Agenda item

Report No: JST/JT/18/003

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 not impact on them, or their properties; AND

c)    Any action required as a result of the decision is no different to the majority of landlords in West Suffolk