This report updated Members on the work of the
Monitoring Officer since the last update was provided to the Joint
Committee in December 2017.
Attention was drawn to Paragraph 1.2 of Report
No JST/JT/18/003 which showed that the total number of complaints
for 2017/2018 was exactly the same as the total for 2016/2017
(21).
Members were advised that there were over 700
Parish/Town/District/
Borough Councillors within West Suffolk
meaning the total number of complaints only accounted for around 3%
and only 1% of these were upheld. This
demonstrated that standards were overall very high.
The Joint Committee was also asked to consider
the section of the report which related to Councillors who were
landlords. The Monitoring Officer
explained that there had been interest nationally on the topic of
Councillors as landlords and whether they should be able to take
part in voting and discussion on policies related to private sector
housing.
To offer clarity to those West Suffolk
Councillors who were also landlords it was suggested that the Joint
Committee consider a dispensation based on the principals set out
in Paragraph 4.6 of the report.
Considerable discussion took place on this
matter with the Joint Committee wishing to strengthen the wording
proposed in the report.
As such, it was proposed and duly seconded and
with the vote being unanimous, it was
RESOLVED:
That, in light of the items due for
consideration at the Shadow Council meeting on 17 July 2018, an
email be sent to all West Suffolk Councillors from the Monitoring
Officer on conclusion of the Joint Standards Committee meeting to
advise that:
Councillors must declare if they are a
landlord in West Suffolk when any private sector housing matters
are considered by the Council.
If any Councillor believes that their
judgement would be impaired by their own personal situation, then
they should not take part in a decision.
Any Councillor who has concerns as to their
own personal situation and ability to take part in a discussion or
vote should seek and follow the advice of the Monitoring
Officer.
In particular:
a)
No Councillor should be able to discuss, participate or take part
in voting at any meeting of the Council which is considering a
specific decision / determination about a property they own, or a
tenant of such property;
b)
No Councillors should be able to discuss, participate or take part
in voting at a council meeting assessing a matter related to the
private sector housing rental market where, at the time the
decision is made, they financially gain or lose as a landlord as a
result of the decision;
c)
No Councillor should be able to discuss, participate or take part
in voting where it specifically requires them to do something as a
landlord, that the majority of landlords in the Council’s
area would not be required to do
Councillors may take part in a decision
where:
a)
It is a general policy relating to the Council’s approach
towards housing and homelessness; AND
b)
It does ...
view the full minutes text for item 62.