2019

DECISION NOTICE:  BREACH OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT

REFERENCE:  DS72  2018

SUBJECT MEMBER

A Parish Councillor of Upton Parish Council

COMPLAINANT

Councillor Pape, Chairman of Upton Parish Council on behalf of Upton Parish Council

CONSIDERATION STANDARDS PANEL

Councillor Suresh Patel (Chair) – Northampton Borough Council

Councillor Brian Oldham – Northampton Borough Council

Councillor Les Marriott – Northampton Borough Council

Ika Castka – Co Optee (Independent Member)

Councillor David Lewis – Co Optee (Parish Councillor)

Peter Glover, Independent Person

DEPUTY MONITORING OFFICER

Laurie Gould

CLERK

Tracy Tiff

DATE OF HEARING

23 July 2019

DATE OF REPORT

18 December 2018

SUMMARY OF THE COMPLAINT

On 23 July 2019 a Standards Committee Hearing of this Authority considered a complaint from Councillor Pape, Chairman of Upton Parish Council, on behalf of Upton Parish Council concerning the alleged conduct of a member of Upton Parish Council. A general summary of the complaint is set out below:

Councillor Pape, Chair, Upton Parish Council, advised that the May 2018 meeting of Upton Parish Council voted unanimously to refer a number of complaints to the Monitoring Officer for breach of the Upton Parish Council Code of Conduct.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer invited the Investigating Officer to explain to the Hearing Panel how she had approach the investigation and in addition informed the Hearing Panel of two key issues for consideration:

1                    The Parish Councillor concerned was not present at this Hearing Panel despite being informed of its date, initially on 7 May 2019 and again in July 2019.   He did not respond until 19 July 2019 when he stated he would not engage in the process as he had not received a full disclosure of all the evidence, which comprised a number of relevant emails.

2                   The Hearing Panel needed to decide whether to adjourn the meeting on the understanding that the Councillor concerned felt that he had not received a full disclosure of a number of relevant and disclosable emails and it would also provide an opportunity for him to re-consider his refusal to attend any Panel Hearing into the allegations against him.

The Investigating Officer advised that on 24 September 2018 she contacted the Parish Councillor who was the subject of the complaint and asked him to attend an interview with her to look at the evidence received and provide his response to the allegations made against him.  This Councillor had stated that he saw no merit in attending such a meeting.  The Investigating Officer met with witnesses and gave the subject Member a further opportunity for a meeting.  He did not meet with the Investigating Officer.    The draft report was sent to both the complainant and the subject Member for comment. A period of three weeks was allowed for this process and the said subject Member advised that he had not read the report and no further response was received from him.

Email correspondence was sent to the Monitoring Officer at Northampton Borough Council,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.