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City of York Council |
Minutes |
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Meeting |
Joint Standards Committee |
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Date |
16 September 2025 |
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Present |
Councillors Fisher, Pavlovic (from 4.45pm), Runciman (Chair) and Steward (CYC Members)
Councillor Geogheghan-Breen (Parish Council Member)
Ms R Mazza (Independent Person) |
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Apologies |
Councillor Kent, Parish Councillors Waudby and Chambers and Mr J Leigh (Independent Person) |
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External Attendee
Officers Present |
PC Stephen Armitage, North Yorkshire Police
Chris Coss, Head of Legal Services Julie Gallagher, Head of Democratic Services |
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10. Apologies for Absence (4.02 pm)
Apologies were received and noted from Cllr Kent, Parish Cllr Waudby and Mr Joe Leigh (Independent Person).
On behalf of the committee members, the Chair conveyed her best wishes and thanks to Mr Leigh, who had announced his retirement from the role as independent person.
11. Declarations of Interest (4.03 pm)
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. None were declared.
12. Exclusion of Press and Public (4.03 pm)
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 8 (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.
13. Minutes (4.03 pm)
Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Standards Committee held on 8 July 2025 be approved and signed as a correct record.
14. Public Participation (4.04 pm)
It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
15. Review of Work Plan (4.04 pm)
Members considered the committee’s work plan for the current municipal year and agreed the proposed changes to the diarised dates for the meeting in November and March 2026.
The Head of Legal Services asked to bring a revised version of Appendix 29, Joint Standards Committee Procedures to the meeting in November, explaining that the Director of Governance had asked him to review the document with a view to streamlining the process.
The Chair provided an update on the work of the Member Development Working Group, which had its first meeting in August. She noted some of the topics that they wanted to cover and asked PC Steve Armitage to provide an update on member safety. The Chair also raised member Corporate Parenting responsibilities as a possible topic for member training and development.
PC Armitage explained that he was able to provide a personal safety briefing to members through the Operation Ford programme, this could be delivered either in person or via Teams. Plans were being made by Democratic Services to schedule the briefing for members. In response to questions, he confirmed that Operation Ford covered only Ward and City Councillors plus MPs, however he was open to Parish Councillors attending the briefings if that could be arranged. He was asked how members should report incidents to the police and advised that members should log incidents through the police non-emergency number, 101, unless there was an immediate risk in which case the emergency number, 999, should be used. For advice, he recommended emailing himself and the main Operation Ford address to ensure a prompt response. It was agreed to invite PC Armitage to the next meeting of the Member Development Working Group.
Resolved: That the work plan be approved subject to the following additions:
20 November 2025: Appendix 29, Joint Standards Committee Procedures, Revisions
Reason: To ensure that the committee has a planned programme of work in place.
16. Monitoring Report on Complaints Received (4.17 pm)
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.
Cllr C
Runciman, Chair
The meeting started at 4.01 pm and finished at 5.08 pm.