Agenda

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

To note the Terms of Reference for the Committee and Standards Advisory Board.

The Monitoring Officer to report that, following the Council meeting held on 18 June 2015, the membership of the Committee is as follows:-

Councillors:

Chair: Councillor Senior

Vice Chair: Councillor Shelton

Councillor Palmer

Councillor Sood

Independent Members:

Fiona Barber

Amanda Fitchett

Desmond Henderson

Stephen Purser

David Lindley and Caroline Roberts are still the Independent Persons advising the Committee.

The Monitoring Officer to report, that following the meeting of Council on 18 June 2015, the dates of Committee meetings during the 2015/16 Municipal Year are:-

Wednesday 8 July 2015

Wednesday 14 October 2015

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Wednesday 16 March 2016

The minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee, held on 21 January 2015 and the Special Meeting held on 4 February 2015, have been previously circulated and Members are asked to confirm that they are correct.

The Monitoring Officer to submit the Protocol for Member Conduct at Meetings which was agreed by the Committee on January 13, 2010.  The Monitoring Officer requests the Committee to review the protocol to determine whether any amendments are necessary.

Members will be asked to consider a briefing note on Member Involvement in Procurement. The briefing paper is attached for Members only, as it is still in draft form.

“In accordance with Rule 1 of Part 4B of the Constitution (Access to Information – Procedure Rules) the report is not available in the public domain as it is in ‘draft’ form and is only circulated to Members of the Committee at this stage. Should Members wish to discuss specific circumstances, the Monitoring Officer may need to advise Members to exclude the public and press, and discuss the issues in private session.”

The Monitoring Officer to report that the Council, at its meeting on 18 June 2015, approved changes to the Officer Employment Procedure Rules in Part 4I of the Constitution to ensure compliance with the new statutory dismissal procedures for the Head of Paid Service; Chief Finance Officer and Monitoring Officer. 

The following documents are attached:

·         Discussion item, new procedures for dismissal of Head of Paid Service; Chief Finance Officer and Monitoring Officer.                                           D1

·         Constitution Part 4I extract- amended Officer Procedure Rules       D2

·         Local Government Association – Advisory Bulletin No 624. Workforce: Employment Relations                                                                                     D3

·         Local Authority (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulation 2015                                                                                                                     D4

The Monitoring Officer submits a report giving feedback on complaints against Councillors reviewed and/or determined since the last meeting and updating the Committee on progress with outstanding complaints against Councillors.  The Committee is recommended to receive and note the report.

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO NOTE

This report is a public document but during its consideration, Members may wish to discuss some of the issues in more detail. Under the law, the Committee is entitled to consider certain items in private.  In this event, the committee will make the following resolution and the press and members of the public will be asked to leave the meeting when such items are discussed.

“that the press and public be excluded during consideration of the following reports in accordance with the provisions of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, because they involve the likely disclosure of 'exempt' information, as defined in the Paragraphs detailed below of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and taking all the circumstances into account, it is considered that the public interest in maintaining the information as exempt outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Paragraph 1

Information relating to any individual.

Paragraph 2

Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual.

Paragraph 7c

The deliberations of a standards committee or of a sub-committee of a standards committee established under the provisions of Part 3 of the Local Government Act 2000 in reaching any finding on a matter referred under the provisions of section 60(2) or (3), 64(2), 70(4) or (5) or 71(2) of that Act.