Agenda and draft minutes

To elect a Chair for the municipal year 2025/26.

The Chair of the Council invited nominations for the election of a Chair for the municipal year 2025/26.

It was therefore RESOLVED that Cllr E Buczkowski be elected Chair of the Committee for the municipal year 2025/26.

(Proposed by Cllr L Taylor and seconded by Cllr G DuChesne)

To elect a Vice-Chair for the municipal year 2025/26.

The Chair of the Committee invited nominations for the election of a Vice-Chair for the municipal year 2025/26.

It was therefore RESOLVED that Cllr G DuChesne be elected Vice-Chair of the Committee for the municipal year 2025/26.

(Proposed by Cllr D Wulff and seconded by Cllr M Fletcher)

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

Cllr M Fletcher proposed and seconded by Cllr D Wulff that the Committee to be at 5.15pm for the remainder of the 2025/26 municipal year.

The Committee AGREED to meet at 5.15pm for the remainder of the 2025/26 municipal year.

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

There were no apologies.

To receive any questions from members of the public.

None received.

To consider whether to approve the minutes as a correct record of the meeting held on 5 February 2025.

The minutes of the previous meeting were APPROVED as a true record and signed by the Chair.

To record any interests on agenda matters.

No interests were declared under this item.

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

The Chair thanked the Committee for electing her as Chair of the Committee.

To consider any amendments to the Constitution following Motions approved by Council in the period since the last meeting.

The Committee NOTED the amendments to the constitution following motions approved by Council.

To receive a report from the Director of Legal, People and Governance (Monitoring Officer) on the Annual report of the Monitoring Officer 2024/2025.

The Committee had before it, and NOTED, a report * from the Director of Legal, People and Governance (Monitoring Officer) providing it with an overview of the preceding year.

The following was highlighted:

·         In the municipal year 2024/25, a total of 15 formal complaints had been made, 1 of which were withdrawn.

·         In terms of the complaints which were not taken forward to investigation, the core themes were respect, bullying, harassment communication and reputational concerns including bringing the council into disrepute.

·         There were only 5 declarations of gifts and hospitality made by officers. No members declared gifts and hospitality, but some members had previously chosen to do this via their registers of interests.

·         There had been two Government consultation that had taken place and would be reported back to the committee in due course.

Consideration was given to:

·         In regards to the Parish Clerks would any amendments need to be made to the Constitution for support and guidance.

·         When the Social Media Policy due to be updated as the date stated on the policy was 2023.

RESOLVED that the Annual Report of the Monitoring Officer be NOTED and circulated to all Town and Parish Councils for information.

(Proposed by Cllr M Fletcher and seconded by Cllr G Czapiewski)

Note: * Report previously circulated.

To receive a verbal update from the Director of Legal, People and Governance (Monitoring Officer) on the Government Consultant- Strengthening the Standards and Conduct Framework for Local Authorities in England.

The Committee had before it and NOTED, a verbal update from the Director of Legal, People and Governance (Monitoring Officer) on the Government Consultations. There was no response yet to the consultation on Strengthening the Standards and Code of Conduct for Local Authorities in England. The Council were awaiting further legislation/guidance from Government in relation to remote attendance and proxy voting and this would be brought back to the Committee in due course.

Consideration was given to:

• The provision around proxy voting and what would be included.

To agree and appoint three new Members to the Working Group to continue the work to review the Terms of Reference for the Advisory Groups.

The Committee received a verbal update from the Democratic Services Manager on the working group that was set up to review the Scheme of Delegations for Committees and Advisory Groups.

The Members of the working Group were AGREED to be Cllr G Czapiewski, Cllr F J Colthorpe and Cllr M Stratton.

To receive a report from Director of Legal, People and Governance on advise to Elected Members who may be Victims of Crime.

The Committee had before it, a report * from the Director of Legal, People and Governance (Monitoring Officer) providing advice to Elected Members who may be a Victim of Crime.

The following was highlighted:

• Elected members may be the victims of intimidation that can also amount to criminal conduct such as public order offences, criminal damage, communications offences, assaults, harassment, and stalking offences or hate crime. 
• Training would be provided to Members in regards to Op Ford contribution to the safety and security, personal safety and Social media training.

Consideration was given to:

• A member and their family had been threatened and still ongoing.
• It is important that Members do not feel intimidated or threatened while undertaking their duties.
• Would the training be mandatory and not optional?
• To cover as part of the training the processes to follow. 

RESOLVED that the Standards Committee recommend to Full Council that all members note the procedure and the option available to them in the event of an incident occurring.

(Proposed by Cllr L Taylor and seconded by Cllr G Czapiewski)

Note: * Report previously circulated.

Discussion with regard to item 15, may require the Committee to pass the following resolution to exclude the press and public having reflected on Article 12 12.02(d) (a presumption in favour of openness) of the Constitution. This decision may be required because consideration of this matter in public may disclose information falling within one of the descriptions of exempt information in Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. The Committee would need to decide whether, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption, outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Recommended that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the next item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 respectively of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, namely information relating to an individual.

The Chair stated that the Committee would remain in open session.

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

The Committee NOTED a verbal update from the Director of Legal, People and Governance (Monitoring Officer) which provided an update on complaints received.

The following was highlighted:

• Further information had been provided in more detail about the types of complaints that had been made.
• The themes were bullying, harassment and respect.

The following was discussed:

• Could it be included within the complaints if it had been upheld or not.
• Were there any complaints that may require further guidance or in additional training and development. 

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

The following items were identified for the next meeting of the Committee:

• Updates from the Government Consultation.
• Register of Interest form going through Modern.gov.

Members were requested to contact either the Monitoring Officer or the Chair with any additional items.