Agenda and minutes

At this point, members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.  No interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 25 January 2008.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 25 January 2008 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak, regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the remit of the Standards Committee, may do so.  The deadline for registering is 10:00 am on Thursday, 13 March 2008.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

To review the work plan for the Standards Committee for the 2007/08 municipal year.  The latest version of the work plan is annexed to the minutes of the previous meeting, at page 9 of this agenda.

Members reviewed the latest version of their work plan for the 2007/08 Municipal Year.  They noted that there were no further meetings of the Committee scheduled for the current Municipal Year but that arrangements would need to be made to short list and interview applicants for independent membership of the Committee (Minute 36 refers).

This report sets out a review of the work carried out by the Standards Committee of City of York Council during the municipal year 2007/08.

Members considered a report which presented a review of the work carried out by the Standards Committee during the Municipal Year 2007/08.

The report detailed the meetings, membership and work programme of the Committee over the past year and highlighted the changes due to take place from 1 April 2008 as a result of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.  It outlined the results of the Ethical Governance Audit, the outcome of complaints received by the Monitoring Officer and the Committee’s first application to grant a dispensation.  It was noted that there had been only one complaint received against a member of City of York Council, compared to five in the previous year.

It was suggested that the Chair of the Standards Committee should attend Council to present the Annual Report, although previous practice had been for the Vice-Chair, who was a Member of Council, to perform this role.  The Monitoring Officer agreed to look into the procedures to facilitate this.¹

RESOLVED: That the contents of the report be approved and that the report be submitted to Council for consideration.²

REASON:      To fulfil the constitutional requirement for an annual report to Council from the Standards Committee.

This report asks the Standards Committee to recommend to the Council changes to its constitution, in order to meet the provisions of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, and reports on progress made in recruiting additional members to the Committee.

[See also under Part B minutes]

Members considered a report which asked them to recommend to Council certain changes to the constitution and composition of the Standards Committee, in order to meet the provisions of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (the Act) and associated requirements.

As reported at the last meeting, the provisions requiring the Committee to undertake the role of carrying out initial assessments of complaints were expected to come into effect from 1 April 2008.  To enable it to perform this role, it was proposed to increase the size of the Committee to 11, comprising 4 City councillors, 4 independent members and 3 parish councillors.  An advertisement had been placed in the local press for independent members but to date only one response had been received. It was suggested that the deadline for applications be extended, pending a targeted ‘recruitment’ process focused upon groups such as the local magistracy, church organisations and York CVS.  With regard to parish councillor members, it was proposed that Cllr Mellors, the current substitute, be appointed to full membership.  A further nomination had been sought from the Yorkshire Local Councils Association but this had not yet been received.

Further changes were required to enable the Committee to set up sub-committees in order to carry out assessments, re-assessments and hearings under the Act.  It was also proposed to amend the terms of reference to give effect to the Ethical Governance Audit’s recommendation that the Committee be given an oversight role in respect of complaints handling and Ombudsman investigations.  Finally, it was suggested that the Council’s Members’ Allowances Scheme be revised to enable payment of allowances to be withdrawn from a member suspended from office due to failure to comply with the Code of Conduct.  Details of the amendments to the Constitution required to give effect to these changes were set out in Annexes A and B to the report.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the contents of the report be agreed.

                        (ii)        That the process of selecting applicants for the role of Independent Members be extended to enable further applications to be sought by targeting local organisations, and that a decision on arrangements to interview the applicants be postponed pending receipt of further applications.¹

REASON:      In order to determine the nominations for independent membership of the Standards Committee, once sufficient applications have been received.

[See also under Part A minutes]

Members considered a report which asked them to recommend to Council certain changes to the constitution and composition of the Standards Committee, in order to meet the provisions of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (the Act) and associated requirements.

As reported at the last meeting, the provisions requiring the Committee to undertake the role of carrying out initial assessments of complaints were expected to come into effect from 1 April 2008.  To enable it to perform this role, it was proposed to increase the size of the Committee to 11, comprising 4 City councillors, 4 independent members and 3 parish councillors.  An advertisement had been placed in the local press for independent members but to date only one response had been received. It was suggested that the deadline for applications be extended, pending a targeted ‘recruitment’ process focused upon groups such as the local magistracy, church organisations and York CVS.  With regard to parish councillor members, it was proposed that Cllr Mellors, the current substitute, be appointed to full membership.  A further nomination had been sought from the Yorkshire Local Councils Association but this had not yet been received.

Further changes were required to enable the Committee to set up sub-committees in order to carry out assessments, re-assessments and hearings under the Act.  It was also proposed to amend the terms of reference to give effect to the Ethical Governance Audit’s recommendation that the Committee be given an oversight role in respect of complaints handling and Ombudsman investigations.  Finally, it was suggested that the Council’s Members’ Allowances Scheme be revised to enable payment of allowances to be withdrawn from a member suspended from office due to failure to comply with the Code of Conduct.  Details of the amendments to the Constitution required to give effect to these changes were set out in Annexes A and B to the report.

RECOMMENDED:(i) That Councillor Brian Mellors (substitute Parish Representative) be made a full member of the Standards Committee, together with the representative selected by the Yorkshire Local Councils Association.

                                    (ii)        That Council seek a nomination from the Green Party Group for membership of the Standards Committee.

                                    (iii)       That Council adopt the revised Article 8 of the Constitution, as set out at Annex A to these minutes.

(iv)That Council adopt the revised functions of the Standards Committee as set out at Annex B.

(v)That provision be included in the Members’ Allowances Scheme to withdraw members’ allowances during the period a Member is suspended from office as a result of the finding of the Adjudication Panel for England or the Standards Committee that the Member had failed to comply with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

REASON:      To enable the Standards Committee to comply with the provisions of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 and to give effect to the recommendations of the Ethical Governance Audit and the Monitoring Officer.