Agenda for West Suffolk Standards Committee on Wednesday 15 March 2023, 5.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Room GFR-12, West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds IP33 3YU

Contact: Helen Hardinge: Democratic Services Officer  Email: democratic.services@westsuffolk.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

31.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

No apologies for absence were received.

 

Councillor Robert Everitt was unable to attend the meeting.

32.

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.

33.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 117 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 28 November 2022 (copy attached.)

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 November 2022 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

34.

Declarations of interest

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary or local non pecuniary 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.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made.

35.

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 by 9am the last working day before the day of the meeting. This can be done by sending the request to democratic.services@westsuffolk.gov.uk or telephoning 01638 719363.

 

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

Minutes:

There were no members of the public in attendance on this occasion.

36.

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, seconded 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.

37.

Breach of the Code of Conduct (Report No STC/WS/23/001) (Exempt: Paras 1 & 2)

Report No: STC/WS/23/001

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer presented this report which concerned a breach of the Code of Conduct where the Councillor concerned had refused to comply with the sanction imposed upon them.

 

Following discussions with the Independent Person and in line with due process, the Monitoring Officer contacted the Chair and Vice Chair of the Standards Committee who agreed for a meeting of the Committee to be arranged in order to consider the matter.

 

As part of the discussion on the report, the Monitoring Officer provided background on the nature of the original complaint to Members of the Committee.

 

In related discussion, the Monitoring Officer also sought the Committee’s support in reviewing West Suffolk Council’s Standards Procedures later in the year. With particular focus on changing the way in which complaints were reported to the Committee and the sanctions available to exercise.

 

It was proposed by Councillor Margaret Marks, seconded by Councillor John Augustine and with 5 voting for the motion and with 1 against, it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

That, the Monitoring Officer contact the Town Council concerned in order to recommend that the Councillor in question receive formal censure at a public meeting of the Town Council. The expectation that all Councillors of the Town Council would receive Code of Conduct training following the May elections would also be highlighted.

 

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