Agenda and draft minutes

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting. 

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman to report on any requests to submit petitions or to address the meeting.

There were no petitions or requests to address the meeting.

The Chairman to advise whether they have agreed to any item of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

There was no urgent business.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 7 March 2012.

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2012 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Report of Head of Law and Governance / Monitoring Officer

Summary

To enable the Committee to finalise its recommendations to Council on 16 May 2012 on the form of a code of conduct for members to be adopted with effect from the relevant legislative date (currently anticipated to be 1 July 2012) and on the nature, composition and terms of reference of the elected member body to be responsible for the arrangements that are statutorily required to ensure that the Council can investigate allegations of misconduct by district and parish councillors and determine an appropriate outcome. Further to enable the Committee to recommend to Council the number of independent persons to be appointed, the appointment and remuneration process and the delegation of authority to the Monitoring Officer to enable the necessary legal arrangements to be introduced.

Recommendations

That Standards Committee recommends to Council:

(1)               The adoption of the code of conduct at Appendix 1 with effect from 1 July 2012 or such other date as is legislatively required (“the effective date”) and its endorsement for adoption by the Town and Parish Councils in Cherwell District.

(2)               Such nature and composition of elected member body as it considers appropriate for the purpose of hearing and determining complaints of Councillor misconduct such body to have the terms of reference set out at Appendix 4 and to be established from the effective date to replace the current Standards Committee.

(3)               That two independent persons be appointed by Council at a future date on the recommendation of a panel comprising two members of the elected member body plus the Head of Law and Governance and that authority to fix an initial allowance payment for such persons be delegated to the Head of Law and Governance in consultation with the Head of Finance and Procurement.

(4)               That authority be delegated to the Head of Law and Governance to take the necessary steps to establish a register of interests for District, Town and Parish Councillors and the required arrangements (including a complaints procedure and a hearing procedure) pending formal consideration by the elected member body in due course.

The Head of Law and Governance submitted a report which enabled the Committee to finalise its recommendations to Council on 16 May 2012 on the form of a code of conduct for members to be adopted with effect from the relevant legislative date (currently anticipated to be 1 July 2012) and on the nature, composition and terms of reference of the elected member body to be responsible for the arrangements that were statutorily required to ensure that the Council could investigate allegations of misconduct by district and parish councillors and determine an appropriate outcome. The report further sought to enable the Committee to recommend to Council the number of independent persons to be appointed, the appointment and remuneration process and the delegation of authority to the Monitoring Officer to enable the necessary legal arrangements to be introduced.

Code of Conduct

The Chairman reminded the Committee that at their March meeting, members had endorsed the proposed approach of the Monitoring Officers in Oxfordshire to seek to ensure, as far as practicable, the adoption of a common code at County, District and Parish levels.

In considering the proposed Oxfordshire Code of Conduct, some Members commented that it seemed relatively vague with no definition of exactly what pertained to breaking the Code. Other Members of the Committee countered that the Oxfordshire Code was very concise and was preferable to the LGA promoted Code. The Head of Law and Governance confirmed that the Code was currently being presented to all other Oxfordshire district councils and the county council for approval.

The Committee agreed that Council should be recommended to adopt the Oxfordshire Code of Conduct and that it be endorsed for adoption by Town and Parish Councils in the district.

Nature and Composition of Elected Member Body

The Committee was reminded that at their March meeting Members had indicated support for a free standing Standards Committee rather than the previously supported view that the role be subsumed by the Accounts, Audit and Risk Committee. The Committee noted that the draft Terms of Reference submitted by the Head of Law and Governance could apply to either a free standing committee or be added to the remit of the Accounts, Audit and Risk Committee.

In considering the nature and composition of the elected member body, the Committee reaffirmed their preference for a free standing Standards Committee comprising 8 members. The previously held view to transfer responsibilities to the Accounts, Audit and Risk Committee had been reached when it was anticipated a Code of Conduct would not be mandatory. However as this was now mandatory under the Localism Act 2011, the Committee agreed that it was appropriate to have a separate Committee to demonstrate independence. Additionally, as the district council retained responsibility for town and parish councils, members agreed that the Committee should have the power to co-opt as it felt appropriate. Members noted that the Committee would be a Local Government Act 1972 Committee and therefore subject to political balance rules.  

The Committee agreed that Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.