Meeting:              Full Council

Meeting Date:      26 March 2026

Report of:            Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer

Portfolio of:         Executive Leader – Councillor Claire Douglas

Decision Report: Constitutional Changes – Revised Joint Standards Committee Procedures and Associated Required Amendments

Summary

1. To provide the revised Joint Standards Committee Procedures, and associated required constitutional amendments, to Council for approval.

Code of Conduct Complaint Handling Procedures

2. Following a discussion at Joint Standards Committee, it was agreed that the Joint Standards Committee Procedures, contained in Appendix 29 of the Constitution, required revision.  Consequently, and at the request of the Joint Standards Committee, the Head of Legal Services undertook a comprehensive review of the procedures.

3. The revised Joint Standards Committee Procedures were considered by the Joint Standards Committee on 1 December 2025 , when initial feedback was provided, and it was agreed that the matter be deferred to the next meeting, to allow the Committee members to consider the document further.  The revised procedures were considered again at the Joint Standards Committee meeting on 22 January 2026, when the revised procedures were unanimously approved by the Committee.

4. On the basis of the Joint Standards Committee’s unanimous endorsement, they were presented to the Audit & Governance Committee on 11 March 2026 for note and endorsement.  Subject to a minor amendment to the final sentence of paragraph 2 of the procedure (adding the words “with the assistance of one of the Deputy Monitoring Officers”), the revised procedures, attached at Annex 1, were unanimously approved by Audit & Governance Committee and are therefore recommended to Council for final approval.

Associated Required Amendments

5. In conducting the review of the Joint Standards Committee Procedures, it was noted that the quorum for that committee (and the current default quorum for all non-specified committees) set out in paragraph 13.1 of Article 7 of the Constitution is 4 members.  This would include, for example, committees such as Executive, where the minimum numbers permitted under the Local Government Act 2000 is three Members (a Leader plus two others).

6. As has previously been noted, this creates a challenge for smaller meetings, sometimes leading to such meetings being inquorate and placing a greater burden on those Members who are able to attend shorter-notice meetings. In order to remedy this, it is recommended that all instances of “4” in paragraph 13.1 of Article 7 of the Constitution be changed to “3”.

7. This proposed amendment was agreed by Audit & Governance Committee on 11 March 2026 without amendment and is therefore commended to Council for approval.

Implications

Financial – There would be a small saving arising from the loss of one SRA for the Chair of Planning Committee B.

Human Resources (HR) – None directly arising from this report.

Equalities – None directly arising from this report.

Legal – None directly arising from this report.

Crime and Disorder, Information Technology and Property – None directly arising from this report.

Recommendations

8. It is recommended that Council:

a. Approve the amended Joint Standards Committee Procedures, attached as Annex 1; and

b. Approve the associated required amendments set out at paragraph 7 above.

Reasons for the Recommendation

9. To update the procedures used in the processing of Code of Conduct complaints, and to make associated required changes to the standard quorum of non-specified meetings.

Author and Chief Officer responsible for the report:	Bryn Roberts, Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer
	Report Approved	X	Date	16 March 2026
Wards Affected:  List wards or tick box to indicate all					All	X
For further information please contact the author of the report

Background Papers:

· None

Annexes:

· Annex 1 – Joint Standards Committee Procedures