Agenda and minutes

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The minutes of the meeting held on the 12^th December 2011 were agreed and signed by the Chair.

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The Borough Secretary and Monitoring Officer submitted a report and thanked officers for their contributions. It was explained that a mirror report was being submitted to Council on the 21^st June 2012, which would seek the approval of the recommendations made by the Standards Committee.

It was explained that the Standards Regime had been abolished under the Localism Act 2011 and that statutory provisions for a new regime had to be enacted by the 1^st July 2012. The Monitoring Officer advised the Committee that it was considered necessary for there to be a continuation of a Standards Committee, but that it would no longer be statutory.  He explained that under the ‘old’ regime it was a statutory requirement to have Independent Members and Parish Councillors on the Committee, but that new legislation no longer required them to be part of the Committee.  It was explained that the new Committee would be governed by political proportionality rules.  It was explained that as part of the new Committee structure, it would be possible for Parish Councillors and Independent Members to be part of the Committee but as co-opted Members who would not have powers to vote.  It was suggested that Independent Members would bring a level of independence to the Committee and add a neutral dimension and dissipate any political disharmony. 

The Monitoring Officer commented that under the Localism Act the Council is required to appoint at least one Independent Person.  (It was explained that the Independent Person is a statutory concept, which is separate from the proposed “Independent Members” to be co-opted on to the Committee).  The main functions of the Independent Person(s) would be that they will be consulted by the authority prior to the authority deciding if a Member has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct, they may be consulted by the authority in respect of a standards complaint at any other stage, or they may be consulted by a member or co-opted member against whom a complaint had been made. It was considered a sound option for there to be three Independent Person(s), to ensure continuity and availability and to allow for separate Independent Persons to be consulted by the authority and by a Member who is the subject of the complaint.

The Monitoring Officer stated that it was a statutory requirement for the authority to promote and maintain high standards of conduct and to adopt a Code of Conduct, but that the Localism Act had not prescribed the form of the Code to be adopted. It was explained that the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had identified principles of which should be abided by, based on the seven Nolan Principles, and that the Localism Act requires the Code that is adopted to reflect the Nolan Principles but that further detail was needed in the Code that is adopted to establish a more comprehensive set of regulations for Members to abide by. The Monitoring Officer further explained that when devising the new  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.