Please Contact: Lydia Hall
Please email: lydia.hall@north-norfolk.gov.uk
Please Direct Dial on: 01263 516047
22 May 2015
A meeting of the Standards Committee of North Norfolk District Council will be held in the
Council Chamber at the Council Offices, Holt Road, Cromer on Tuesday 02 June 2015 at
2.00 p.m.
Members of the public who wish to ask a question or speak on an agenda item are
requested to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the meeting. It will not always be
possible to accommodate requests after that time. This is to allow time for the Committee
Chair to rearrange the order of items on the agenda for the convenience of members of the
public. Further information on the procedure for public speaking can be obtained from
Democratic Services, Tel: 01263 516047, Email: democraticservices@north-norfolk.gov.uk
Anyone attending this meeting may take photographs, film or audio-record the proceedings
and report on the meeting. Anyone wishing to do so must inform the Chairman. If you are a
member of the public and you wish to speak on an item on the agenda, please be aware that
you may be filmed or photographed.
Sheila Oxtoby
Chief Executive
To District Members: Mr R Reynolds, Mr R Stevens, Mrs H Cox, Mr R Shepherd, Mr N
Smith, Mr N Coppack, Mrs G Perry-Warnes, Ms V Gay and Mr B Hannah.
Substitutes: Mr P Moore, Mr P High, Mr S Hester and Mr N Pearce.
Members of the Management Team, appropriate Officers, Press and Public.
If you have any special requirements in order
to attend this meeting, please let us know in advance
If you would like any document in large print, audio, Braille, alternative
format or in a different language please contact us
Chief Executive: Sheila Oxtoby, Corporate Directors: Nick Baker & Steve Blatch
Tel 01263 513811 Fax 01263 515042 Minicom 01263 516005
Email districtcouncil@north-norfolk.gov.uk Web site northnorfolk.org
AGENDA
1.
TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2.
PUBLIC QUESTIONS
3.
MINUTES
(attached – p. 1)
To approve as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on
10 March 2015.
4.
ITEMS OF URGENT BUSINESS
To determine any items of business which the Chairman decides should be
considered as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local
Government Act 1972.
5.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members are asked at this stage to declare any interests that they may have in any
of the following items on the agenda. The Code of Conduct for Members requires
that declarations include the nature of the interest and whether it is a pecuniary
interest.
6.
PARISH AND DISTRICT MEMBERS’ REGISTER OF INTERESTS AND OFFICER
REGISTER OF GIFTS AND HOSPITALITY
Members are reminded that the Parish and District Members’ Register of Interests
and Officer Register of Gifts and Hospitality are available for inspection in the
Democratic Services section.
7.
THE WORK OF STANDARDS COMMITTEE
An explanation of the work of a Standards Committee Member.
8.
APPOINTEMENT OF CO-OPTED MEMBERS
Committee Members are to decide on the co-option of Members – whether this is
wanted and if so, which Members will be co-opted.
9.
UPDATE ON DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
(Report p. 5)
To receive an update on the declarations of interest.
10.
UPDATE ON THE ROLE OF THE INDEPENDENT PERSON IN NEW STANDING
ORDERS
(Report p. 7)
To receive an update on the role of the Independent Person.
11.
PARISH COUNCILS AND STANDARDS: WIDER ENGAGEMENT PHASE 3
Consideration of Planning Workshops for the autumn as phase 3 of the Wider
Engagement Scheme.
12.
EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC
To pass the following resolution:
“That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public
be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that
they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1
and 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Act”
13.
SUMMARY OF RECENT AND LIVE CASES
(Report – p.8) (Appendix A – p.9)
An update on cases and complaints following the election on 7th May 2015.
Agenda Item 3
STANDARDS COMMITTEE
Minutes of a meeting of the Standards Committee held on 10 March 2015 in the Council
Chamber, Council Offices, Holt Road, Cromer at 2.00pm.
Members present:
1.
District Member
Miss B Palmer
Mrs H Cox (Chairman)
Mr R Stevens
Mr P Williams
Mr B Hannah
Co-opted Members
Mr A Bullen
Mr R Barr
Mr H Gupta
Mr T Nash
Not Present
Mr J Savory
Officers in
attendance
The Monitoring Officer
The Independent Person
The Assistant Employed Barrister
The Local Government Lawyer
The Democratic Services Team Leader
The Democratic Services Officer
TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies received from Mr P Moore, Mrs M Evans and Mr G Allen.
The Democratic Services Team Leader informed Members that Mrs Ann Shirley had
resigned from her role as a co-opted Member on the Committee.
2.
PUBLIC QUESTIONS
None.
3.
MINUTES
The Minutes of the Meeting of the Standards Committee held on 10 February 2015 were
approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman with the following
amendments:
Standards Committee
1
10 February 2015
i) Apologies were received from Mr B Hannah
ii) Mr R Barr had been listed as a district Member instead of a co-opted Member.
4.
ITEMS OF URGENT BUSINESS
A complaint from a Parish Council about a team at NNDC had been received by one
Member and shared with the Committee. The Chair said that the issue was not a
standards issue and that it had already been dealt with through the proper channels for
this type of complaint. She said that the issue had been discussed with the people
involved and that it had been resolved.
The Chair said that a complaint had been received for assessment after the agenda had
gone out and had been circulated to Members separately. She said that this would be
discussed after the other case on the agenda.
5.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None.
6.
PARISH AND DISTRICT MEMBERS’ REGISTER OF INTEREST AND OFFICER
REGISTER OF GIFTS AND HOSPITALITY
None.
7.
PARISH COUNCILS AND STANDARDS: WIDER ENGAGEMENT SCHEME PHASE 2
The Democratic Services Officer said that a report containing the data from the feedback
forms had been included in the Committee papers. She said that overall the events had
been successful and that attendees had found them worthwhile.
The Democratic Services Officer said that some of the councils attending phase 2 had
also attended the phase 1 sessions the previous year, but that some councils, who
would benefit from the sessions, had not attended and that it may be worthwhile running
five sessions across the district rather than three in the future.
The Democratic Services Officer said that they had been surprised at the topics the
councils wanted covered in future sessions including finances and Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests. She said that planning was still an issue that councils wanted
to explore further and that, if the Committee were in agreement, phase 3 would involve a
planning workshop where councillors looked at the whole planning process using real
planning applications. These workshops would be run with the Head of Planning and the
Planning Advisory Service in the autumn. The Democratic Services Officer suggested
looking at FOIs in 2016.
Mr P Williams asked why the data collected from the East event did not show the
number of attendees.
The Democratic Services Officer said that unfortunately she had not received the
attendance list back and that only two feedback forms had been completed from this
session. She said that it was between 8 and 10 attendees and the Democratic Services
Team Leader confirmed that 10 people had attended.
Standards Committee
2
10 February 2015
Mr A Bullen said that the planning information should be in relation to local authorities.
The Chair said the feedback had been very positive and that although things could
change after the May election, contact had been established and maintained under the
Committee and that she hoped the future Committee would continue with the events
covering planning and the other issues requested.
Mr T Nash commented that parishes were losing their parish clerks and the Chair said
that the clerk played a pivotal role in the running of Town and Parish Councils.
The Chair said that the events had been enjoyable and thanked those Members who
had been able to attend, for doing so.
The Chair informed Members that a planning flowchart had also been included in the
papers as requested.
Mr R Stevens asked whether this information could be shared with parish councils and
the Chair confirmed that it could.
8.
EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC
None present
9.
STANDARDS INVESTIGATION: FINAL REPORT
The Monitoring Officer said that this case had involved declarations of interest and
therefore involved the Localism Act and individual Codes of Conduct. He reminded
Members that they would hear the views of the Independent Person before they could
make a decision and that they could either accept or reject the investigator's findings.
The Monitoring Officer added that if the Committee chose to accept the findings then a
recommendation would be made to the Parish Council involved.
The Assistant Employed Barrister introduced her report and her findings and said that in
her opinion, no breach had been found.
The Independent Person gave his view and said that he agreed that no breach had been
found.
It was proposed by Cllr. T Nash and seconded by Cllr. B Palmer to:
ACCEPT the findings of the Investigation that no breach had been found.
This was UNANIMOUSLY accepted by the Committee.
The Monitoring Officer introduced the item of urgent business for assessment. This
complaint had been received after the agenda had been produced and the information
circulated to Members by e-mail for consideration at this meeting.
Standards Committee
3
10 February 2015
The Members AGREED that the case be referred for investigation.
The next meeting of the Standards Committee was scheduled for 02 June 2015.
The meeting concluded at 14:41pm
___________________________________
Chairman
Standards Committee
4
10 February 2015
Update on Declarations of Interests
Standards Committee
Agenda item 9
1. The Localism Act 2011 sets the legal framework for the current standards and
ethics regime. A key part of the regime is the declarations of interest by
members and the maintenance by the Monitoring Officer of the register of
those interests.
2. In summary, each elected and co-opted member must put on their register
any “disclosable pecuniary interests” as defined in regulations. These
interests are those of the member and of their spouse or partner and include:•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for
profit or gain
Any sponsorship payments
Any contract between the member and the council
Any licence to occupy land in the Council’s area
Any tenancy where the Council is the landlord
Any shares in a company trading in council’s area
Any beneficial interest in land which in the Council’s area.
3. Generally, the Localism Act 2011 deregulated the standards and ethics
regime for local councillors – it abolished the Standards Board for England
and took other steps including the removal of the heavier sanctions such as
disqualification (by councils – a law court still has the power to disqualify) and
suspension. However, in the area of members’ interests Section 34 of the
Act created a criminal offence where a member fails, without reasonable
excuse to comply with the requirements to declare disclosable pecuniary
interests or takes part or votes in council business at meetings where the
subject matter concerns an item on their register.
4. It is worth bearing in mind that for one off items or for recurring items where
an interest affects a member it is possible for a dispensation to be granted
allowing a member to participate and or vote. The grounds for granting a
dispensation are wide and application should be made to the Monitoring
Officer in the first instance
5. Although the criminal sanction provisions came into force almost three years
ago, a former leader of Dorset County Council is thought to have recently
become the first member to be found guilty of an offence under that section.
The charge brought against the individual, a serving member at East Dorset
district council, was that on 25 February 2013 he was present at a meeting
about the East Dorset Core Strategy and, despite having a disclosable
pecuniary interest in a matter that was considered at that meeting and without
reasonable excuse, he participated in the vote taken at the meeting. At that
time, he was a non-executive director of a housing charity and although he
was not in receipt of a salary, he had received various remuneration
payments for the years 2010 to 2013 totalling some £29,920. In accordance
with section 30 of the LA 2011, he had listed that interest in pecuniary interest
forms submitted to the district council and the County Council in 2012.
5
Update on Declarations of Interests
Standards Committee
Agenda item 9
6. The district judge indicated that the defendant member had failed to satisfy
the court that what he did amounted to a reasonable excuse. He was
therefore given a six-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay
£930 in costs. The court did not exercise its power to disqualify the councilor.
7. The case highlights the importance for all councillors of registering interests,
declaring them or acknowledging them at meetings and of considering
applications for dispensations in appropriate cases.
6
Update on the role of the Independent Person
Standards Committee
Agenda item 10
1. Every local authority is empowered to adopt standing orders to regulate its
business and proceedings. The Secretary of State has the power to prescribe
specific standing orders which must be incorporated in an authority’s own
standing orders.
2. In Since 1993 mandatory standing orders have required that local authorities
adopt particular provisions relating to the appointment, dismissal and
disciplining of the council’s statutory officers – the Head of Paid Service (The
Managing Director at the County Council), The Monitoring Officer and the
Chief Finance Officer (“section 151 Officer”)
3. The 2001 Standing Orders regulations required that prior to dismissal or the
disciplining of these officers a “designated independent person” (“DIP”) be
appointed by the authority to produce a report on the proposal.
4. The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) Regulations 2015 make changes to
that regime by stipulating that instead of a DIP the authority’s “Independent
Person” appointed for standards and ethics matters under the Localism Act
2011 takes on that role. The authority’s current Independent Person is Mr.
Alex Oram.
5. The change in standing orders thus expands the role of the Independent
Person.
7