Venue: CVSO, 1A, Civic Suite, 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.uk
No. | Item |
---|---|
To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 7th July 2011. Contact: C Deller 388007 Minutes: The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 7th July 2011 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. |
|
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: Councillor R S Farrer declared a personal and prejudicial interest in Minute No. 13 (a) by virtue of his connection with a case which had been considered by the Referrals (Assessment) Sub-Committee.
Councillors R S Farrer and A Hansard declared personal interests in Minute No. 15 by virtue of their membership of St. Neots Town Council. |
|
REPORTS OF SUB-COMMITTEES (a) Referrals (Assessment) Sub-Committee
The Sub-Committee is due to meet on 1st September 2011 (after the despatch of the Agenda.) The Chairman will update the Committee on the conclusions reached on the two cases to be considered involving Members from St. Ives and St. Neots Town Councils.
(b) Review Sub-Committee
(c) Standards (Consideration and Hearing) Sub-Committee These Sub-Committees have not been required to meet since July. Minutes: Mr M Lynch reported on the outcome of a case that had been considered by the Referrals (Assessment) Sub-Committee whilst he was still acting as Chairman. This case involved a Member serving on St. Neots Town Council. However, Mr Lynch considered it inappropriate to discuss the conclusion reached in the case of the Councillor on St. Ives Town Council because the Decision Notice had not yet been issued to the individual concerned.
It was noted that the Review and Consideration and Hearing Sub-Committees had not been required to meet during the period. |
|
STANDARD FOR ENGLAND - LATEST? PDF 27 KB To note the content of a press release published by the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors (ACSeS) on the progress of the Localism Bill through Parliament and specifically those provisions relating to ethical standards. The Monitoring Officer to update the Committee on any further developments subsequent to the despatch of the agenda. Contact: C Meadowcroft 388021 Minutes: By reference to a press release published by the Association of Council, Secretaries and Solicitors on 28th July 2011 (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Monitoring Officer reported on the progress of the Localism Bill through Parliament and specifically upon those provisions of the Bill relating to Standards.
As the Council previously had indicated its support for the formulation of a National Code of Conduct, the Committee was pleased to hear that a cross-party group of peers were pursuing amendments to the Bill which could secure a national code to be issued through the Local Government Association, the retention of Standards Committees with an independent Chairman and the removal of criminal sanctions for breaches of Members’ interest provisions.
Members remained of the view that whilst there had been concerns about the current procedures for the assessment and determination of complaints, the public would expect there to be a mechanism through which less serious complaints could be reviewed.
As it was the expectation that the House of Lords would take a view on these proposals shortly, the Monitoring Officer undertook to advise the Committee of any developments as they emerged. Whereupon, it was
RESOLVED
that the content of the press release published by the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors be noted. |
|
APPLICATIONS FOR DISPENSATION PDF 36 KB To consider a report by the Head of Legal & Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer regarding applications received for dispensations on behalf of town and parish councils in Huntingdonshire. Contact: C Deller 388007 Minutes: Having regard to a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book), the Committee considered applications received for dispensation from Colne, Great Gransden, Folksworth and Washingley, St. Neots and Upwood and The Raveleys Town & Parish Councils. Each application had been submitted because previous dispensations had expired on 30th April - the end of the terms of office of the respective Councils.
Members were reminded that, in these cases, dispensation was requested to allow Members of the Town and Parish Councils concerned to discuss and vote on matters relating to community facilities in their parish for a specified period.
The Committee again expressed some unease at granting dispensations in situations where all Members of a Town/Parish Council served as Trustees to a community facility and requested the Monitoring Officer to encourage those Parish Councils from whom applications had been submitted to explore ways to review their Trustee arrangements so that people other than Councillors became Trustees. Given the likelihood of changes to the standards regime and their desire to urge Parish Councils to amend their trustee arrangements in the meantime, the Committee considered whether it would be appropriate to grant dispensations for a two-year rather than four-year period. Whereupon, it was
RESOLVED
(a) that a dispensation be granted to the current Members of Colne Parish Council to speak and vote on matters relating to the village hall and playing fields in Colne for the period ending 30th April 2013;
(b) that a dispensation be granted to the current Members of Great Gransden Parish Council to speak and vote on matters relating to Great Gransden Reading Room and Public Recreation Ground for a period ending 30th April 2013;
(c) that a dispensation be granted to the current Members of Folksworth and Washingley Parish Council to speak and vote on matters relating to the Village Hall for a period ending 30th April 2013;
(d) that a dispensation be granted to the current Members of St. Neots Town Council to speak and vote on matters relating to St. Neots Outdoor Swimming Pool and Ackerman Street Playing Field, Eaton Socon for a period ending 30th April 2013; and
(e) that dispensation be granted to the current Members of Upwood and The Raveleys Parish Council to speak and vote on matters relating to the Charities associated with allotments for the poor in the Parish for a period ending April 2013.
|
|
LOG OF CODE OF CONDUCT ENQUIRIES PDF 426 KB To note the Code of Conduct enquiries recorded by the Head of Legal & Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer since the meeting held in July. Contact: C Meadowcroft 388021 Minutes: The Committee received and noted the Code of Conduct enquiries which had been recorded by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services and the Monitoring Officer since the last meeting in July (an extract of the log is appended in the Minute Book). |
|
TRAINING UPDATE Since the last meeting, the Monitoring Officer has presented training on the Code of Conduct to St Neots Town Council and enquiries have been made about the possibility of sessions for Huntingdon Town Council and for several parishes in the north of the District hosted by Farcet Parish Council. Contact: C. Meadowcroft 388021 Minutes: The Monitoring Officer reported that, since the last meeting, he had presented training on the Code of Conduct to St. Neots Town Council and that enquiries had been made about the possibility of sessions for Huntingdon Town Council and for several parishes in the north of the District hosted by Farcet Parish Council. |
|
DATE OF NEXT MEETING To note that the next meeting of the Committee will be held Thursday 1st December 2011 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 1st December 2011. |