Venue: Room CVSO1a, Civic Suite, Pathfinder House, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE29 3TN
Contact: Ms C Deller, Democratic Services Manager, Tel No 01480 388007/e-mail: Christine.Deller@huntsdc.gov.uk
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To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 9th September 2010. Contact: C Deller 388007 Minutes: The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 9th September 2010 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 items - please see Notes 1 and 2 below. Minutes: No declarations were received. |
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REPORTS OF SUB-COMMITTEES (a) Referrals (Assessment) Sub-Committee
The Sub-Committee met on 10th September and 22nd October 2010 and over two meetings assessed four cases relating to Members serving on Huntingdonshire District Council and Fenstanton and Holywell-cum-Needingworth Parish Councils. No further action was recommended in all cases.
(b) Review Sub-Committee
Following a recommendation by the Referrals (Assessment) Sub-Committee of "no further action" in a case involving a Member of Huntingdonshire District Council, the complainant appealed against the decision and this appeal was heard by the Review Sub-Committee on 22nd October 2010. After detailed consideration, the Sub-Committee agreed to uphold the original decision of the Referrals (Assessment) Sub-Committee having concurred with the conclusion that there was no breach of the Code of Conduct in the case.
(c) Standards (Consideration and Hearing) Sub-Committee
The Sub-Committee met on 4th November 2010 to hear the outcome of an investigation into a complaint involving a Member of Yaxley Parish Council. The Sub-Committee concurred with the recommendations of the Investigating Officer and agreed that the Councillor concerned be suspended for a period of two months from 25th November 2010 to 25th January 2011 or until such time as he undertakes training on the Code of Conduct. It was strongly recommended that the other Members of the Parish Council and the Parish Clerk also should receive training on the Code of Conduct and subsequently a session for this purpose has been arranged to be held on 24th November 2010. Minutes: The Committee noted reports received from the Chairmen of the Referrals (Assessment), Review and Consideration and Hearing Sub-Committees. |
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STANDARDS FOR ENGLAND - LATEST? Update by the Head of Law, Property and Governance and Monitoring Officer on the latest developments following the Government's announcement "to abolish the Standards Board" regime.
Latest press notice published by ‘Standards for England’, enclosed. Contact: C Meadowcroft 388021 Minutes: By reference to a press notice published by 'Standards for England' (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Monitoring Officer advised the Committee that latest reports had suggested that the De-centralisation and Localism Bill would now be published before the end of December.
In the absence, currently, of any further information, the Committee noted the content of a press statement issued by the Department of Communities and Local Government which appeared to suggest that it was the Government's intention to replace the current standards regime by making serious misconduct a criminal offence dealt with by the courts, that Councillors would be required to continue to register personal interests in publicly available registers and that there would be an enhancement of the powers of the Local Government Ombudsman. |
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Further to Minute No. 21 of the meeting held on 9th September 2010 and given the indication that it is the Government's intention to legislate for the abolition of ‘Standards for England’, the Members Code of Conduct and local standards committees, the Chairman has agreed to postpone the process for the appointment to the Committee of an additional town and parish council representative. The Monitoring Officer has written to the six Parish Councillors who had submitted applications to thank them for the interest they had expressed in the position.
An article has been included in the December’s addition of District Wide regarding the Committee’s Annual Report and a copy is appended hereto. Contact: C Deller 388007 Minutes: Further to Minute No. 21 of the meeting held on 9th September 2010 and in view of the uncertainty around the Government's intention to legislate for the abolition of 'Standards for England', the Members' Code of Conduct and local standards committees, Members noted that the Chairman had decided to postpone the process for the appointment to the Committee of an additional town and parish council representative and that the Monitoring Officer had written to the six parish councillors who had submitted applications to thank them for the interest that they had expressed in the position.
It was further noted that an article had been included in the December edition of District Wide regarding the availability, online, of the Committee's 2009/2010 annual report (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book). |
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Code of Recommended Practice On Local Authority Publicity: Consultation On 29th September 2010, the Government published for consultation a new Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity. The timescale for a response was short and regrettably, the closing date for representations was 10th November which fell outside the Committee’s cycle of meetings. The proposed new code will be underpinned by seven guiding principles. To give effect to the Government’s commitment to stop unfair competition by local authority newspapers, the proposed new Code now contains specific guidance on the frequency, content and appearance of local authority newspapers or magazines. It also proposes to prohibit the use of lobbyists where the expenditure is intended to influence local people on political issues. Copies of the consultation document and the response to it by the Association of Council Secretaries & Solicitors are enclosed for information. Contact: C Meadowcroft 388021 Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee was acquainted with proposals for a new Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity which had been published for consultation by the Government on 29th September 2010 (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book).
The Monitoring Officer reported that, regrettably, the timescale for the response to the consultation was short and that the closing date for representations had fallen outside the Committee's cycle of meetings. In terms of the structure of the proposed Code, the Committee noted that it would be under pinned by seven guiding principles which would require local authority publicity to be lawful, cost-effective, objective, even handed, appropriate, to have regard to equality and diversity and to be issued with care during periods of heightened sensitivity such as election periods. To give effect to the Government's commitment to stop perceived and unfair competition by local authority newspapers, Members noted that the proposed Code also would contain specific guidance on the frequency, content and appearance of local authority newspapers or magazines. In this respect, the Code proposed that these newspapers or magazines should not appear more frequently than once a quarter, should only include material that is directly related to the business, services or amenities of the authority or other local service providers and that they should be clearly marked as being published by the local authority. It was also understood that the Code proposed to prohibit the use of lobbyists where their expenditure was intended to influence local people on political issues.
Having noted the consultation document and the response to it by the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors, the Committee
RESOLVED
that no objections be raised to the principles of the new Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity. |
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LOG OF CODE OF CONDUCT ENQUIRIES To note the Code of Conduct enquiries recorded by the Head of Law, Property and Governance and Monitoring Officer since the meeting held in September. Contact: C Meadowcroft 388021 Minutes: The Committee received and noted the code of conduct enquiries which had been recorded by the Head of Law, Property and Governance and the Monitoring Officer since the last meeting in September 2010 (an extract of the log is appended in the Minute Book). The Committee was reminded that the area of the code which continued to cause the most concern related to the declaration of personal and prejudicial interests. |
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DUAL HATTED MEMBERS AND THE CODE OF CONDUCT Recently published guidance by ‘Standards for England’. Contact: C Meadowcroft 388021 Minutes: The Committee noted the content of guidance recently published by 'Standards for England' on dual hatted Members (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book). |
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'STANDARDS FOR ENGLAND': CASE REVIEW 2010 ‘Standards for England’ has prepared a new edition of its Case Review which can be accessed from their website using the following link. This year, ‘Standards for England’ will not be distributing a printed version but it will be available to download from their website shortly. This edition of the Case Review also includes links to the decisions that have been made by the First Tier Tribunal.
http://www.standardsforengland.gov.uk/CaseinformationReporting/OnlineCaseReview2010 Contact: C Meadowcroft 388021 Minutes: The Monitoring Officer reported that 'Standards for England' had prepared a new edition of its case review which could be accessed from their website using a link which had been circulated to Members. Members further understood that 'Standards for England' would not be distributing a printed version but that the publication would be available to download from their website shortly. The latest edition also included links to the decisions that had been made by the First Tier Tribunal. |
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SUMMARIES OF RECENTLY COMPLETED INVESTIGATIONS To note a case summary involving North Tynecastle Council recently published by ‘Standards for England’ and one which has been determined by the First Tier Tribunal General Regulatory Chamber. Contact: C Meadowcroft 388021 Additional documents: Minutes: For training purposes, the Committee noted a case summary involving North Tynecastle Council recently published by 'Standards for England' and one which had been determined by the First Tier Tribunal General Regulatory Chamber (copies of both cases are appended in the Minute Book). |
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING To note that the next meeting of the Committee will be held on Thursday 3rd March 2011 at 4pm in the Civic Suite, Pathfinder House, St. Mary's Street, Huntingdon. Minutes: It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held at 4pm on Thursday 3rd March 2011. |