Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 23 March 2022,

be received and approved as a correct record.

The Director of Legal and Governance (and Monitoring Officer) presented the report and took Members through the proposed items for the Committee Work Plan for 2022/23.

RESOLVED

that the Standards and Personnel Appeals Committee Work Plan for 2022/23, as presented, be approved.

The Director of Legal and Governance (and Monitoring Officer) presented the item and reminded Members that following an initial report to Committee regarding the original list of politically restricted posts including consultation with the Trade Unions and Corporate Leadership Team, some queries had been raised by the Trade Unions regarding some officer posts included on the ‘politically sensitive’ list.

Having further amended the revised list of politically restricted posts, the Trade Unions were consulted again.  Notification was subsequently given that the Trade Unions were happy with the changes and thanked officers for taking on board their proposals.

RESOLVED that

a)    the outcome of the consultation with Trade Unions and Corporate Leadership Team regarding the revised list of politically restricted posts, be noted;

b)    the updated list of politically restricted posts as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved and adopted.

The Director of Legal and Governance (and Monitoring Officer) presented the item and reminded the Committee that they had already received numerous reports in relation to the CSPL’s report over the last three years, which had culminated in many of the agreed recommendations already being considered, approved and implemented as required.

The response from Government to the CSPL’s report had been mixed but one positive was their intention to take a further look at the possibility of removing the requirement for Members to include their home addresses on their Register of Interest declaration forms, in the interests of personal safety concerns raised nationally.

Having taken Members through the recommendations as listed, it was acknowledged that some recommendations were still in progress which included updating the Council’s Member complaints process and extending the accessibility of the Code of Conduct etc.

RESOLVED that

a)    the Government’s response to the recommendations of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) in its report relating to Local Government Ethical Standards, be noted;

b)    the work undertaken by the Committee regarding implementation of the Best Practice Recommendations of the CSPL as outlined in the report, be also noted.

The Service Manager, Scrutiny and Democratic Services presented the report and outlined the Council’s mandatory training requirements for Members including further details on development training which could be useful to Members during the next 12 months and post District Elections in May 2023.

Committee were advised that Training Needs Questionnaires in relation to Members’ individual requirements would be circulated within the next few weeks. Members were also asked to being considering any preferred formats for delivery on the Member Induction Training Programme following the District Elections next year.

Members debated the issue and made suggestions regarding the implementation of buddy systems for new councillors, the capture of training sessions to video to share afterwards and the benefits of a general ‘what Councillors do’ session.  The Director of Legal and Governance (and Monitoring Officer) suggested that a workshop session might be helpful to work through some of the ideas.

RESOLVED

that the report, be received and noted.

The Service Manager, Scrutiny and Democratic Services presented the report and advised Members that officers were working hard to endeavour to catch up on the backlog of Member complaints following the pandemic and recent staff changes.

RESOLVED that

a)    the number of Member complaints received during 2021/22 to date including all outstanding complaints, as presented, be duly noted;

b)    the one declaration of Member gifts and hospitality reported as of 20 June 2022, be also noted.