Issue - meetings
New Member Code of Conduct - update report
Meeting: 01/07/2021 - Standards Advisory Committee (Item 5)
5 New Member Code of Conduct - update report PDF 314 KB
Additional documents:
- Appendix. 1 for New Member Code of Conduct - update report, item 5 PDF 352 KB
- Webcast for New Member Code of Conduct - update report
Minutes:
Janet Fasan, Director of Legal and Interim Monitoring Officer, introduced the report on work to prepare a new Member Code of Conduct. She explained that the sub-group set up by the Committee had now met three times and had produced a nearly complete draft Code as set out in the agenda papers.
Paragraph 3.7 of the report sets out the most significant areas looked at by the sub-group including on gift declaration thresholds, expectations of public behaviour, dealing with bullying and on explaining different types of interest.
The Code was nearly ready to sign off for consultation with the political groups but it was proposed to hold off from this action until the Local Government Association had published their guidance on the new model Code (which was expected imminently) in case there was anything in there which needed to be considered.
It was also hoped that the guidance would include some examples and case studies which could then be added to the annexes to the Code. It was noted that if this wasn’t the case then examples would be sought from elsewhere to incorporate into the Code.
The Committee discussed the draft Code and welcomed the work the sub-group had undertaken to improve the flow of the document and tidy up the last sections which needed work. A number of specific comments were also noted including:
· The hyperlinks in the document were useful and there may be more places they could be included such as linking to the Social Media Policy.
· In relation to the guidance on dealing with difficult members of the public, the Code was trying to tread the line between protecting Members whilst ensuring all residents could access Council services.
The Chair welcomed the report and thanked everyone for their hard work on developing the draft Code. He agreed that, subject to a review of the LGA guidance, it was appropriate now to move to the next stage. It was:
RESOLVED
1. To approve Draft Member Code of Conduct.
2. That the Council wait for the publication of the LGA Guidance before proceeding with the next steps.
3. That once the guidance had been published, and following consultation with the Chair of the Committee, the Monitoring Officer submit the Draft Code to the Political Groups for consultation and/or presents an update to the next Standards Advisory Committee meeting as appropriate.