To receive a verbal report from the Corporate Director of Governance and Community Strategy.

The Monitoring Officer explained that Councillors who were new to the Committee were usually given a presentation outlining the standards regime. As there had been a large influx of new councillors in 2018/19 it had been agreed that it would be worth giving an update to the whole Committee. The Monitoring Officer then went through the presentation that had been circulated with the supplementary agenda. The presentation covered the registration of interests, additional interests, declaration of interests and the consequences for not disclosing interests, the Council’s Code of Conduct, and the complaints procedure, which included investigations and sanctions.

Committee Members were told that the register of interests was not a historical record and so Councillors only had to register their current interests. Not all interests had to be declared if knowledge of that interest could make someone a target e.g. supporting fox hunting. The Monitoring Officer then explained the circumstances when dispensations were given. The Committee were told about the different types of personal interests and what to do if and when they arose. The Committee were given a brief overview of the general obligations of councillors according to the code of conduct.

The Monitoring Officer detailed the procedure for complaints made by members of the public against councillors. All such complaints had to be made to the Monitoring Officer who had an obligation to confirm receipt of the complaint within 5 days. The Monitoring Officer then has to decide whether the complaint warrants an investigation and they will contact the complainant within 20 working days to inform them whether there was an investigation or not. When making this decision the Monitoring Officer would consult with an Independent Person to ensure that their decision was unbiased.

If a complaint progressed to an investigation then an initial assessment would be conducted by the Monitoring Officer and Independent Person. If the Councillor was found to be at fault then unofficial sanctions could be put in place. If the Councillor agreed to the sanctions and the member of the public was happy with the outcome the case would conclude. If it were not possible to resolve the problem to all parties’ satisfaction then a full investigation would be carried out.

In such circumstances the investigation would be conducted by an investigating officer hired by the Monitoring Officer. It was standard practice that the investigating officer would have no connections to the Council as to avoid a conflict of interest. Once their investigations were completed their conclusions would be reviewed by the Monitoring Officer and Independent Persons. If it was felt that there was no need for action that would be the end of the matter. The Monitoring Officer then explained the possible actions if a complaint was upheld and added that additional powers may be granted to Council’s following the Committee on standards in Public life review of local government standards.

Following the presentation the Committee requested that the presentation to be circulated to all Councillors to ensure that they were aware of the Council’s procedures and their own responsibilities.  Committee Members were then given the opportunity to ask questions. One Committee Member asked whether the list of interests been completed for all new Councillors. The monitoring Officer informed the Committee that all new Councillors had submitted their interests which had been published online.

Another Member enquired as to whether the Monitoring Officer could challenge the decision made by a reviewing officer. The Monitoring Officer responded that it was very unlikely that they would not accept a reviewing officer’s report and it would only happen if the Monitoring Officer and Independent Person agreed that there was an issue with the reviewing officer’s process.

A Committee Member asked whether there was a process for contacting the Police if the investigations found illegal behaviour. The monitoring officer answered that there was a part in the process during the initial investigation stage which stated that if the Monitoring Officer believes the matter could be illegal then they have a duty to refer the matter to the police. The Member then asked if a police investigation was to take a long time what would happen to the Council’s investigation. The monitoring officer stated that any criminal investigation would take precedent and so the Council would suspend their investigation as it may interfere with the police investigation.

A Member enquired about the powers that the council had if someone was found to have breached the code of conduct and whether they could suspend a councillor awaiting the results of a police investigation. The Monitoring Officer informed the Committee that the Council did not have the power to suspend Councillors. A Councillor would only be able to be removed if they failed to attend any Council meeting for 6 months or if they are voted out by the electorate.

A Member asked what should be done if it was felt that a member of the Council’s Planning Committee had not declared an interest or that they had not removed themselves from the room when they should. The Monitoring Officer told the Member that if it was felt that Members were not declaring what they should that it should be taken up with the Monitoring Officer. A Committee Member then requested that a session on interests and declarations be arranged for the Planning Committee and the Monitoring Officer agreed.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the standards regime be noted by the Committee.

2)    That a copy of the presentation be sent to all Councillors.

3)    That a training session on interests and declarations be arranged for the Planning Committee.