Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: 1st Floor,Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: Simone Scott-Sawyer: Democratic Services, 020 7364 4120 Email: simone.scott-sawyer@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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ELECTION OF CHAIR To elect an Independent Member to serve as Chair of the Standards Advisory Committee for the municipal year 2012 – 13. Minutes: Mr John Williams, Service Head, Democratic Services invited nominations for an Independent Member to serve as Chair.
Mr Eric Pemberton MOVED and Mr Denzil Johnson SECONDED that Mr Matthew William Rowe be elected as Chair of the Standards Advisory Committee for the municipal year 2012 – 13. |
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ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIR To elect an Independent Member to serve as Vice-Chair of the Standards Advisory Committee for the municipal year 2012 – 13.
Minutes: MR MATTHEW WILLIAM ROWE IN THE CHAIR.
The Chair invited nominations for an Independent Member to serve as Vice- Chair of the Committee for the municipal year 2012 – 13.
Mr Denzil Johnson MOVED and Mr Barry Lowe SECONDED that Mr Eric Pemberton be elected as Vice-Chair of the Standards Advisory Committee for the municipal year 2012 – 13.
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: There were no apologies for absence. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 49 KB To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992. See attached note from the Chief Executive.
Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Standards Committee held on 12th June 2012. Minutes: That the minutes of the meeting held on 12th June 2012 be approved as a correct record of proceedings. |
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REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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To note the Committee’s membership, terms of reference and programme of ordinary meetings for 2012 – 13. The report is attached. Minutes: Mr John Williams, Service Head, Democratic Services introduced the report and highlighted the following points:
Ms Isabella Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive, Legal Services advised that it would be helpful if three SAC members were nominated to sit on the Sub-Committees , at least two of whom shall be co-opted members in accordance with the arrangements agreed by the Council. Ms Freeman invited nominations for the positions and the following Independent Members were selected:
One Member of Council would be selected as and when subject to availability and political party requirements.
RESOLVED:
That subject to the aforementioned points, the report be noted.
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New Standards Regime PDF 152 KB Minutes: Mr John Williams, Service Head, Democratic Services introduced the report. He reminded Members that older versions of this report had been submitted to the previous Standards Committee and this report attempted to pull the different strands together, incorporating the amendments that had been suggested by Members.
Mr Williams highlighted one small change to the Terms of Reference, Appendix B – the insertion of the words “… and other faiths …” where there was reference to church representatives of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Members were advised that they would be required to attend training and briefing sessions for the new Standards Advisory Committee, which will be arranged over the coming weeks.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.
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Standards Advisory Committee - Work Programme PDF 90 KB To follow. Minutes: Ms Isabella Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive, Legal Services referred Members to the late report which was included in the supplementary pack.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.
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Recruitment of Independent Person PDF 98 KB To follow. Minutes: Mr John Williams, Service Head, Democratic Services referred Members to the late report which was included in the supplementary pack and highlighted the following points:
Ø September 2012 - recruitment commences; Ø October [mid] – closing date. A long list would then be determined by the Monitoring Officer and Chair of the SAC [and ...]; Ø 23rd January 2013 – appointment of an IP to be ratified by full Council.
After discussing the merits of whether or not to have a cap on the IP’s remuneration, it was agreed that remuneration would be on a “per matter” basis. It was noted that the role would involve a fair amount of work, therefore Members thought it prudent to have a cap which could be reviewed making it possible to increase, decrease or remove it at a later stage.
Ms Isabella Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive, Legal Services also reminded Members that the probationary period and term of contract would need to be determined by Members and confirmed by full Council. A report dealing with these issues would be submitted to the SAC.
RESOLVED:
That subject to the aforementioned points, the report be noted.
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Members' Attendance and Time-sheets PDF 164 KB Minutes: Mr John Williams, Service Head, Democratic Services introduced the report.
Members highlighted their concerns as follows:
o In light of the preparation time that went into convening quasi-judicial committees such as the Planning and Licensing Committees, it was regrettable that Member attendance was so low and some Members requested the reasons for this. Where attendance at, or the take-up for membership on certain committees was exceptionally low, and this placed undue pressure on other Members who attended an inordinate number of meetings to meet the shortfall as a result, this should be urgently looked at. There was also a small invisible group of Members who failed to partake in training sessions which ought to be investigated; o Attendance data could be made available to residents and also to the party leaders and chief whips to ensure transparency and compliance; o Political party leaders had been approached in the past to make improvements to the system as regards Members being able to submit this information with ease, but nothing had come of it; o More weight should be attached to what Members did on a day-to-day basis, for e.g. attendance at surgeries and actual meetings, casework undertaken etc, as this should give a more accurate picture of their activities. Members of the public ought to know that Members were accessible and accountable and it may be useful to have a fuller discussion possibly at the next meeting; o The current system of recording Members’ attendance and timesheets had been in use for about 10 years and was in need of a review. Some Members also suggested the following possible courses of action to increase visibility of information and thereby ensure greater transparency and accountability of Members:
1. An electronic system allowing Members ‘sign’ online when they attended meetings; 2. Information should be publicised more and committees with a significant number of vacancies could be publicised. Information about Members who failed to train or attend meetings regularly should be placed in the public domain; 3. Copies of this report should be made available to Chairs, Chief Whips and the party leadership.
In response to queries by some Members, Mr Williams agreed to submit a report incorporating Members’ concerns. Furthermore, the following points were noted:
o He endeavoured to find out when Members would be able to submit their timesheets online; o The manner in which the information was presented in the report could be better laid out, so it was more apparent which Members consistently failed to attend meetings or training sessions.
RESOLVED:
That subject to the aforementioned points, the report be noted.
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ANY OTHER BUSINESS WHICH THE CHAIR CONSIDERS URGENT Minutes: There was none. |