Issue - meetings
Standards (Advisory) Committee Terms of Reference, Quorum, Membership, Dates of Meetings and Establishment of Sub-Committees 2018-19
Meeting: 21/06/2018 - Standards Advisory Committee (Item 5)
5 Standards (Advisory) Committee Terms of Reference, and Dates of Meetings 2018-19 PDF 103 KB
Additional documents:
- Enc. 1 for Standards (Advisory) Committee Terms of Reference, Quorum, Membership, Dates of Meetings and Establishment of Sub-Committees 2018-19, item 5 PDF 128 KB
- Enc. 2 for Standards (Advisory) Committee Terms of Reference, Quorum, Membership, Dates of Meetings and Establishment of Sub-Committees 2018-19, item 5 PDF 62 KB
- Enc. 3 for Standards (Advisory) Committee Terms of Reference, Quorum, Membership, Dates of Meetings and Establishment of Sub-Committees 2018-19, item 5 PDF 46 KB
Minutes:
The Corporate Director, Governance introduced the report informing the Committee that the current Terms of Reference (TOR) set out the powers and the role of the Committee; these were to ensure that the Council’s ethics and probity framework are monitored. She had examined the current TOR and felt that it was appropriate that they should be reviewed to ensure that the role of the Committee as guardians of the Council’s ethics and probity framework isproperly reflected. The proposal was discussed and the Committee noted the following:
- The review would involve, update, consideration of good practice in other authorities and the character of Tower Hamlets as a local authority and the framework that would be best suited to it.
- Draft TOR would be drawn up and consulted upon with SAC and General Purposes Committee, following which the revision would be presented to Council for approval.
Members were invited to contribute their comments and suggestions and the following suggestions were made:
- That the roles and duties of SAC Members should be defined, together with the requirements of discharging their role.
- That relevant matters arising from the Committee on Standards in Public Life's Review of Local Government Ethical Standards - public consultation should be incorporated into the TOR review and that the Council’s response to the consultation should be shared with the Members of SAC.
- That SAC sub-committees for the investigation and determination of complaints alleging Member breaches of the Member Code of Conduct should be established in order to continue to deal with complaints under existing arrangements, pending the TOR review.
A Co-opted Member queried whether sufficient co-opted members were appointed to enable investigations and determinations to be undertaken without encountering conflicts of interests. The Committee was informed that, historically the investigations that had been undertaken had rarely led to the necessity of a determination by a Hearing Sub-Committee. Additionally, the arrangements had been reviewed and it had been found that these did not give rise to conflicts of interest.
During the consideration of the item, the Chair invited the Co-opted Members present to introduce themselves, to outline their background and expertise and how these contributed to their role as Members of SAC.
RESOLVED
1. That's the Terms of Reference; dates of future meetings and timings thereof as set out in appendices 1, 2 and 3 to the report be noted.
2. That an Investigation and Disciplinary Sub-Committee and Hearing Sub-Committee be established for the municipal year 2018/19 in order to continue to deal with complaints under existing arrangements, pending the TOR review.
ACTION BY:M Norman, Legal Adviser and Deputy Monitoring Officer
A Burgio, Democratic Services Officer