1 The Standards Committee shall be a joint committee established pursuant to section 102 of the Local Government Act 1972 consisting of the City of York Council, Earswick Parish Council Rawcliffe Parish Council and Strensall and Towthorpe Parish Council (“the Councils”).
2 Functions
2.1 The Joint Standards Committee may exercise the following functions of the Councils:
2.2 The promotion and maintenance of high standards of conduct by members and co-opted members of the Councils and other Parish Councils for which the City Council is the principal authority.
2.3 Establishing arrangements for investigating and making decisions in respect of allegations that the code of conduct of either the City Council or a parish council for which the City Council is the principal authority has been breached.
2.4 Where the power to do has been delegated to it by a Council, granting dispensations relieving members from the duty to register or declare interests.
3 Membership of the Joint Standards Committee
3.1
The Joint
Standards Committee shall consist of:
a) Four voting members of the City Council;
b) One voting member of each of the three Parish Councils
c) Up to three non-voting community members co-opted by the Committee
3.2 A person who is disqualified from being a member of a relevant authority shall be disqualified from membership of the Joint Standards Committee.
4 Term of office and casual vacancies
4.1 A member of the Joint Standards Committee will hold office until one of the following occurs:
a) He or she resigns by giving written notice to the proper officer of the Council that appointed him or her;
b) He or she is removed or replaced by the Council that appointed him or her;
c) He or she is disqualified for membership of the Joint Standards Committee;
d) He or she ceases to be eligible for appointment to the Joint Standards Committee in the capacity in which he or she was appointed;
e) The Constituent Authority which appointed him or her ceases to participate in the Joint Standards Committee.
4.2 A casual vacancy shall be filled as soon as practicable by the relevant Council. A casual vacancy in the case of a Parish Councillor shall be reported to the York Association of Local Councils for information.
5 Sub Committees
5.1 The Joint Standards Committee may appoint sub committees for purposes in the exercise of its functions.
5.2 Each person appointed as a member of a sub committee must be a voting member of the Joint Standards Committee.
5.3 The Joint Standards Committee will determine the membership and terms of reference of the sub committee and the quorum for its meetings.
5.4 If the Joint Standards Committee appoints more than one sub committee to exercise one or more of its functions then it shall ensure that the Proper Officer allocates particular matters to a sub committee first on the basis of the availability of members required to constitute the sub committee, and thereafter by rotation, and summonses meetings accordingly.
6 Meetings and Proceedings
6.1 The meetings and proceedings of the Joint Standards Committee shall be conducted in accordance with the standing orders or rules of procedure of the City of York Council.
6.2 The Joint Standards Committee may determine procedure rules for its sub committees.
7 Withdrawal from the Joint Standards Committee
7.1 A constituent authority may cease to participate in the Joint Standards Committee by resolution to that effect communicated in writing to the Monitoring Officer.
8 Expenses of the Joint Committee
8.1 The expenses of the Joint Committee shall by met by the City Council.