Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:

That Ms Alison Lockley be appointed as Chair for the meeting.

The Chair welcomed those present to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Independent Member, Mike Galvin. He was substituted at the meeting by Independent Member Simon Smith, who joined virtually via Microsoft Teams.

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

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

There were no declarations of interest.

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO NOTE

Under the law, the Committee is entitled to consider certain items in private.  Members of the public will be asked to leave the meeting when such items are discussed.

The Committee is recommended to consider the following reports in private on the grounds that they contain ‘exempt’ information as defined by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, as amended and consequently that the Cabinet makes the following resolution: -

“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 Local Government Act 1972 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 7a

Information which is subject to any obligation of confidentiality.

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.

RESOLVED:

“that the press and public be excluded during consideration of the following report in accordance with the provisions of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, because it would 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 7

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 a 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.

Paragraph 7A

Information which is subject to any obligation of confidentiality.

The Monitoring Officer submits a report to enable the Committee to consider the materials available in respect of a Code of Conduct complaint against a Councillor.

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report asking the Board to consider the Investigator’s report into a complaint made in 2024 and to determine the next steps in relation to the complaint.

The Monitoring Officer provided a detailed overview of the complaint received on 3 December 2024. The Monitoring Officer told the Board that he had consulted with Mr Lindley as an Independent Person in accordance with the procedures for the investigation of complaints against Members. In considering the complaint, both the Monitoring Officer and Mr Lindley had agreed that the complaints should be independently investigated as the allegations were potentially serious and the complaint could not be dealt with by the Monitoring Officer using his fact-finding jurisdiction. Subsequently, Mr Alex Oram of CH&I Associates was commissioned to undertake the independent investigation.

The Board were advised that procedurally they were obliged to refer the matter to a Hearing Panel whether (i) they felt there should be no further action, or (ii) that the matter should proceed to a hearing for Findings to be made.

It was noted that upon being referred for hearing, then a hearing sub-committee would be convened to hear the evidence, make findings of fact and determine appropriate outcomes.

The Board considered the findings/conclusion in the investigative report and were in agreement that the Investigator’s report raised potentially serious breaches which should be referred to a Hearing Panel.

RESOLVED:

That the complaint referenced be referred to a meeting of the Standards Hearing Sub-Committee.

There being no other urgent business, the meeting closed at 5:20pm.