Agenda item

The Monitoring Officer to provide an update on matters which have been considered at previous meetings including the following:-

a)    Vexatious Complainant – definition – See attached paper at Appendix B.

b)    Social Media Guidance.

c)    Independent Person Protocol.

The Monitoring Officer provided an update on matters which had been considered at previous meeting.

a)    Non-Compliance with informal resolution

The protocol approved at the last meeting had been used to invite the Councillor to a meeting with the Chair of the Committee, the Monitoring Officer and the Independent Person at which the expectations of the member to comply with the outcome of the informal resolution were stated.  The Councillor had also been advised that any failure to comply with the informal resolution within the given timescale would result in a new complaint being raised against them.  The Councillor had subsequently complied with the actions required in the informal resolution.   A signed record of the meeting with the Councillor had been produced.

b)    Vexatious Complainant

The Monitoring Officer had previously circulated a discussion paper on the definitions of a vexatious complaint and a vexatious complainant used by the Local Government Association (LGA) together with examples from a number of other internal policies.

It was noted that the LGA guidance was primarily aimed at serial complainants and that these were less likely to occur with the type of complaints expected under the Code of Conduct.  It was more likely that in some circumstances a complaint could become vexatious as it progressed, particularly if the complainant was not in agreement with the proposed course of action or suggested outcomes.

Following a question, the Monitoring Officer stated that he and the Independent Person had the responsibility to determine whether a complaint was vexatious.  The complainant would have the right of review to the Monitoring Officer and the second Independent Person to review the decision.  Members felt that it was important to have a robust opportunity for a vexatious complainant to have their situation looked at again.

The Monitoring Officer undertook to include the number of complaints determined as vexatious in the Annual Report on complaints and the definition of a vexatious complainant would be added to the Code of Conduct and the associated Arrangements.

c)    Social Media Guidance.

The protocol had been circulated to members for comment and a number of helpful suggestions for minor amendments had been received which had now been incorporated into the protocol.  One such amendment had arisen from the fact that the Council hosted Councillor’s social media on the Council platform.  An explanatory note had been included to indicate that the profile afforded to the City Mayor on the Council’s webpages was related to his capacity as the prime Executive Decision Maker on behalf of the Council and not as an individual person.

Some members had requested training on the use of social media and the Monitoring Officer confirmed that this was now in the future training programme for members.  He would inform members of the intended timescale for the training in due course.  The protocol would be issued to all members during the following week.

d)    Independent Person Protocol.

The protocol had now been issued with a minor amendment to reflect that one of the original intentions for role of Independent Persons had been to allow a member who felt pressured by other members to have an opportunity to raise any concerns.  The revised protocol would be appended to the revised Code of Conduct and associated Arrangements when it was submitted to Council for approval later in the year.

RESOLVED:-

                        That the Monitoring Officer’s updates be noted.