Report of the Monitoring Officer.

The Head of Legal and Member Services and Monitoring Officer presented a report to the  Committee that detailed a proposed Work Programme for the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Working Group for the 2015/16 Municipal Year.

The Committee was reminded that during the previous Municipal Year the Working Group had considered the following matters and/or made recommendations for its consideration:

·    Development of Member Values and Behaviours (initial discussion only);

·  Review of the Council’s Constitution – Council Procedure Rules (ongoing);

·  Policy on Reporting on Council Meetings (filming of committees); and

·  Review of the Protocol on Member/Officer Relations.

The Head of Legal and Member Services and Monitoring Officer proposed that the following specific work streams for the Working Group for consideration and approval by the Committee.

(A)  Review of the Council’s Constitution

The Working Group during the last Municipal Year had commenced discussion on reviewing the Council Procedure Rules.

The Working Group had decided that it was not necessary to undertake a further Members’ Survey in relation to the Council’s Constitution last year.

The Working Group instead had focused its attention specifically on the Council’s Procedure Rules contained within the Constitution. A benchmarking exercise had been undertaken which enabled the Working Group to consider the Procedure Rules and Council Agendas of a number (16) of Councils. This had helped the Working Group appraise the Council’s current arrangements in greater detail and facilitate debate and discussion about how the Council’s democratic and decision-making arrangements could be improved.

Given the nature and extent of the review being undertaken, the Working Group had not been able to complete its review of the Council’s Constitution.  It was, therefore, proposed that the Working Group complete its review of the Council’s Procedure Rules; and that it reports its progress/recommendations to the Committee in due course.

(B)  Review of the Members Code of Conduct and Protocol

The Working Group had annually reviewed the Members’ Code of Conduct and Protocol, for Dealing with Complaints.

It was good practice for Members to keep the Code and the Protocol under review to ensure that it remained fit for purpose and assisted the Council to maintain high standards of conduct as required under the Localism Act 2011.

Accordingly, it was proposed that the Work Programme of the Working Group included the review of the Code and Protocol.

(C)  Member’s ICT Policy

With the new ICT equipment being rolled out to Members it was considered an opportune time for Members to consider the Members’ ICT Policy to ensure that it too was fit for purpose and that it set out clearly all the obligations and duties Members were required to follow, as well as what was permitted.

Such a review had not been undertaken in the recent past and it was important that the policy captured all relevant issues and matters including duties arising under Data Protection legislation.

The Terms of Reference for the Working Group were set out in Appendix 1 to the report and the Committee was request to consider and approve the same having also regard to the suggested work steams detailed above.

Following the Head of Legal and Member Services and Monitoring Officer’s presentation Members asked a number of questions about the following:

·  Filming at meetings open to the Press and Public.

·  The monitoring of complaints made to the Local Government Ombudsman.

·  The monitoring of other complaints made by residents of the Borough through the Council’s Complaints System.

·  The handling of vexatious complaints.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  a cross party Standards and Constitutional Oversight Working Group for the current Municipal Year be established;

(2)  the Terms of the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Working Group as set out in Appendix 1 to the report be agreed;

(3)  Members of the Working Group be appointed as follows:

  Councillors Ron Abbey, Chris Blakeley, Bill Davies, Phil Gilchrist, John Hale, Moira McLaughlin and John Salter and each of the three Independent Members (Messrs B Cummings and C Jones and Prof RS Jones);

(4)  the proposed Work Programme of the  Standards and Constitutional Oversight Working Group as set out above be agreed;

(5)  the Head of Legal and Member Services and Monitoring Officer be requested to circulate, to all Members of the Committee, the Protocol on Filming at Meetings which the Press and Public are invited to attend; and

(6)  the Head of Legal and Member Services and Monitoring Officer be requested to ascertain where the details of Complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman are reported and inform all Members of the Committee.