Agenda and minutes

To elect a Vice-Chair for the municipal year 2023-24.

RESOLVED –

THAT Councillor Gio Spinella be appointed Vice-Chair of Standards Committee for the 2023/24 municipal year.

To note the Committee’s terms of reference.

RESOLVED –

THAT the Standards Committee’s terms of reference be noted.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Sharon Hardwick and Andrew Parkinson, and from the Independent Person Sue Terry.

There were no declarations of interest.

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair to announce the following: ‘In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

Any other announcements

Broadcasting of the meeting

The Chair announced that the meeting was being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and could be viewed on the website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts were archived and could be made available upon request. Those who had asked to address the meeting were deemed to be consenting to having their contributions recorded and broadcast and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.

Requests to speak at the Committee on a matter within its terms of reference must be made in writing to the clerk named on the front of this agenda by 5pm two working days before the meeting.

There were no deputations.

There were no urgent items of business.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2023.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 6^th February 2023 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Report of the Borough Solicitor.

Standards Committee is responsible for promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by councillors. As part of this work, it has responsibility for monitoring and making recommendations to Council for any proposed amendments to protocols and procedures. It is good practice to keep ethical protocols under regular review. Due to the Member/Officer Protocol not having been updated since 2019, the Borough Solicitor has reviewed it and this report proposes minor amendments for consideration by the Committee and referral to Council for agreement.

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Solicitor who noted that it was good practice to review ethical protocols on a regular basis to keep them up to date but that the amendments proposed were minor, for example highlighting the Council has decision-making individuals as well as bodies, recognising Cabinet Advisers and noting the right in law of statutory officers to take reports to Cabinet and/or Council.

The Chair noted that, while the proposed amendments were minor, it was worth referring the report to Council as a reminder of the Protocol.

It was noted that, in paragraph 2.3, the Protocol stated that officers had a duty to present impartial information and keep Members of all political groups fully informed about developments. It was queried whether this happened in practice as briefings on the housing restructure and changes with Sure Start had been offered to the ruling group but had not also been offered to other groups. The Chair and other Members agreed that briefings should be made available to all groups. In response to a query about whether other political groups had requested the briefings, it was noted that officers had a duty to notify all groups if a briefing was being given to one political group so that a request could be made. The Borough Solicitor commented that occasionally all Member briefings were offered but that, for convenience, sometimes officers attended groups meetings as they were already diarised. It was also sometimes useful to provide bespoke presentations as groups may have different interests in an issue. The Borough Solicitor offered to reiterate to officers that the Council’s practice was to offer briefings to all political groups.

ACTION: Borough Solicitor

RESOLVED –

(i)             THAT the proposed amendments to the Member/Officer Protocol were noted and commented on as summarised above;

(ii)            THAT proposed minor amendments as highlighted in the track-changed Protocol at Appendix A to the report be agreed;

(iii)          THAT the matter be referred to the Council for approval;

(iv)          THAT the Council be recommended to delegate authority to the Borough Solicitor to make all necessary changes to the Constitution; and

(v)           THAT, subject to the Council approving the amended Member/Officer Protocol, the Borough Solicitor be requested to circulate the final version to all councillors and senior officers.

Report of the Borough Solicitor

This report provides an update on misconduct complaints against Members. 

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Solicitor.

In response to questions about whether a strict approach to interpreting the Councillor Code of Conduct was helpful to residents who had a right to complain about councillors who were not carrying out their duties, the Borough Solicitor commented that the possibility was a worry and self-questioning was undertaken. There was no collusion with councillors as they were not advised of complaints until a decision had been taken on whether to investigate. Where a complaint was a potential breach of the Code, the Borough Solicitor’s concern was to protect the Council rather than individual councillors who may have behaved poorly. Complainants were always advised that they could approach the Local Government Ombudsman if they were unhappy that a complaint was not being investigated. Up to three complainants had taken that route but had not been successful. With regard to councillors who did not carry out their duties, residents had other routes such as campaigning, writing to newspapers or using social media. This process was about specific issues of misconduct.

It was noted that the wider public did not have much understanding about local government processes and there was a query about the type of person who knew the process and made complaints. Maggie Redfern, Independent Person, noted that they were often involved in local groups or otherwise active in the community and had knowledge of the processes. The Borough Solicitor commented that it had been made simple to find out how to complain about councillor misconduct.

The Borough Solicitor commented that the Council did not receive many politically motivated complaints. There had been a time previously when there had been a number of complaints from the public about councillors’ involvement in the planning process. This had been followed up with communications to aid in understanding of the role of councillors.

RESOLVED –

THAT the contents of the report be noted.

Report of the Borough Solicitor.

This report brings to Members’ attention recent standards news items for information and updates on actions from the previous Standards Committee meeting.

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Solicitor.

With regard to the London Borough of Newham case in the report, it was noted that trans awareness training had been offered and then cancelled for some political groups. There was concern that councillors could make genuine mistakes with regard to colleagues’ preferred pronouns and that guidance was needed. The Borough Solicitor agreed to follow up on the training.

ACTION: Borough Solicitor

It was noted that ‘treating’ was concerned with the buying of votes by electioneering politicians. During the election period, councillor should stop the provision of any gifts and hospitality to voting members of the public. With regard to the receipt of gifts and hospitality, councillors should declare anything relevant. It was also necessary to consider and avoid any potential conflict of interest.

RESOLVED –

THAT the contents of the report be noted.

Report of the Borough Solicitor.

This report sets out the record of standards information and guidance issued to Members of the Council.

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Solicitor.

RESOLVED –

THAT the record of standards guidance be noted.

There was no urgent business.