Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members and co-opted members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest, or other registerable interest, they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

[Please see the attached sheet for further guidance for Members.]

Members were asked to declare any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, or any prejudicial interests or disclosable pecuniary interests which they might have in respect of business on the agenda. 

In relation to item 9 (Monitoring Report in respect of Complaints Received) Cllr Fisher noted, for transparency reasons, that he was the subject of one of the closed code of conduct complaints.

During item 7 (Parish Council Engagement), Cllr Pavlovic noted that he was the Chair of the Parish Council Liaison meetings.

To consider the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following:

Annex A(ii) and Annex B(ii) to Agenda Item 9 on the grounds that it contains information which is likely to reveal the identity of individuals.  This information is classed as exempt under paragraph 2 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as revised by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

Resolved: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the exempt versions of Annexes A and B to Agenda Item 9 (Monitoring Report in Respect of Complaints Received), on the grounds that they contain information likely to reveal the identity of individuals, which is classed as exempt under Paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Standards Committee held on 21 November 2023.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Standards Committee held on 21 November 2023 be approved as a correct record.

To approve and sign the minutes of the following meetings of the Joint Standards Sub-Committees:

·       Joint Standards Assessment Sub-Committee held on 30 November 2023.

·       Joint Standards Hearing Sub-Committee held on 18 December 2023.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the following sub-committee meetings be approved as a correct record:

·        Joint Standards Assessments Sub-Committee, 30 November 2023.

·        Joint Standards Hearings Sub-Committee, 18 December 2023.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so. Members of the public may speak on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the committee.

Please note that our registration deadlines are set as 2 working days before the meeting, in order to facilitate the management of public participation at our meetings.  The deadline for registering at this meeting is 5:00pm on Monday, 29 January 2024.    

To register to speak please visit www.york.gov.uk/AttendCouncilMeetings to fill in an online registration form.  If you have any questions about the registration form or the meeting, please contact Democratic Services.  Contact details can be found at the foot of this agenda.

Webcasting of Public Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The meeting can be viewed live and on demand at www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

During coronavirus, we made some changes to how we ran council meetings, including facilitating remote participation by public speakers. See our updates (www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy) for more information on meetings and decisions.

It was reported that there had been two registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Gwen Swinburn, a resident, spoke on the Member training programme and Item 7, Parish Council Engagement.  She suggested a citywide community governance review and enquired if non-statutory services provided by CYC to parish councils could be recharged to the parish councils.

Cllr M Warters was unable to attend the meeting and had submitted a written representation, after the deadline.  The Chair informed Members that he had taken the decision not to accept the submission for the purpose of public participation, however, as it referred to a matter for consideration during the private session of the meeting, the Chair distributed it to Committee Members to enable them to review it as that point.

[4.21 – 4.31pm, the meeting was adjourned]

This report looks at the issue of parish engagement and how this can be developed and strengthened.

The Head of Democratic Governance presented the report on Parish Council Engagement.  She noted that there was ongoing work to do in relation to the code of conduct and confirmed that there were good working relationships with Parish Clerks.

Members commented on a number of aspects of the report and parish council governance including parished and non-parished ward engagement, ward teams and the democratic deficit of ward committees.

Resolved:

                                              i.          That the report be noted.

                                             ii.          An item be added to the work plan to further examine best practice in parish councils and how to improve / formalise ward committees.

Reason:                To ensure a consistent application of standards across wards and parishes.

To consider the Committee’s work plan for the current year and decide whether any amendments or additions are required.

Members considered the committee’s work  plan for the current municipal year.

Resolved:   That the work plan be approved subject to the following additions:

1.    Member Training Update. (06 March 2024)

2.    Review of Citywide Democratic Engagement of Parished and Non-Parished areas. (08 April 2024)

Reason:      To ensure that the committee has a planned programme of work in place.

To receive a routine update report on recent standards complaints.

Members considered a report which provided an update on current business as regards complaints.

Resolved:  That the report be noted.

Reason:     To ensure that the committee is aware of current levels of activity.