Venue: Meeting Room 1, Pathfinder House, St Mary's Street, Huntingdon PE29 3TN
Contact: Ms C Deller, Democratic Services Manager, Tel No 01480 388007/e-mail: Christine.Deller@huntsdc.gov.
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ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN To elect a Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing Municipal Year. Minutes: RESOLVED
that Mr D H Bristow be elected Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing Municipal Year. |
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To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 9th March 2006. Contact: C Deller 388007 Minutes: Subject to the deletion of the word “Councillor” which prefaced Mr Bristow’s name in the record of those attending at the last meeting, the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 9th March 2006 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. |
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MEMBERS' INTERESTS To receive from Members declarations as to personal and/or prejudicial interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any Agenda Item. Please see Notes 1 and 2 below. Minutes: The Chairman, Mr Bristow declared a personal interest in Minute No. 6 by virtue of his membership of a social club which utilised the facilities of The Millennium Community Centre, Buckden. |
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APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIRMAN To appoint a Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing Municipal Year. Minutes: RESOLVED
that Councillor T D Sanderson be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing Municipal Year.
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THE STUKELEYS PARISH COUNCIL - ALLEGED BREACH OF CODE OF CONDUCT To consider a report by the Director of Central Services and Monitoring Officer regarding allegations made against two Councillors serving on The Stukeleys Parish Council and the recommendations of the Investigating Officer thereon. Contact: P Watkins 388002 Additional documents: Minutes: The Deputy Monitoring Officer explained that Section 55 (6) (b) of the Local Government Act 2000 required a Parish Council representative to be present at a meeting of a Standards Committee when matters relating to Parish Councils for which the District Council was the responsible authority were being considered. As both Parish Council representatives were absent from the meeting, the report by the Director of Central Services and Monitoring Officer regarding the alleged breach of The Stukeleys Parish Council’s Code of Conduct was deferred. |
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APPLICATIONS FOR DISPENSATION To consider a report by the Director of Central Services and Monitoring Officer regarding two applications received for dispensation from Alconbury and Buckden Parish Councils. Contact: C Deller 388007 Minutes: Further to Minute No. 5 and as this item also required the presence of a Parish Council representative to enable the business to be conducted, the applications for dispensation received from Alconbury and Buckden Parish Councils were deferred. |
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CODE OF CONDUCT - STANDARDS BOARD NOTIFICATION To consider a report by the Director of Central Services and Monitoring Officer regarding a notification received from the Standards Board for England in respect of an allegation of misconduct by a District Councillor. Contact: C Deller 388007 Minutes: The Committee received and noted a report by the Director of Central Services and Monitoring Officer (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) regarding the decision of the Standards Board for England not to take any further action in relation to an allegation made against a Councillor serving on the District Council. |
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INTRODUCTION TO THE "CASE ALERT" To consider a report by the Director of Central Services and Monitoring Officer regarding the launch by the Standards Board for England of the “Case Alert”. Contact: C Deller 388007 Additional documents: Minutes: Further to Minute No. 29 of the last meeting of the Committee, Members considered a report by the Director of Central Services and Monitoring Officer (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) regarding the launch, by the Standards Board for England, of a new facility entitled “Case Alert”.
The Committee were informed that the “Case Alert” would provide regular indepth analysis of significant cases and best practice guidance drawing upon decisions by Standards Committees, the Adjudication Panel for England and the High Court. Having commented on the usefulness of the “Case Alert” and reviewed details of the first issue which examined a case involving decisions on personal and prejudicial interests and their affect on Members’ human rights, it was
RESOLVED
that the “Case Alert” be submitted to future meetings of the Committee in place of “Case Summaries” produced by the Director of Central Services and Monitoring Officer and that, as originally intended, the attention of Town and Parish Councils continue to be drawn to any issues highlighted. |
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To consider a report by the Director of Central Services and Monitoring Officer regarding issues of concern to the Committee. Contact: C Deller 388007 Additional documents: Minutes: A report by the Director of Central Services and Monitoring Officer was submitted (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) updating Members on a variety of matters relating to the work of the Committee, including the publication of a new guide by the Standards Board for England entitled “How to Make a Complaint” and details of recent referral statistics, including those involving local investigations.
Having regard to the Fifth Annual Assembly of Standards Committees Conference to be held in Birmingham on 16th and 17th October 2006, Councillor Mrs Boddington and Mr Hall expressed their interest in attending and the Deputy Monitoring Officer undertook to contact those Members of the Committee who were not present for their interest in the remaining two places.
In response to a letter received from a Parish Councillor in Huntingdonshire regarding the absence of the contact details of the non-elected Members and the Parish Council representatives on the Committee on the District Council’s web site and whilst acknowledging that the independent members present had no objection to their details being made available, the Committee requested the Deputy Monitoring Officer to establish what practices for publicising such information had been adopted by other authorities in Cambridgeshire and to report back to the next meeting. |
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NEXT MEETING To note that the next meeting of the Committee will be held on Thursday 14th September 2006 at 4.00pm. Minutes: It was noted that the next scheduled meeting of the Committee would be held on Thursday 14th September 2006 at 4.00pm. |
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DVD Should the Committee be so minded, to view a DVD prepared by the Standards Board for England on local investigations and the conduct of local hearings (approximate length thirty-three minutes). Minutes: As there were few Members present, it was agreed to postpone, until the next ordinary meeting, the showing of the DVD prepared by the Standards Board for England on local investigations and the conduct of local hearings. |