Agenda and minutes

This being the first meeting of the West Suffolk Standards Committee since the Authority’s Annual Meeting in May 2023, the Monitoring Officer opened the meeting and asked for nominations for the Chair of the Committee for 2023/2024.

Councillor Victor Lukaniuk nominated Councillor Roger Dicker and Councillor Dicker accepted the nomination.

There being no other nominations, it was unanimously

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Roger Dicker be elected as Chair for 2023/2024.

Councillor Dicker thanked the Committee and then took the Chair for the remainder of the meeting. 

The Chair then sought nominations for the position of Vice Chair.

Councillor Margaret Marks nominated Councillor Sara Mildmay-White and Councillor Mildmay-White accepted the nomination.

Councillor Marilyn Sayer nominated Councillor Julia Wakelam and advised the meeting that Councillor Wakelam (who was not present) had accepted the nomination.

In light of there being two nominations for the position of Vice Chair the Monitoring Officer explained that each nomination would be voted on in turn, with each Member of the Committee only being able to vote for one of the two, and the Member with the highest number of votes would be appointed as Vice Chair.

Upon being put to the vote:

·         Councillor Sara Mildmay-White received 3 votes; and

·         Councillor Julia Wakelam received 4 votes.

Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Julia Wakelam be elected as Vice Chair for 2023/2024.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Julia Wakelam.

Any Member who is substituting for another member should so indicate, together with the name of the relevant absent member.

The following substitution was declared:

Councillor Marilyn Sayer substituting for Councillor Julia Wakelam.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 15 March 2023 (copy attached.)

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 March 2023 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any interest which they have in any item of business on the agenda, no later than when that item is reached and, when appropriate, to leave the meeting prior to discussion and voting on the item.

There were no declarations of interest made.

Members of the public who live or work in the District are welcome to speak and may ask one question or make a statement of not more than three minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only.  If a question is asked and answered within three minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply.

A person who wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start.

There is an overall limit of 15 minutes for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chair’s discretion.

There were no questions/statements from members of the public. 

Attached to this agenda item is the current Standards Procedure and Standards Committee Procedure, for information and discussion.

Further to the pre-meeting training that had been undertaken with Members on the Standards Regime, the Monitoring Officer drew attention to the Standards Procedure and Standards Committee Procedure which had been attached to the agenda for the Committee’s information.

The Monitoring Officer explained that she would be looking to review both procedures in the near future and they would be subject to a future report to the Committee for their consideration.

Discussion also took place on the annual complaints’ statistical report which the Committee would consider, and potential format changes to that to ensure it was of most value.

The Chair made reference to the start time of the Committee’s meetings being 5.00pm which he considered to be difficult for those Members who worked.

Accordingly, he proposed that the start time of the Committee be moved to 6.00pm and this was duly seconded by Councillor Marilyn Sayer.

Upon being put to the vote it was

RESOLVED:

That future meetings of the West Suffolk Standards Committee commence at 6.00pm.