Agenda item

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

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 5) which provided an update on local and national issues relating to ethical standards and to bring to the attention of Members any complaints or other problems within West Berkshire.

It was recommended that the Annual Governance and Ethics Report be presented to Full Council.

Sarah Clarke, Service Director, Strategy & Governance, introduced the report which noted the work which had been undertaken over the past year and highlighted matters of significance.  It had been agreed that the Monitoring Officer would produce an annual report following the introduction of the Localism Act 2011.  The key points to note from the report were as follows:

•         Thanks were offered to independent persons who had dealt with the complaints that had been received.

•         Thanks were also given to the Parish Council representatives who had assisted the work of the Governance & Ethics Committee.

•         Sarah Clarke thanked members of the Advisory Panel and the Parish Council representatives who had volunteered in the past year but who had not actually met in the current year. She confirmed that an advert had been circulated to all Parish Councils for further volunteers or expressions of interest to fulfil those roles in order to increase transparency.

Complaints

Members noted the significant increase in the number of complaints over the past year. However, a number of complaints related to each other, for example 16 complaints were connected to the same issues at a single Parish Council. None of the complaints to-date had been referred for investigation although one remained outstanding where the initial hearing had taken place but the decision notices had not yet been issued and that outcome would be updated by the time the report was considered at Full Council. 

Other actions had been requested as follows:

•     Training had been suggested in relation to one of the Parish Councillors in declaring an interest at the beginning of meetings. 

•     The Monitoring Officer had written to the Leaders of the political parties regarding Social Media use. Those e-mails had been issued on the 17 March 2021.

•     A request had been made for additional training on the use of social media to be given to Members to improve outcomes and perception.

Gifts and Hospitality

Details of Officers’ gifts and hospitality declared over the past year had been included in the report.  However, there had been a reduction in gifts and hospitality received which was likely reflected in the altered circumstances in which Officers had found themselves working in since the onset of the Covid pandemic. No declarations of gifts and hospitality had been made by Members which, again, reflected the working at home circumstances that Members had adhered to in respect of Covid 19 guidelines. 

Sarah Clarke concluded that, in general, despite the rise in complaints, standards of conduct remained high in the District.

Councillor Jeff Beck thanked Sarah Clarke for her summary of the report.

Councillor Claire Rowles asked if there was any mechanism in place to prompt Members to review and update their entry in the Register of Interest.  Sarah Clarke stated it was her understanding that a reminder normally went out to Members around the time of Annual Council to ask them to review and update.  Sarah Clarke confirmed that she would clarify whether this was the case and was happy to assist with ensuring this reminder was given.  Councillor Rowles advised she had reviewed and updated her own interest though no prompt to do so had been forthcoming so was appreciative of Sarah Clarke’s assistance with a formal reminder. Councillor Jeff Beck said that he had personally  received a prompt to review and update the Register this year as he had done previously so could not account for Councillor Rowles’ lack of prompt, however, if there had been any significant change to an individual’s circumstances then it was the Member’s responsibility to notify the Council of those changes. 

RESOLVED that the report be noted and that it would be circulated to all Parish/Town Councils in the District for information.