Meeting documents
Standards Committee
Wednesday, 6th July 2005
Present
Councillors
Mrs F E F Anderson, S L Clarke, WJ Davies, D Hawkins, Jean Quinn, SL Rowlands
Co-opted members
Mr J P Haywood, Mr B Lowe, Mrs L M Rodgers
Index to Minutes
- Minute 1 - APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR
- Minute 2 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
- Minute 3 - MINUTES
- Minute 4 - CODE OF CONDUCT FOR OFFICERS
- Minute 5 - CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - AUDIT OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
- Minute 6 - ANNUAL ASSEMBLY OF STANDARDS COMMITTEES
Minute 1 - APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR
Minute Text :
The Head of Legal and Member Services requested nominations for the appointment of Chair.
It was moved by Councillor W Davies and seconded -
"That Councillor Hawkins be appointed Chair of the Committee for this municipal year."
It was moved as an amendment by Mr Haywood and seconded -
"That Councillor Mrs Anderson be appointed Chair for the current municipal year".
The amendment was put and lost (4:5)
The motion was put and carried (5:2)
The Committee was asked if it wished to appoint a Vice-Chair and, if so, on what basis. The Committee accepted Mr Haywood's suggestion that it would be better to appoint a Vice-Chair for the whole year rather than appointing someone to stand in when the Chair was not available.
It was moved by Councillor Rowlands and seconded -
"That Councillor Mrs Clarke be appointed as Vice-Chair for the current municipal year."
It was moved as an amendment by Mr Haywood and seconded -
"That Mr Lowe be appointed as Vice-Chair for the current municipal year."
The amendment was put and lost (3:4)
The motion was put and carried (4:1)
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That Councillor Hawkins be appointed as Chair for the current municipal year and Councillor Mrs Clarke as Vice-Chair.
Minute 2 - 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. The following declaration was made:
Councillor Rowlands - a personal interest in minute 4 (Code of Conduct for Officers) by virtue of his wife's employment as an officer with the Local Education Authority.
Minute 3 - MINUTES
Minute Text :
The Head of Legal and Member Services submitted the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 9 May 2005.
Further to minute 23, the independent members asked about the progress of the issues raised in relation to the Constitution, which the Committee had agreed should be referred to the Local Democracy Working Party. The Head of Legal and Member Services advised the Committee that the Working Party had not yet had an opportunity to consider them - a number of other constitutional issues, in particular a revision of the Cabinet portfolios, had to be resolved in the first instance. He undertook to let Mr Lowe and Mr Haywood know when the issues they had raised were due to come before the LDWP.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the minutes be accepted as a correct record.
Minute 4 - CODE OF CONDUCT FOR OFFICERS
Minute Text :
The Head of Legal and Member Services reminded the Committee that the consultation paper issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the Model Code of Conduct for Local Government Employees had been considered by the Standards Committee on 8 November 2004 and also by the Employment and Appointments Committee on 26 October 2004. He had formulated a response to the consultation exercise based on the minutes of those two meetings. Although the consultation period had closed in November 2004, there had been no further announcements from the Government about the establishment of a Code.
In discussions with the Chief Executive, a view had been taken that it would be appropriate to adopt, as soon as possible, a Code of Conduct for Employees, approved by the Council, which could be amended at any time following further announcements from the Government. Accordingly, the matter had been raised with the Local Democracy Working Party at its meeting on 25 June, which had agreed to proceed with the Model Code, adapted to take account of the decisions from the Standards Committee and the Employment and Appointments Committee. If that was acceptable, the Council, at its meeting on 11 July 2005, would be asked to endorse the Employee Code of Conduct (which would then be referred for information to the Employment and Appointments Committee on 19 July). He added that the Head of Human Resources had raised the draft with the major trade unions prior to the meeting. They had accepted the proposal.
Members noted that the code was in very general terms. They referred to the fact that other codes of conduct were in operation for professions such as teachers and social workers. It was expected that, when further thought could be given to the Code, any necessary revision or augmentation could take place in the context of reviews of the Constitution. Mrs Rodgers queried the use of the word "friend" in paragraph 9 of the Code and felt it was open to very wide interpretation.
Minute Decision :
RECOMMENDED - That the Council adopt a code of conduct for Officers on the basis now reported, namely the Model Code plus those suggestions, set out in appendices 2 and 3 to the Director's report, previously put forward by the Standards Committee and the Employment and Appointments Committee.
Minute 5 - CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - AUDIT OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Minute Text :
The Committee considered the report of the Director of Finance, previously submitted to the Finance and Corporate Management Select Committee on 22 June 2005, which summarised the work undertaken by Internal Audit during 2004/05 to review the Council’s implementation of Corporate Governance in accordance with the CIPFA/SOLACE Guidance Note and Framework (2001) and in compliance with the Local Government Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003. The CIPFA/SOLACE Framework required specific policies, procedures and service delivery arrangements to be in place, and Internal Audit had verified that. More detailed audit compliance testing was scheduled to be undertaken during 2005/06 to establish how effectively those arrangements were being followed throughout the Council.
The Guidance Framework recommended that to implement corporate governance effectively each local authority should maintain effective arrangements within the following five key dimensions to demonstrate the principles of accountability, effectiveness, openness and inclusivity in its dealings with the local community:
- community focus
- service delivery arrangements
- structures and processes
- risk management and internal control
- standards of conduct.
In terms of structures and processes, the review had recommended that the Standards Committee should adopt a more proactive role that included assessing standards of conduct within the Council and considering how to use internal and external audit more effectively to promote higher ethical standards across the Council. The Committee was advised that the training initiated for members of the Standards Committee was part of that process. With regard to standards of conduct, it had been noted that a code of conduct for officers should be adopted (see minute 4 above), that staff should be made more aware of the policy relating to conflicts of interest and that all staff should complete an annual form indicating whether or not they had such conflicts. Action was being taken on all of those issues.
Councillor Quinn felt that in order for the Committee to be more proactive, it required more, regular information on the various issues identified in the report, particularly as to how things were progressing and what risks had been identified and/or addressed. Mr Lowe supported that view, particularly in relation to the twelve issues for action that had been raised in the earlier Audit Commission report. He felt it would be helpful to see what instructions had been issued to managers throughout the organisation.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the report be noted.
(2) That the Committee receive a further report on the issues now raised at its September meeting and regular progress reports thereafter.
Minute 6 - ANNUAL ASSEMBLY OF STANDARDS COMMITTEES
Minute Text :
The Chair agreed to consideration of this matter as urgent other business in view of the fact that the event would take place before the next meeting of the Committee.
The Head of Legal and Member Services asked the Committee if it wished to make nominations to attend the Fourth Annual Assembly of Standard Committees, to be held in Birmingham on 5 September. Mr Haywood suggested that attendance should be open to all members of the Committee. However, several indicated that they would not be able to attend, but would be happy with a report back from any member that did so. The Committee was reminded that there would be a considerable cost if all members did attend.
On a motion by the Chair, duly seconded, it was
Minute Decision :
Resolved (6:0) - That one elected member, one independent member and the Head of Legal and Member Services be authorised to attend the conference, but that if any other member has a strong wish to attend, they should let the Head of Legal and Member Services know as soon as possible.
(Minutes Published: 8 July 2005)