Agenda and minutes
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To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 2nd September 2013. Minutes: The Minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2013 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman. |
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Declarations of Interest To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any Personal, Disclosable Pecuniary or other interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest received. |
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Amendments to the Constitution - Parts 4, 7 and 13 (C2728) Additional documents:
Minutes: David Holling introduced the report which set out some proposed changes to Part 4 (Council Rules of Procedure), Part 7 (Regulatory and Other Committees Rules of Procedure) and Part 13 (Codes and Protocols) in light of recent legislative and policy changes and to accord with recently issued government guidance. Following an internal audit of the management of the Constitution in 2010 it was noted that one of the responsibilities of the Finance and Governance Group was to have ownership of the Council's Constitution. The content of the Local Code of Corporate Governance stated that there would be an annual review of the operation of the Constitution. A timetable had therefore been established for the Finance and Governance Group to review individual sections of the Constitution and a number of Officers had been involved in revising specific parts of the Constitution. This report proposed amendments to Parts 4 (Council Rules of Procedure), 7 (Regulatory and Other Committees Rules of Procedure) and 13 (Codes and Protocols) of the Constitution as set out within the report. The following key changes had been made to the various sections of the Constitution. Part 4 Council Rules of Procedure The Use of Electronic Devices (4.6.2) was aligned with the proposed Social Media Protocol which would also be discussed at the December 2013 Council meeting. Paragraph 4.13.7 (Amendments to Motions) was amended to take on board the request made by the Portfolio Holder for Finance about making information available on amendments proposed at the annual budget meeting. Appendix A was amended to take cognisance of the guidelines issued by Central Government on broadcasting meetings. Part 7 Regulatory and Other Committees Rules of Procedure Information pertaining to the various meetings covered by this part of the Constitution had been standardised. The Use of Electronic Devices (7.2.5) had been aligned with the proposed Social Media Protocol which would also be discussed at the December 2013 Council meeting. Reference to authority to appoint Members to Outside Bodies had been removed as this function had been delegated to the Leader of the Council. Reference to Urgency Sub-Committee had been removed as this committee no longer formed part of the Council’s governance structure. Appendix A was amended to take cognisance of the guidelines issued by Central Government on broadcasting meetings. Part 13 Codes and Protocols This Part of the Constitution had been aligned to the revisions to the Members’ Code of Conduct which would also be discussed at the December 2013 Council meeting. The Officer’s Code of Conduct had been updated to align it with changes to a number of HR Policies and to provide additional clarity to this section of the Constitution. This section had also had the text changed in respect of gifts and hospitality to align it with current working practices. Appendix B (Protocol for Decision Making by Individual Executive Member) had been amended to align it with the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012. Appendix C (Procedure Rules for Dealing ... view the full minutes text for item 18. |
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Revised Code of Conduct for Members (including a Social Media Protocol) (C2737) Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 5) which asked Members to discuss and if appropriate agree any recommended changes to the Members’ Code of Conduct following the scheduled review by the Standards Committee and to consider the introduction of an associated Social Media Protocol for Members. David Holling introduced the changes required to the Members’ Code of Conduct. West Berkshire Council’s Code of Conduct for Councillors had been adopted by Full Council at its meeting on 10th May 2012 and came into effect from 1st July 2012. The new processes had been in place for a year and, as suggested in the original report, the Code had been reviewed by a Task Group of the Standards Committee to reflect on its effectiveness. Following that review a number of changes were therefore set out in the document attached to the report. Blogging and social networking had become increasingly popular and was an effective method for Councillors to interact with their parishioners. However, it was not clear whether such activities were covered by the Code of Conduct and therefore a Social Media Protocol had been drafted to ensure that the use of online media was well received. The following changes to the existing Code of Conduct had been proposed by the Standards Committee Task Group: · The scope of when the Code was applicable should be reviewed and if appropriate clarified; · Footnotes pertaining to the Bribery Act 2010 and the Local Authority Code of Publicity should be inserted; · The terms “you must” and “you must not” to be inserted into the Code relating to the obligations of Members; · The level at which gifts and hospitality should be declared to be reviewed and if appropriate amended. A number of amendments were also proposed to the existing procedures which included an assumption that hearings should take place in public and the ability for an Advisory Panel to refer an investigation back to the investigator if appropriate. David Holling stated that the report had been considered by the Standards Committee where it had been agreed that the level at which gifts and hospitality should be declared should remain at the current value of £25. The Standards Committee were supportive of the Social Media Protocol. The following amendments to the document were also agreed at the Governance and Audit meeting:
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