Agenda item

Purpose: To provide an update on local and national issues relating to ethical standards and to bring to the attention of the Committee any complaints or other problems within West Berkshire.

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 5) concerning an update on ethical matters for quarter one of the 2015/16 municipal year.

As Members were aware, the Governance and Audit and Standards Committees had been merged and the membership had been amended.

In addition to this Committee, the Council had also appointed three Independent Persons James Rees, Mike Wall and Lindsey Appleton. Their attendance at the Initial Assessments and Advisory Panels meetings had been rotated to ensure they all were familiar with the various stages of the complaints process. The Committee gave thanks to the three Independent Persons for agreeing to accept the roles.

The Council had continued to receive very few complaints during the first quarter of the municipal year. One complaint was received but it was subsequently withdrawn. Members were warned that there would be a dramatic increase in the number of complaints received during the second quarter.

The investigation into complaints NPC4/14, NPC5/14 and NPC1/15 was concluded in July 2015 and the Advisory Panel met on the 13 August 2015 to consider the Investigator’s report. The Panel concurred with the investigator’s finding that in respect of complaints NPC4/14 and NPC1/15 no breach had occurred and therefore no further action would be taken on these matters. They however did concur with the finding that there might be a breach in respect of NPC5/14.  A special Governance and Ethics Committee had therefore been arranged for the 3 September 2015 to consider this complaint.

No dispensations were granted during Quarter 1 and there were no declarations of gifts and hospitality made by District Councillors during Quarter 1 of 2015/16.

Training on the Code of Conduct for District, Town and Parish Councillors was undertaken in June 2015 and a further session had been arranged for October 2015.

Councillor Webb welcomed Barry Dickens and Chris Bridges, the co-opted Parish Council Representatives, to the meeting.

Councillor Graham Bridgman questioned what mechanisms the Council could utilise to ensure that Parish and Town Councillors observed their Code of Conduct. Councillor Bridgman also requested further information regarding the Code of Conduct training. David Holling advised that the training session in June 2015 was attended by approximately 12 parish clerks and councillors. Not all parishes used the same Code of Conduct. Another training session would be arranged for later in the year and would be advertised widely. Councillor Webb suggested that the training session could be announced at the District Parish Conference on 13 October 2015. (Post meeting note: The additional training session had been arranged to coincide with the next District Parish Meeting and invitations had already been issued to all Parish Councils. A reminder would be issued in mid-September).

Councillor Bridgman stated that the Terms of Reference document attached at Appendix B to the report contained poor use of punctuation and capitalisation. Councillor Cole concurred and identified that the use of ‘etc’ under the definition of a relative on page 17 made the meaning vague. Councillor Webb suggested that any comments be directed to Moira Fraser, Democratic and Electoral Services Manager.

David Holling, in answering Councillor Bridgman’s first question, advised that the Council had a statutory duty to make parish and town councils aware of their Code of Conduct. As the Council’s Monitoring Officer, he received copies of all Declarations of Interest made by Parish and Town Councillors. It was the parish clerk’s responsibility to maintain the Code of Conduct. Under the Localism Act 2011, the Council and Parish Councils were expected to publish this information on their websites.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.