To approve as a correct record, the Minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 6 January 2012.

(previously circulated)

RESOLVED

that the Minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on the 6 January 2012 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To deal with general questions and statements from members of the public in accordance with the scheme of public participation set out in Annex 1 to Part A4 of the Constitution.

There were no applications from members of the public to speak under the Public Participation Procedure allowed for under Part A4 of the Constitution.

To update the Committee on gifts and hospitality declared by Central Bedfordshire Councils Members from September 2011 to February 2012.

The Committee received and considered the report which provided an update on the gifts and hospitality declared by Central Bedfordshire Members since the last meeting.

RESOLVED

that the declarations of gifts and hospitality received by Central Bedfordshire Members as set out in Appendix “A” to the report of the Monitoring Officer be noted.

To advise Members on the latest position relating Assessment, Reviews and Hearings.

The Committee considered the report of the Monitoring Officer which advised Members of the latest position relating to Assessments, Reviews and Hearings.  In presenting the report, the Monitoring Officer provided additional information about several cases which had not been available at the time the agenda was printed.

The Committee and Officers were thanked for their time and consideration of the cases to date.

RESOLVED

that the Update on Current Standards Matters be noted.

To receive an update from Cllr Mrs J Lawrence on the porposals being considered for future Standards issues.

The Committee received a verbal update from the Monitoring Officer and the Vice-Chairman (Elected Representative) regarding the future of Standards and the work of the Ethical Standards Task Force.

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that the current Standards arrangements would cease on 30 June 2012.  Any complaints, which had not been completed prior to 1 July 2012 would be dealt with under the new arrangements.

It was noted that the Independent Members and the Town and Parish Representatives appointments had been extended indefinitely and so the existing membership of the Standards Committee would remain in place until the end of the current Standards arrangements on 30 June 2012.  It was anticipated that the Elected Members would be reappointed at the AGM until 30 June 2012.

The Vice-Chairman (Elected Representative) provided the Committee with an overview of the work which had been carried out by the Task Force and provided a copy of the draft Code of Conduct to apply from 1 April 2012.

The Task Force had met in January and February to determine how Standards would be delivered in future.  It was proposed that responsibility for ethical standards would be one of the functions of a new Governance and Audit Committee, which would incorporate the functions of the Audit, General Purposes, Standards Committees and the Constitution Advisory Group (CAG).

The Governance and Audit Committee would establish a sub-committee with specific responsibility for Standards with a membership of 6 elected members and 3 Independent persons. 

Under the provisions of the Localism Act 2011 Independent Persons would replace Independent Members.  It was noted that the current Independent Members were ineligible to serve as Independent Persons for this Council.  However, Central Government was considering the option of introducing transitional arrangements for 12 months.  The transitional arrangements would allow the existing Independent Members to serve on the new Committee for a limited period whilst the Independent Persons positions were advertised.

The new arrangements would allow for an initial review of the less serious complaints to be undertaken by the Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Independent Person.  If it was determined that a complaint should be considered for investigation then it would need to be considered by a panel to confirm the need of an investigation.

The Ethical Standards Task Force was minded to include provision for either the complainant or the Member to seek a review of a decision, but this process would be different from the current format for reviews and appeals.

The new Code of Conduct had been drafted in consultation with Bedfordshire Rural Charities Commission (BRCC) and the Task Force hoped that it might be adopted by all of the Town and Parish Councils as well as Central Bedfordshire Council.

The Committee asked for consideration to be given to the following changes to the Code of Conduct:-

• amend paragraph 1.4 to read “The Code is consistent with the following  Nolan principles:”
• the removal of the worked “should” and replace with “must” or “shall”
• amend paragraph 4.1 to read “Members must  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.