Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 October 2018 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Monitoring Officer provided a report to update the committee on complaints received. The Monitoring Officer advised the committee of five complaint cases regarding alleged breaches of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct since the last meeting. One complaint had been reviewed and no formal action taken following initial assessment. The four remaining were at the initial assessment stage and were being dealt with by the Monitoring Officer, giving due regard to the Councillors Complaint Procedure and, where appropriate the Independent Person had been consulted. The Monitoring Officers report was revised accordingly.

The Monitoring Officer reported that since the last meeting, letters had been sent to the Town and Parish Councils in respect of adopting a universal Code of Conduct. No comments had been received.

It was RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Monitoring Officer provided a verbal update for the committee to consider potential amendments to the Borough Council’s Code of Conduct, including the incorporation of a Social Media guide. The Monitoring Officer recommended that revisions to the Code be drafted to incorporate these changes prior to being circulated to stakeholders for comment, with their responses reported back to the committee.

The committee agreed a timeline to progress the amendments as follows:

·       Town and Parish Forum - (date to be confirmed - preferably before next Standards Committee) – Monitoring Officer to present amended draft Councillor’s Code of Conduct.

·       Standards Committee, 25 February 2019 – Monitoring Officer to report feedback and comments from Town and Parish Forum.

·       Full Council, 7 March 2019 – Monitoring Officer to provide a report on the Revised Councillor Code of Conduct for the Council, Town and Parish Council’s to adopt.

Members of the Committee agreed that particular attention was required to ensure clarity on critically important areas such as recording Councillor’s registration of interests and on declaration of pecuniary and non-pecuniary Interests at meetings.

The Committee also agreed that an induction programme for new Councillor’s was essential, and that the Councillor Code of Conduct and the recording of Councillor’s Registration of Interests would form part of the induction. The Monitoring Officer advised the Committee that this is currently being looked at and developed by the Performance, Reputation and Constitutional Services Manager.

It was RESOLVED that:

a)    The revised Councillor’s Code of Conduct and draft Socual Media guidelines be approved for circulation to the Town and Parish Forum for comment.

b)    Comments from the Town and Parish Forum on the draft revisions to the Code of Conduct and Social Media guidelines are reported to Standards Committee on 25 February 2019 for consideration.

c)     The revision to the Code of Conduct and Social Media guidelines are reported to Full Council on 7 March 2019 for approval.