To elect an Independent Member to serve as Chair of the Standards Committee until 30^th June 2012.

The Service Head, Democratic Services advised members that this was the first meeting of the Committee in the new municipal year.   As such it was necessary to elect a Chair.  That person would normally hold that post for the remainder of the year, although in this case would only serve until 30^th June 2012, when the Standards Committee would be abolished and the new standards regime would come into operation.  Mr Williams invited nominations for an Independent Member to serve as Chair.

Ms Sue Rossiter MOVED and Mr Barry Lowe SECONDED that Mr Barry O’Connor be re-elected as Chair of the Standards Committee for 2012/13 or until the Committee was disbanded. 

No further nominations were received and it was therefore

RESOLVED

That Mr Barry O’Connor be elected as Chair of the Standards Committee until 30^th June 2012.

Chair for the meeting

In the absence of the Chair, Mr O’Connor, Ms Sue Rossiter MOVED that Mr Eric Pemberton be elected Chair for the meeting and this was SECONDED by Ms Councillor Zara Davis.

No further nominations were received and it was therefore

RESOLVED

That Mr Eric Pemberton be elected Chair of the Standards Committee for the duration of the meeting.

To elect an Independent Member to serve as Vice-Chair of the Standards Committee until 30^th June 2012.

MR ERIC PEMBERTON IN THE CHAIR

The Chair called for nominations for an Independent Member to serve as Vice-Chair of the Committee until 30^th June 2012.

Councillor Josh Peck MOVED that Mr Matthew Rowe be elected Vice-Chair and this was SECONDED by Ms Sue Rossiter.

No further nominations were received and it was therefore

RESOLVED

That Mr Matthew Rowe be elected Vice-Chair of the Standards Committee until 30^th June 2012.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Mr Barry O’Connor and Councillor Carli Harper-Penman.

Cllr Josh Peck deputised for Councillor Carli Harper-Penman.

Apologies for lateness were received from Mr Matthew Rowe and Mr Denzil Johnson.

To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992.  See attached note from the Chief Executive.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Standards Committee held on 10^th May 2012.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 10th May 2012 be approved as a correct record of proceedings subject to the following amendment:

Paragraph 4.2, page 8 – Resolution should read, “That the report be subject to further consultation and amended before going to full Council”.

To note the Committee’s membership, terms of reference and programme of ordinary meetings for 2012/13.  The report of the Service Head, Democratic Services is attached.

In response to a query about the makeup of the new Standards Advisory Committee, Mr John Williams, Service Head, Democratic Services explained that if Barry O’Connor were appointed the new Independent Person, this would prevent him from being a Member of the committee. He could however attend meetings as an observer.

Mr Williams also advised the Committee that paragraph 6 a) of the report contained a typing error.  The co-opted members of the Standards Advisory Committee would in fact be voting members.

RESOLVED

That subject to the correction above, the report be noted.

Following the Members’ seminar on Wednesday 30^th May 2012, Members’ views and comments will be incorporated and an amended version of the report will be circulated on Wednesday 6^th June 2012.

The Chair drew Members' attention to tabled copies of the following documents:

1. Localism Act – The Amended Standards Regime - report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services);
2. Extraordinary Council Meeting:18^th June 2012 – Localism Act 2011 – The Amended Standards Regime draft report;
3. Disclosable pecuniary interests schedule;
4. Conservative group comments;
5. Statutory Instrument 2012 No. 1463; and
6. Localism Act 2011 – The Amended Standards Regime: Addendum report.

Ms Isabella Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive, Legal Services highlighted the key changes and commented as follows:

·        Paragraph 1 – recruitment for an Independent Person: it was agreed that some of the Members of the Standards Advisory Committee [SAC] will participate in the recruitment process

·        Paragraph 2.3 - as regards consideration of any requests for dispensations, officers proposed that a Dispensation Sub-Committee of the SAC be part of this process, with the option for such a committee to be convened at relatively short notice. In the case of urgent matters, it could be resolved by email and ratified at a later stage;

·        Paragraph 3.5 - this allowed for the possibility of the Independent Person being the current Chair of the Standards Committee from the 1^st July when the new SAC comes into being; 

·        Paragraph 5.2 - with regards to the oversight of all complaints including those not referred for investigation, officers recommended that the Monitoring Officer and Independent Person consult on the matter initially, and then report to an Investigation and Disciplinary Sub-Committee – there will be no recourse to the main committee. This was to ensure finality and avoid the matter becoming protracted;

·        Paragraph 5.3 - where there had been no breach of the code, it would be referred to the Investigation Sub-Committee and this would conclude the matter;

·        Paragraph 5.9 - the findings would be published in a local newspaper and on the Council's website. Ms Freeman assured Members that the decision would be published simply as a notice in the newspaper;

·        Paragraph 5.11 - with regards to the right of appeal, officers recommended a Hearings Sub-Committee and a separate Appeal Sub-Committee. It was for Members to decide if a two-tier system would still be adopted, whilst allowing for an appeal to be made to the first tier tribunal;

·        Paragraph 5.13 - dealt with the monitoring of report-back to  the Advisory Committee as to whether a sanction had been complied with;

·        Paragraph 5.14 – dealt with situations where three consecutive meetings had been missed and bringing it to the attention of full Council.

Terms of Reference, Appendix 1

·        Confidential matters: the proposal was for matters to remain confidential until a complaint was investigated and substantiated;

·        Composition - the SAC will be chaired by a co-opted member.

Role and function

·        Where a complaint had been referred for investigation by the Monitoring Officer, and such a complaint was subject to an investigation, the SAC/Sub-Committee would recommend whether or not it should proceed to hearing.

·        If the Monitoring Officer considered that a complaint should not be the subject of an investigation or  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.2

In response to a query by the Chair about the composition of the new Standards Advisory Committee, Mr Williams explained that it will comprise seven Councillors and seven co-opted Members. He also confirmed that the Chair of SAC will be a co-opted member.

The meeting ended at 8.45 pm.

Chair, Eric Pemberton.

Standards Committee

PLEASE NOTE THAT FOLLOWING CHANGES TO THE STANDARDS REGIME IN THE LOCALISM ACT 2011, THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE WILL CEASE TO EXIST FROM 30^TH JUNE 2012.  A NEW STANDARDS ADVISORY COMMITTEE WILL COME INTO EXISTENCE FROM 1^ST JULY 2012.

IF YOU NEED TO ACCESS OLD AGENDAS OR MINUTES OF THE DECOMMISSIONED STANDARDS COMMITTEE, PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW, OR CUT AND PASTE IT INTO YOUR WEB BROWSER:

http://moderngov.towerhamlets.gov.uk/ieDocHome.aspx?Categories=