Meeting documents
Standards Committee
Monday, 8th November 2004
Present
Councillors
Mrs F E F Anderson, WJ Davies, D Hawkins, A Pritchard, Jean Quinn
Co-opted members
Mr B Lowe, Mrs L M Rodgers
Apologies
SL Rowlands
Index to Minutes
- Minute 7 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
- Minute 8 - MINUTES
- Minute 9 - MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
- Minute 10 - ANNUAL REPORT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT OMBUDSMAN
- Minute 11 - REGISTERING OF INTERESTS AND FREEMASONRY
- Minute 12 - GREATER MANCHESTER INDEPENDENT MEMBERS FORUM
Minute 7 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Minute Text :
The members of the Committee were invited to consider whether they had personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any of the items on the agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were. No declarations were made.
Minute 8 - MINUTES
Minute Text :
The Acting Monitoring Officer reported that the minutes of the meeting held on 15 July 2004 had been submitted to the Council meeting on 13 September and accepted.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the minutes be approved and adopted.
Minute 9 - MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
Minute Text :
The Acting Monitoring Officer invited the Committee to comment on a consultation paper, issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, that provided a Model Code of Conduct for local government employees. It was intended that the Code apply to all local government employees unless they were specifically excluded by regulations. The Government proposed that the Code should establish requirements in the following areas:
* Honesty, integrity, impartiality and objectivity
* Accountability
* Respect for others
* Stewardship
* Personal interest
* Registration of interests
* Reporting procedures
* Openness
* Appointment of staff
* Duty of trust
The paper posed a number of questions, on matters of detail, to which the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors had drawn up draft responses, which were circulated as Annex A to the report. The matter had also been considered by the Employment and Appointments Committee - minute 25 (26/10/04) refers. Following a discussion, it was -
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That this Committee broadly accepts the responses proposed by the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors, subject to the following:
Question 7 - the requirement to register hospitality, benefits or gifts should apply to all employees, not only to politically-restricted posts;
Question 13 - the Code should recognise that some employees, by virtue of their membership of a professional body, may have a specific duty to report misconduct.
(2) That, although it is not proposed in the Model Code, this Committee believes that any version of the Code adopted by the Council should include a provision relating to use of the internet.
(3) That any additional comments that members might wish to make be submitted to the Acting Monitoring Officer before the deadline for submission of responses (19 November).
Minute 10 - ANNUAL REPORT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT OMBUDSMAN
Minute Text :
The Acting Monitoring Officer submitted and commented upon the Annual Letter (2003/04) that set out the Local Government Ombudsman summary report on the authority. The Letter indicated that a total of 83 complaints relating to the Council had been received during the year, covering a variety of categories - education, highways, housing, housing benefit, local taxation, planning and social services. In the same period, a total of 85 decisions had been reached by the Ombudsman, none of which had involved a finding of maladministration by the Ombudsman.
However, some issues had been highlighted by the Ombudsman, which the local authority was required to address in order to improve its performance. They included
(i) the fact that the average response time to letters from the Ombudsman had been 34 days, far more than the required standard of 21 days. The Acting Monitoring Officer accepted that the average time was unsatisfactory and steps were being taken to ensure compliance with the requirement;
(ii) the need for training for officers dealing with Ombudsman complaints - for that, arrangements were being made to hold a course within the Borough. In addition, he would be attending a seminar in York with the Authority's link officers on 25 November.
In response to members' queries, he explained that the main reason for delay was that it was often difficult to assemble all of the information requested by the Ombudsman within the time available. When a letter was received from the Ombudsman, it was sent to the relevant service department with a request for a response. Even if it was proving difficult to collate the information, and an extension was given by the Ombudsman, no allowance was then made in the statistics for the additional response time. As the situation was being monitored, it was hoped to highlight where the main delays were occurring, and systems would have to be put in place to ensure that the relevant information was readily available.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the Annual Letter (2003/04) from the Local Governent Ombudsman be noted.
(2) That this Committee welcomes the measures being taken to ensure that the Council can comply with the requirement for full responses to the Ombudsman within 21 days.
Minute 11 - REGISTERING OF INTERESTS AND FREEMASONRY
Minute Text :
The Acting Monitoring Officer circulated a letter from the Standards Board for England regarding the issue of Freemasons under the Code of Conduct for membersand whether or not they should register membership of their Masonic Lodge on the Public Register of Interests. The letter sought to clarify the need to register membership of the Freemason's Grand Charity. The letter, as with the earlier letter, had been circulated to all members of the Council.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the letter be noted, but that the Acting Monitoring Officer seek further details regarding the nature of the Grand Charity.
Minute 12 - GREATER MANCHESTER INDEPENDENT MEMBERS FORUM
Minute Text :
The Chair agreed to consideration of this matter as urgent business in view of the proximity of the event.
Mr B Lowe reported that he and the other two independent members had received an invitation to attend the Greater Manchester Independent Members' Forum, which was organised by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, on 29 November. The invitation indicated that independent members from authorities outside of Greater Manchester were being invited on the understanding that their authorities offered to take a turn in hosting a meeting of the Forum. Meetings were held twice a year.
The Chair was concerned that hosting a meeting might prove to be a major commitment for the Council and that no specific funding for such an event was immediately identifiable.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That attendance by the independent members be supported in principle, subject to clarification with the Independent Members' Forum as to what this Council's obligations might be and to further information about the content of its meetings.
(Minutes Published: 7 December 2004)