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City of York Council |
Minutes |
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Meeting |
Joint Standards Committee |
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Date |
24 January 2022 |
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Present |
Councillors Rowley (Chair), Baker, Carr, Douglas and Fisher (CYC Members)
Councillors Rawlings (Vice-Chair), Chambers and Waudby (Parish Council Members)
Mr Laverick (Independent Person) |
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Apologies |
Ms Davies (Independent Person) |
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Part A - Matters Considered Under Delegated Powers
35. Declarations of Interest
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.
Cllr Douglas declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 10 (Minute 42 refers), as one of the Members granted a dispensation.
Cllr Fisher declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 12 (Minute 44 refers), as Chair of the Planning Committee referred to in one of the cases listed on Annex A to the report.
The Monitoring Officer declared an interest in Item 12 insofar as it related to case 2021/20 on the list at Annex A to the report.
For transparency, Cllrs Carr and Rowley declared their membership of Copmanthorpe and Osbaldwick parish councils respectively, in relation to cases listed on Annex A to the report at Item 12.
36. Exclusion of Press and Public
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 11 (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.
37. Minutes
Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Standards Committee held on 23 November 2021 be approved as a correct record, to be signed by the Chair at a later date.
38. Minutes of Sub-Committees
Resolved: That the minutes of the meetings of the Joint Standards Assessment Sub-Committee held on 1 December 2021, 9 December 2021, 15 December 2021 and 13 January 2022 be approved as a correct record in each case, to be signed by the Chair at a later date.
39. Public Participation
It was reported that there had been one registration to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
Gwen Swinburn spoke in relation to Agenda Item 8 (Model Code of Conduct – Review of Procedures), suggesting amendments to parts of the draft case handling procedure at Annex A in order to reduce reliance on delegated decisions by officers.
40. York's Parish Charter
Members considered a report which provided an update on the review of the charter between City of York Council and the parish and town councils within the York local authority area, following Members’ input to the draft charter at the meeting on 6 July 2021.
The review had been co-ordinated by the York Parish Council Liaison Group. The finalised Charter, attached as Annex to the report, incorporated Members’ suggested amendments. It had now been signed by the Executive Member for Culture, Leisure & Communities on behalf of the council and by the Chair of the York Branch of the Yorkshire Local Councils Association (YLCA).
In response to questions from Members, officers confirmed that:
· All parish / town councils in the area had been offered the opportunity to comment on the Charter before it was finalised, including any that were not members of YLCA.
· Timescales for planning application consultations (paragraph 11 of the Charter) would be discussed by the Liaison Group.
· Relationships, confidence and trust between the parties would be key to the success of the Charter.
Resolved: That the finalised Charter at Annex 1 to the report be noted.
Reason: To advance joint working between City of York Council and York’s parish councils.
41. Dispensation granted to Councillors Mason and Lomas on 15 July 2021 to enable them to participate in a debate of a Motion presented to Full Council
Members considered a report which informed them of the granting of a dispensation to Cllrs Mason and Lomas on 15 July 2021 to enable them to participate in the debate of a motion at Full Council.
The Chair of Joint Standards Committee had granted the dispensation, in consultation with the Lord Mayor, the Chief Operating Officer and the Monitoring Officer, to enable the Members in question, who both held Blue Badges, to participate in a motion which had implications for Blue Badge holders
Resolved: That the grant of the dispensation to Cllrs Mason and Lomas be noted.
Reason: So that the committee has oversight of dispensations granted.
42. Dispensation granted to Councillor Douglas on 12 October 2021, to allow Councillor Douglas to substitute for Councillor Webb at Area Planning Committee on 13 October 2021
Members considered a report which informed them of the granting of a dispensation to Cllr Douglas on 12 October 2021 to enable her to substitute for Cllr Webb at an Area Planning Sub-Committee meeting on 13 October.
The Chair of Joint Standards Committee had granted the dispensation as a ‘one-off’ to enable Cllr Webb to be substituted at a meeting when he was unable to attend and both named substitutes were unavailable. Council had since approved an amendment to the substitution rules for Planning committees.
Resolved: That the grant of the dispensation to Cllr Douglas be noted.
Reason: So that the committee has oversight of dispensations granted.
43. Review of Work Plan
Members considered the committee’s work plan for the current municipal year. The next meeting, on 20 April 2022, would be the last of the current year.
Resolved: That the work plan be noted and the following items be added for consideration at the meeting on 20 April:
· Adoption of the Model Code of Conduct by parish councils
· Training Programme for Members on the ethical framework
· Substitutes for parish council members of Joint Standards Committee.
Reason: To ensure that the committee has a planned programme of work in place.
44. Monitoring Report on Complaints Received
Members considered a report which provided an update on current business regarding complaints.
An anonymised list of live complaints was attached at Annex A to the report, and an anonymised list of closed complaints at Annex B. Full details were provided in an exempt version of each annex. Discussion of the exempt lists took place in private session, in accordance with the resolution in Minute 36 above.
Resolved: That the report be noted.
Reason: To ensure that the committee is aware of current levels of activity.
Chair's Comments
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The Chair noted that this was the last meeting of the committee to be attended by Rachel Antonelli, Deputy Monitoring Officer, before leaving the council in February. He thanked Rachel for her work with the committee, and wished her well in her new role. |
Part B - Matters Referred to Council
45. Model Code of Conduct - Review of Procedures
Members considered a report which presented an update from Hoey Ainscough on their review of the current procedures in place to deal with Code of Conduct complaints.
Paul Hoey and Natalie Ainscough were in attendance at the meeting to present the updated procedures annexed to the report, including the additional annexes (Annexes G-I) in the Agenda Supplement. These documents incorporated the amendments agreed by the committee at the meeting on 23 November 2021.
After a full discussion on the draft updated procedures, and having noted the comments made on this item under Public Participation, it was
Recommended: That Council approve and adopt the draft procedures at Annexes A-I to the report, subject to the following amendments:
· Annex A (case handling procedure): In paragraph 5, after ‘deputy monitoring officer (DMO)’, insert ‘or external person’.
· Annex C (procedure for hearings):
o Paragraph 4 - amend to clarify the position of the Public Participation Scheme in relation to Joint Standards sub-committees
o Paragraph 5 – amend to include further detail on the rights of the Subject Member to be informed.
o Correct the typographical error on the numbering of paragraph 9 onwards.
· Annexes G and H (flowcharts) – provide a key to the acronyms in the charts.
· Annex I (Subject Member FAQs) – amend the answer to question 9 to clarify that the hearing can proceed in the absence of the Subject Member if he/she chooses not to attend.
Reason: In order to support the Model Code of Conduct.
Cllr M Rowley BEM, Chair
The meeting started at 4.03 pm and finished at 6.31 pm.