Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Shelton who was on other Council business and Ms J Holland.  

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

Members were asked to declare any interests they might have in the business to be discussed.

Councillor Senior declared an Other Disclosable Interest in the item on ‘Complaints Against Officers’ as her partner was a member of staff. However, since the item would be a generic discussion affecting all officers, Councillor Senior indicated that although the interest would not be prejudicial to her judgement of the public interest she had nevertheless decided to abstain from the discussion.       

The minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee, held on 7 November 2013, are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee, held on 7 November 2013, be confirmed as a correct record subject to the Resolution in Minute No. 16 be amended to read “That the report be noted and the actions suggested by Members be added to the Work Programme.”

The minutes of the meetings of the Standards Advisory Board held on 10 October 2013 and 19 December 2013, are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the meetings of the Standards Advisory Board held on 10 October 2013 and 19 December 2013, be confirmed as a correct record.

The Monitoring Officer submits a draft Social Media Guide for Councillors which has been amended and redrafted following consideration of it at the last meeting in November.  Members are asked to endorse the guide.  

The Monitoring Officer submitted a draft Social Media Guide for Councillors which has been amended and redrafted following consideration of it at the last meeting in November. 

Members discussed the draft code and made the following comments and observations:-

·         The guide had no contact point for members to ask for guidance.

·         The emphasis on personal liability for a councillor’s comments on social media was welcomed. 

·         Training on the use of social media would be helpful.

A member also commented that councillors’ social media accounts were often a mixture of personal and political issues and because of this there were reasons why the Council should be cautious about supporting Councillors ‘private’ social media accounts with corporate resources.

 In response, the Monitoring Officer stated that the guidance was intended as a training resource for Members.  The Council had no available technical resources to provide assistance with setting up social media for members or to provide a technical support service for any problems when using social media.  It was for this reason that the guide did not include a telephone contact number.  The Monitoring Officer offered to add a paragraph with his contact details as the initial point of contact and indicating that whilst there was not corporate technical support, training could be available. 

The Director of Delivery, Communications and Governance stated that she would feed the Committee’s comments back to the Workforce Development Team to see if further training for Members could be incorporated into the Member Development Offer and e-learning package.   

RESOLVED:

1)    that the draft guide be endorsed and circulated to all councillors for comment;

2)    that councillors be asked if they would like to be offered training opportunities on the use of social media; and

3)    that councillors’ responses to the draft guidance and the offer of training opportunities be considered at a future meeting.

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.

a)     Councillors’ Complaints against officers

The Monitoring Officer stated that he had invited the Director of Delivery, Communications and Governance to respond to the request at the last meeting when members had asked for guidance on how Councillors could make complaints against officers, particularly where an issue had been raised with the Head of Service and they had decided not to pursue the complaint.

The Director of Delivery, Communications and Governance outlined procedures for Members to make complaints against officers.  The Monitoring Officer also circulated a schematic diagram of the Corporate Complaints Process for Members information. 

The Director of Delivery, Communications and Governance stated that council officers were required to work to a Code of Conduct as part of their terms and conditions of employment, which were negotiated through a set process involving trades union.  Any changes would require further negotiations and agreement.  The Director commented that the Corporate Complaints System had two stages, the second of which escalated the complaint to be reviewed by a senior manager in another department.  The Council’s constitution also included Codes and Protocols dealing with relationships between Members and Officers.  These provided that unresolved problems could be raised with the Divisional Director, or, if necessary, the Group Whip and the Monitoring Officer.  The Director felt that as there were already two routes for complaints to be made against officers, to introduce a third could be viewed as being disproportionate and unfair compared to the procedure in place for making complaints against councillors.    

Following discussion by Members, the Director of Delivery, Communications and Governance stated that the Corporate Complaints System was monitored and the progress and outcomes of complaints were regularly reviewed.  The Monitoring Officer also commented that an investigation into a complaint against a member under the Code of Conduct would exclude an officers’ action, but it would be mentioned in the report if it contributed to delays etc on a Member’s behalf.  The Monitoring Officer would however pursue any residual officer issues through the appropriate processes.         

Other local authorities had been canvased on this issue and there was no evidence that other authorities had specific procedures in place other than those which already existed at the Council.  Members commented that it was important for Councillors to register complaints under the Corporate Complaint System and to make it clear when the complaint was being escalated to a stage 2 complaint.   

RESOLVED:

1)    that the Director of Delivery, Communications and Governance issue a general reminder to senior managers that complaints from Councillors should be treated and dealt with in the same way and within the same timescales as any other complaint under the Corporate Complaints Procedure;

2)    that the Corporate Complaints Procedure be reviewed to see if it was sufficiently fit for purpose in relation to the complaint details outlined by the Chair, and that the tracking data for corporate complaints be submitted to a future meeting;

b)     Complaints against Members

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report giving feedback on complaints against Councillors reviewed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 6.55 pm.