Meeting documents

Standards Committee
Monday, 10th October 2005

Present

Chair

D Hawkins

Councillors

Mrs F E F Anderson, WJ Davies, Jean Quinn, SL Rowlands

Deputy

O W Adam (for Cllr S L Clarke)

Independent members

Mr J P Haywood, Mr B Lowe

Apologies

Mrs L M Rodgers

Index to Minutes

Minute 7 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Minute Text :

The members of the Committee were invited to consider whether they had any personal or prejudicial interest in connection with any of the items on the agenda and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of such interest. No declarations were made.

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Minute 8 - MINUTES

Minute Text :

The Head of Legal and Member Services submitted the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 9 May 2005, which had been submitted to the Council meeting on 11 July 2005.

Minute Decision :

Resolved - That the minutes be approved and adopted.

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Minute 9 - MATTER ARISING

Minute Text :

(a) The following issues were raised in relation to minute 5 (Audit of Corporate Governance):

(i) With regard to the review undertaken by the Internal Audit Section, Mr Lowe asked if any ideas had been forthcoming from audit staff themselves. The Deputy Director of Finance stated that it was not considered appropriate for them to make suggestions in that manner, but they would advise on best practice. The Head of Legal and Member Services added that the more detailed audit compliance testing in future would ensure that procedures were under constant review. The Standards Committee would receive regular updates on any findings.

(ii) The Head of Legal and Member Services reported on a number of measures being implemented in support of corporate governance:

- the establishment of a new Corporate Governance Group, which comprised the Chief Executive, the Deputy Chief Executive, the Monitoring Officer, the Director of Finance, the Chief Internal Auditor and a representative of the District Auditor. Initially it was proposed that it meet monthly and report regularly to the Cabinet;

- investigations were continuing into the establishment of an Audit Committee to oversee governance issues (see also minute 32 below);

- the Code of Conduct for Officers (minute 4 refers) had been accepted by the Council;

- training for members on the Code of Conduct and Protocols had become part of the established programme for member development;

- a guide on conflicts of interest and gifts was being issued by the Head of Human Resources;

- the possibility of including declarations of interest in a standard form on the intranet was being investigated.

Mr Haywood stated that, to his knowledge, the Code of Conduct for Officers had not been circulated to all levels of staff. He had spoken to trade union representatives who appeared not to be aware of it. The Head of Legal and Member Services replied that the trade unions had been involved in earlier discussions on it, and he understood that it was being disseminated throughout the organisation. However, he would take urgent action to clarify the matter. He added that the adoption of the Code of Conduct had only been an interim measure, pending the Government's issuing detailed guidance, which had been delayed for a considerable time. Mr Haywood expressed the hope that, in addition to the Code of Conduct, all staff should be aware of the work of the Standards Committee.

(b) Further to minute 6, the Head of Legal and Member Services and Mr Haywood reported on their attendance at the Annual Assembly of Standards Committees. The former referred to discussions on the ethical agenda and particularly the audit aspects; the role of audit committees and proposals to issue guidance on good practice; and a recommendation that Standards Committees should be chaired by independent members. Mr Haywood had attended a session on the investigation of complaints at a local level.

Mr Haywood then described activities on the second day, which had included a review of cases dealt by the Standards Board for England; a presentation from the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors on handling of complaints between councillors, which it was felt ought to be dealt with at a more local level, albeit that the Monitoring Officer might not be able to involved at all stages of that process; comments on the poor quality of investigations; a fully-detailed case study, which highlighted the need for members to be aware of the dangers of family members or other persons using their computer facilities; and discussions on engaging the public in highlighting problems relevant to standards - currently, it appeared that the public of Wirral were not aware either of the Standards Committee nor of the Standards Board for England.

In one of the workshops that he had attended, the issue had been raised of the role of the Local Democracy Working Party within the Authority. From the comments he had been able to make, other participants in the workshop appeared to be concerned that it was not operating in a more open manner. The Head of Legal and Member Services explained that the role of the Local Democracy Working Party, as stated within the Constitution, was primarily to make recommendations in relation to any reviews of the Constitution. Those recommendations would be formally submitted, either through the Cabinet or directly to the Council. However, since the working party comprised the three party leaders and their deputies, it was often used as a forum to initiate discussions on major, strategic issues such as new policies emanating from the Government. Such discussions were informal, but helped to give Chief Officers a direction on implementing such policies. With regard to the proposals put forward by Mr Lowe and Mr Haywood for amendments to the Constitution, they had been referred to the Local Democracy Working Party, but had not yet been considered in detail. Unfortunately, the aim to establish a regular series of meetings for the working party had been thwarted by the Leaders' heavy workload, not least in relation to the recent CPA inspection.

Minute Decision :

Resolved -

(1) That the various matters reported be noted.

(2) That the Head of Legal and Member Services report back on dissemination of the Code of Conduct for Officers.

(3) That Mr Haywood's notes on the Annual Assembly be circulated to the other members of the Committee.

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Minute 10 - LOCAL GOVERNMENT OMBUDSMAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2004/05

Minute Text :

The Head of Legal and Member Services submitted and reported upon the annual report of the Local Government Ombudsman and advised on ways in which the Council would seek to improve its performance in relation to the issues contained within the report. In the twelve months to 31 March 2005, the Ombudsman had received 81 complaints against the Council and had made 84 decisions on matters before him on the course of the year. The Council had agreed to settle nine complaints and the Ombudsman had expressed appreciation of the Council's willingness to respond so positively in those situations. One report had been issued against the Council, but overall the nature of the complaints revealed no particular cause for concern.

However, there was concern about the time taken by the Council to respond to complaints. Although the target time for responses was 21 days, it had taken the Council an average of 41 days to reply to initial enquiries, which represented a worsening from the previous year's average (34 days). Although some of the complaints had been complex, such delays were not considered acceptable, and the Chief Executive had commissioned an investigation into those areas where delays had occurred, in order to see if there was a pattern. That investigation was continuing, but in the meantime he had arranged for a more rigorous system for prompting responses. The Ombudsman had, in fact, recognised that some complaints did demand more time and therefore she had amended the target time to 28 days (though the Council's target would still be 21 days). As part of the efforts to improve performance, he was making arrangements for one of the training courses organised by the Ombudman to be held in Wirral, which all officers dealing with complaints would be expected to attend.

Councillor Quinn accepted that there was a need for officers to view such complaints in a different light, in order that they might be accorded the appropriate priority.

Minute Decision :

Resolved - That the report and the action being taken in response be noted.

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Minute 11 - COMPLAINTS TO THE STANDARDS BOARD

Minute Text :

The Head of Legal and Member Services gave an oral report on complaints against councillors that had been considered by the Standards Board for England since his previous report (on 25 March 2004). There had been five complaints, and he gave details of each. All but one had been deemed not worthy of further investigation; in the fifth case, it had been decided that it was not in the public interest to take action, and the matter had been resolved with an apology.

In response to Mr Haywood's query as to how cases would be handled in the future, the Head of Legal and Member Services stated that it was still the case that the Standard Board for England would itself investigate the more serious complaints, refer other cases meriting investigation to the local authority or determine that no further action was necessary.

Minute Decision :

Resolved - That the report be noted and that future cases of complaints to the Standards Board for England be brought to this Committee's attention as soon as they arise.

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Minute 12 - ESTABLISHMENT OF AN AUDIT COMMITTEE

Minute Text :

The Head of Legal and Member Services submitted the report previously considered by the Cabinet on 22 September, relating to the potential operation of an audit committee. The suggestion to establish such a committee had been part of the action plan arising out of the Audit Commission's public interest report on the Cheshire Lines building. Investigation of how such committees operated in other local authorities had produced a varied response, and there appeared to be no standard format. Discussions were continuing with the party leaders on the matter, and it was understood that advice would be issued in the near future by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). He indicated that there would need to be careful consideration as to where such a committee would sit in relation to the terms of reference for the Standards Committee and for the Finance and Corporate Management Select Committee.

Mr Lowe was surprised to learn that it was felt that the Authority did not have an adequate audit function in place already. He was advised that current audit activities were conducted through the Internal Audit Section, and an external view was provided by the Audit Commission. There was no suggestion that they were inadequate; and issues of compliance or non-compliance were reported to the Finance and Corporate Management Select Committee at the current time. An audit committee would add robustness to the process and ensure that governance issues were viewed from another perspective. Mr Lowe stated that he fully endorsed the proposal but thought it might be difficult to put political issues aside, particularly if the committee was monitoring how decisions were made and implemented. He referred to a recent survey which had revealed that only 41% of the public trusted local councillors, and he felt therefore that an audit committee would be given more credibility if it included independent representatives.

Mr Haywood queried how an audit committee might be apolitical, as suggested in Appendix A to the report, if, as was probable, the more dominant members of the Council served on it. He felt it was unlikely to operate in an independent manner. However, Councillor Adam pointed to the example of the Licensing Act 2003 Committee (and its Sub-Committee) as an example of members operating without reference to politics.

Minute Decision :

Resolved - That the report be noted and that any comments on the proposal to establish an Audit Committee that members may wish to make be forwarded to the Head of Legal and Member Services.

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Minute 13 - ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Minute Text :

The Chair agreed to consideration of a number of items of other business:

(a) Mr Haywood referred to a complaint emanating from a school and queried how the matter could be raised with the Standards Board for England. The Head of Legal and Member Services advised that such complaints should be dealt with through the School Governors, and if necessary referred to the Secretary of State. The initial point of contact was the Complaints Officer within the Education and Cultural Services Department. There had been some changes to the complaints system, and he undertook to ensure that appropriate publicity was given to that fact.

(b) Mr Lowe complained that the change in date of the meeting (from 29 September) had meant that Mrs Rodgers had not been able to attend the meeting. He asked that elected members make more use of their nominated deputies before asking for approved committee dates to be changed.

(c) The Chair referred to a letter that he had received from a member of the public asking when the Standards Committee was likely to consider the issue of the Cheshire Lines building. The Head of Legal and Member Services reported that he had advised the Chair that, in his view, the matter had been fully aired before the Cabinet at its meeting on 5 September. It was appropriate for the Standards Committee to consider external audit reports in cases where the findings called into question the integrity of the Council or of its members. However, there had been no such finding in relation to Cheshire Lines. Full details of the report and the Cabinet's response were available for viewing on the internet.

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(Minutes Published: 8 December 2005)