Agenda for West Suffolk Standards Committee on Monday 7 October 2019, 5.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, College Heath Road, Mildenhall

Contact: Helen Hardinge: Democratic Services Officer  Email: helen.hardinge@westsuffolk.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

9.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Margaret Marks.

10.

Substitutes

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

Minutes:

No substitutions were declared.

11.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 95 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 15 July 2019 (copy attached.)

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 July 2019 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

12.

Election of Vice Chair for 2019/2020

Minutes:

Further to the last meeting of the Committee when it was resolved to suspend Standing Orders in order to allow the West Suffolk Standards Committee to appoint a Vice Chair for 2019/2020 at a subsequent meeting, the Chair now sought nominations for the role.

 

Following discussion and advice provided by the Monitoring Officer, Councillor Max Clarke nominated himself as Chair and this was seconded by Councillor Roger Dicker.

 

There being no other nominations, it was unanimously

 

RESOLVED:

 

That Councillor Max Clarke be elected Vice Chair for 2019/2020.

13.

Public Participation

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.

Minutes:

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

14.

Exclusion of Press and Public

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded during the consideration of the following items because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during the items, there would be disclosure to them of exempt categories of information as prescribed in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, and indicated against each item, and in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. 

Minutes:

As the next item on the agenda was exempt, it was proposed by Councillor Roger Dicker, seconded by Councillor Robert Everitt and

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the press and public be excluded during the consideration of the following items because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during the items, there would be disclosure to them of exempt categories of information as prescribed in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, and indicated against the items and, in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

15.

Report on Complaints against a Councillor (Report No: STC/WS/19/003) (Exempt: Paragraphs 1 & 2)

Report No: STC/WS/19/003

Minutes:

This report set out the detail and submitted evidence in relation to two complaints received in respect of an Elected Member.

 

The complaints were reviewed jointly (as they concerned the same matter) in accordance with the procedure agreed by the Standards Committee at their meeting in July 2019.

 

The Independent Person was of the view that the Councillor had breached the Code of Conduct and recommended that they provide a public apology at a meeting of the Authority in question.

 

However, the Councillor who was the subject of the complaints had rejected the Independent Person’s recommendation on the basis that they had already issued a written apology.

 

Therefore, in accordance with the complaints handling procedure, the matter had now been referred to the Standards Committee in order for them to review.

 

Considerable discussion took place by the Committee with Members being of the view that the previously issued written apology was sufficient.  Members felt that the apology had been issued promptly and there was no wider adverse reaction from the public which may have necessitated a public apology.

 

There was also some debate as to whether the Committee believed that the Councillor had breached the Code of Conduct.

 

Both the Monitoring Officer and Deputy Monitoring Officer provided further explanation and advice to the meeting; particularly in relation to the role of the Independent Person and the complaints handling procedure.  It was agreed that the wording of the procedure would be looked at in order to provide clarity on some elements.

 

Councillor Jim Meikle raised a general question in relation to the support offered to Elected Members in respect of their wellbeing given the challenges they can face.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed that the Council would offer support to any Member if there was concerns regarding their wellbeing.

 

Councillor Max Clarke proposed an amendment to the recommendation set out in Report No STC/WS/19/003, to reflect that the Committee had considered the matter and was of the view that the email apology already made by the Councillor was sufficient and that no further action was necessary.  This was duly seconded by Councillor Roger Dicker.

 

Upon being put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous, it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Committee considered the matter and was of the view that the email apology already made by the Councillor was sufficient and that no further action was necessary.

 

In this section