Agenda and minutes

The Chairman of the Council invited nominations for the election of a Chairman for the municipal year 2022/23.

Cllr C Eginton MOVED, seconded by Cllr M Squires that Cllr E Slade be elected Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 2022/23.

It was therefore:

RESOLVED that Cllr E Slade be elected Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 2022/23.

To elect a Vice Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 2022/23.

Cllr C Eginton MOVED, seconded by Cllr C Slade that Cllr R M Deed be elected Vice Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 20022/23.

It was therefore:

RESOLVED that Cllr R M Deed be elected Vice Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 2022/23.

To receive any apologies for absence and notices of appointment of Substitute Members (if any).

Apologies were received from Cllr R Deed and Cllr L D Taylor who was substituted by Cllr S Clist.

To receive any questions relating to items on the Agenda from members of the public and replies thereto.

Note:   A maximum of 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

None received.

To record any interests on agenda matters.

Members were reminded of the need to make declarations of interest when

necessary.

To consider whether to approve the minutes as a correct record of the meeting held on 9 February 2022.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

(Cllr S Clist Abstained)

To receive any announcements the Chairman of the Committee may wish to make.

The Chairman had no announcements to make.

The Committee were presented a report which outlined a task and finish group’s recommendations on changes to the constitution. The Chair opened the floor to Members who raised the following points/questions:

• A Member raised that they had requested for a document from a constituent be circulated to Committee Members, which raised points and questions that related to the report. In addition, the Member raised that appendix b had not been labelled. Concern was raised that the amendments had not included tracked changes and so a direct comparison to what had been changed could not be compared. Furthermore, they noted that other changes had been made that were not mentioned in the report.

The Interim Monitoring Officer explained that appendix b had been included in the report and was found from page 27 and should have been marked as such. Unfortunately, tracked changes for these recommendations were not available. The Monitoring Officer was happy to take the report away and to prepare a tracked changed version for the next standards committee in February.

• A point was raised by a Member of the Committee that because this report had been delayed, would it be more appropriate for these recommendations to be decided by the new administration in the next municipal year.

• An invited Member raised that they were on the task and finish group and noted that there was a need for the changes to be cross checked and a lot of clarity needed on the report presented.

• A member of the Committee highlighted that it was unfortunate that this report had passed from one Monitoring Officer to another, in addition, if this was left to the new administration, this process may be restarted from the beginning and that this should be the starting point when a lot of work had already been undertaken.

• A Member added that there was a risk of a future administration undoing or changing the work of a previous administration. In addition they wanted to know whether the recommendations should be deliberated or to wait until the report had been revised.

The interim Monitoring Officer suggested that revised report with tracked changes could be presented to the Committee at the next scheduled meeting, with any recommendations sent to the next Full Council.

• A Member noted that it would be preferred for the report to be deferred and presented back to the Committee with the tracked changes.

Cllr N Woollatt MOVED, seconded by Cllr S Clist that the Committee deferred this report to the next scheduled Committee meeting so that it included tracked changes.

It was therefore:

RESOLVED That the report be deferred to the next Standards Committee.

(Proposed by Cllr N Woollatt and seconded by Cllr S Clist)

To receive an update from the Monitoring Officer with regard to any on-going complaints being dealt with. 

 The Chair Invited the Monitoring Officer to provide an update on complaints, the Monitoring Officer highlighted the following:

• That the interim Monitoring Officer was in the process of reviewing these complaints and noted that three were outstanding that needed to be reviewed by an independent person. More information could be provided at the next scheduled Committee meeting. 

RESOLVED: That the update be noted.

To consider a start time for future meetings of the Committee.

There was a need for the committee to consider the start times of meetings, it was AGREED that the committee continued to meet at 6.00pm for the remainder of the municipal year.

(Cllr C Eginton proposed and seconded by Cllr N Woollatt.)

Members are asked to note that the following items are already identified in the work programme for the next meeting:

It was suggested that the following items be added to the agenda for the next meeting of the committee to be held on 8 February 2023:

• The report of the Task and Finish Group (Council Procedure Rules Review)
• Complaints
• For agreed motions and minor changes that sought to change the constitution be presented to the Standards Committee.