Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed the Independent Persons, Mr Gadd and Mr Leigh, to their first meeting of the Joint Standards Committee.

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest or other registerable interest they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests.

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 Fisher declared a prejudicial interest in respect of two of the cases on the list appended to the report at Agenda Item 8 (Monitoring Report on Complaints Received), due to his involvement in those cases.  He left the room during consideration of that item and took no part in the discussion or decision thereon.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised, in general terms, that there was no need for Members to declare an interest in respect of cases that had been closed.

To appoint a Vice Chair of the Joint Standards Committee for the 2022/23 municipal year.

Cllr Kilbane nominated Cllr Rawlings to be appointed as Vice-Chair of the committee.  The nomination was seconded by Cllr Waudby.

Having noted that Cllr Rawlings had previously indicated his willingness to accept this position, it was unanimously

Resolved:  That Cllr Rawlings be appointed as Vice-Chair of the committee for the remainder of the 2022/23 Municipal Year.

To consider the exclusion of the public and press from the meeting during consideration of exempt Annexes A and B to Agenda Item 8 (Monitoring Report on Complaints Received), on the grounds that they contain information which is likely to reveal the identity of individuals.

This information 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.

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.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Standards Committee held on 30 June 2022.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Standards Committee held on 30 June 2022 be approved, and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

To approve and sign the minutes of the Joint Standards Assessments Sub-Committee meetings held on 19 May 2022, 9 August 2022 and 19 October 2022.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meetings of the Joint Standards Assessments Sub-Committee held on 19 May 2022, 9 August 2022 and 19 October 2022 be approved, and signed by the Chair as a correct record in each case.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so. Members of the public may speak on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the committee.

Please note that our registration deadlines are set as 2 working days before the meeting, in order to facilitate the management of public participation at our meetings.  The deadline for registering at this meeting is 5:00pm on Tuesday, 15 November 2022. 

To register to speak please visit www.york.gov.uk/AttendCouncilMeetings to fill in an online registration form.  If you have any questions about the registration form or the meeting, please contact Democratic Services.  Contact details can be found at the foot of this agenda.

Webcasting of Public Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The meeting can be viewed live and on demand at www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

During coronavirus, we made some changes to how we ran council meetings, including facilitating remote participation by public speakers. See our updates (www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy) for more information on meetings and decisions.

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

To receive a routine update report on recent standards complaints.

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 15 above.

Resolved:  That the report be noted.

Reason:     To ensure that the committee is aware of current levels of activity.

To consider the Committee’s work plan for the current year and decide whether any amendments or additions are required.

Members considered the committee’s work  plan for the current municipal year.

During their discussion, Members raised issues regarding the presentation of complaints in the regular monitoring report.  It was agreed that, once a case had been reported to the committee as closed and the reason for closure provided, it need not come before the committee again.  The Deputy Monitoring Officer also agreed to consider how the structure of the annexes might be simplified for the sake of clarity.

Resolved:  That the work plan be approved subject to the following amendments / additions:

                   Meeting on 19 January 2023:

a)   Sheena Spence of YLCA confirmed as attending the meeting.

b)   Add the following items:

·        Update from Audit & Governance Committee on the Member Training Programme

·        Review of Standards policies and procedures.

Reason:     To ensure that the committee has a planned programme of work in place.