To elect a Chair of the Committee from amongst the Co-opted Members for the 2022-23 municipal year.

Matthew Mannion, Head of Democratic Services Governance, requested nominations for the position of Chair of the Standards Advisory Committee from amongst the Co-opted Members for the municipal year 2022/2023.

Fiona Browne proposed John Pulford for the position. This was seconded by Councillor Shafi Ahmed and Councillor Amin Rahman.

There were no further nominations.

The Standards Advisory Committee;

RESOLVED

That John Pulford was elected as Chair of the Standards Advisory Committee for the municipal year 2022-23.

To elect a Vice-Chair of the Committee from amongst the Co-opted Members for the 2022-23 municipal year.

The Chair requested nominations for the position of Vice-Chair of the Standards Advisory Committee from amongst the Co-opted Members for the municipal year 2022-23.

John Pulford nominated Fiona Browne as Vice-Chair. This was seconded by Councillor Amin Rahman.

There were no further nominations.

The Standards Advisory Committee;

RESOLVED

That Fiona Browne was re-elected as Vice-Chair of the Standards Advisory Committee for the municipal year 2022-23.

Members are reminded to consider the categories of interest in the Code of Conduct for Members to determine whether they have an interest in any agenda item and any action they should take. For further details, please see the attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

Members are reminded to declare the nature of the interest and the agenda item it relates to. Please note that ultimately it’s the Members’ responsibility to declare any interests and to update their register of interest form as required by the Code.

If in doubt as to the nature of your interest, you are advised to seek advice prior to the meeting by contacting the Monitoring Officer or Democratic Services

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Advisory Committee held on 25 November 2021 and to review the notes of the informal meeting held on 10 February 2022.

That the minutes of the 25 November 2021 and notes of the informal meeting 10 February 2022 were approved by the Chair as correct records of proceedings

Matthew Mannion, Head of Democratic Services, Governance, introduced the report, which detailed the Committee’s Terms of Reference, Quorum, Membership and Dates of Meetings for the year 2022-23. The report requested Members approval of its Sub-Committees to consider complaints relating to breaches of the Member Code of Conduct.

Fiona Browne requested clarification on the Committee procedures rules 3.1 (a) Roles and Functions with regards to the complaints screening process. The Committee procedures will be added to the work plan for review.

RESOLVED

1.    That any additions or amendments be noted.

The Committee reviewed the annual report to Council submitted by Jill Bayley, Head of Safeguarding, which detailed  the activities of the Committee over the last year, highlighting any relevant issues to Council. The Committee were asked to consider the draft annual report and feedback on any last updates before the report is presented to Council in July 2022.

Fiona requested an amendment to the report, as it named Nafisa Adam as vice-chair which was incorrect. The Committee approved the report for submittance to the next Council meeting pending amendments.

RESOLVED

  1 That the Standards Advisory Committee Report be added to the Council meeting agenda.

 2. That the report be noted.

Patricia Attawia, Democratic Services Team Leader, Civic & Members Governance,  introduced the update on Member gifts and hospitality, submitted by Members since the previous report on 10 February 2022. There were no declarations received during 1 February to 31 May 2022 due to the purdah period before the local elections and was similar to the pattern seen in 2018.

RESOLVED

 1 That the report be noted.

Matthew Mannion, Head of Democratic Services, Governance, introduced the update on Member and Co-optee attendance at formal Council and Committee meetings for comment and review.

Following the presentation, the Committee noted:

 - Clarification of the co-opted Members for scrutiny committee meetings.

 - Clarification on the recruitment of co-opted members of the Standards Advisory Committee.

 - Concerns were raised with the number of Members not attending mandatory seminars, such as Ethics and Probity.

 - Recommended that the Code of Conduct should be linked into all training and Members should make themselves available.

 - Clarification on attendance expectations for co-optees and Members.

Matthew confirmed that recruitment is currently underway for co-opted Scrutiny Committee members. Further details on timings for recruiting Standards Advisory Committee  co-optees will be submitted for review.

Training for co-optees will be arranged once recruitment has completed. Matthew said that a number of induction sessions are specific to new Members. He requested formal confirmation of the request to consult with Overview and Scrutiny on adding co-optee member Attendance Expectations to the Code of Conduct. This can then be considered by the Committee as part of its annual review of the Code.

RESOLVED

 1.That the report be noted

Janet Fasan, Director of Legal and Monitoring Officer, introduced the report on dispensations in relation to disclosable pecuniary interests (DPI’s) under section 33 of the Localism Act 2011. The Committee were requested to note the general dispensations granted by the Monitoring Officer specified in Paragraph 3.5 of the report.

RESOLVED

1.    That the report be noted.

Janet Fasan next introduced the report on the quarterly monitoring information for complaints and investigations, which related to alleged breaches of  the Council’s Code of Conduct for Members. A brief overview of the complaints process was provided for new Members of the Committee, including possible breaches.

Following the presentation, the Committee noted;

 - Clarification on any guidance to Members regarding Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) complaints.

 - Clarification on the roles, responsibilities and purpose regarding the complaints process and how clear this is for Members.

Matthew Mannion said that guidance on handling penalty charge notice complaints will be added to the Members Hub for review. Janet said the complaints process has an educational objective in nature for Members to be aware of public perception. Amanda Orchard said the process is designed to be fair and transparent, rather than punitive. If complaints start to rise a review may be necessary.

Agnes Adrien, Head of Litigation, gave an overview of the PCN complaint received. The complainant has yet to respond to letters from the Council and is still pending. They will be sent further requests to reply, if none are forthcoming an official request to close the complaint will be made. Jill Bayley, Head of Safeguarding and Deputy Monitoring Officer, gave an overview of the allegation of mishandling a racially motivated incident. This complaint has now been closed.

RESOLVED

 1 To add guidance on PCN complaints to the Members Hub.

 2 That the report be noted.

Matthew Mannion presented details of the work plan for the new municipal year 2022-23. Further comments and suggestions should be forwarded to Matthew for review.

RESOLVED

 1 That the report be noted.

To consider any other unrestricted business that the Chair considers to be urgent.

In view of the contents of the remaining items on the agenda the Committee is recommended to adopt the following motion:

“That, under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting for the consideration of the Section Two business on the grounds that it contains information defined as Exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972.”

NOTE: EXEMPT/CONFIDENTIAL SECTION (Pink Papers)

The exempt committee papers in the agenda will contain information, which is commercially, legally or personally sensitive and should not be divulged to third parties.  If you do not wish to retain these papers after the meeting, please hand them to the Committee Officer present.

Nil items.

None noted.