Meeting documents
Standards Committee
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
standards committee
MINUTES of the Meeting held in the Committee Room, Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne on Tuesday 6th November 2007 from 7:00 pm to 8:27 pm.
Present: Councillor Brenda Hammond (Vice-Chairman), Councillors Mike Cosgrove, Cindy Davis, Harrison (substitute for Councillor Jackie Constable) and David Simmons.
Officers Present: Philippa Davies, Duncan Milne, Mark Radford and Paul Thirkettle.
Also In Attendance: Messrs Nunn and Rogers (Chairman) (Independent Members) and Councillor Mills (Parish Council Representative).
Apologies: Councillor Jackie Constable.
586 |
election of chairmanRESOLVED:
(1) That Mr Rogers be Chairman for this meeting and election of Chairman deferred to the next meeting of the Standards Committee. |
587 |
election of vice-chairmanRESOLVED:
(1) That Councillor Brenda Hammond be elected as Vice-Chairman for the Municipal Year 2007/2008. |
588 |
welcomeChristopher Maclean (the new Independent Member, to be ratified by Council on 21st November 2007) and Councillor Mills (attending as the Parish Council representative) were welcomed to the meeting. |
589 |
minutesThe Minutes of the Meeting held on 28th February 2007 (Minute Nos. 762 - 767) were taken as read, confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, subject to Councillor Mills being in attendance and apologies from Councillor Parry. |
590 |
declarations of interestNo interests were declared. |
part a minutes for confirmation |
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591 |
new corporate governance local code and frameworkThe Head of Audit introduced his report which had been submitted to the Executive on 10th October 2007. He explained that it set out new governance requirements, prescribed by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants (CIPFA) and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE), for the Local Code of Governance for Swale. He explained that it was in draft form and was being benchmarked against other Local Authorities' governance principles. |
592 |
the code of conduct - the code uncoveredThe Corporate Services Director, in his capacity as Monitoring Officer, presented a training DVD to the Committee and brought Members' attention to the tabled papers that accompanied the training. Discussion followed with regard to confidentiality issues and the difficulty of determining public interest, versus confidentiality. The Head of Legal explained that an item was not only confidential if it was stamped as such. A Councillor believed that members of the public had gained more of an understanding of pre determination, especially with regard to planning application issues. The Corporate Services Director considered that the DVD was valuable guidance for Members and would check whether Parish Councils had seen the DVD.
Corporate Services Director
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593 |
monitoring officer reportThe Corporate Services Director introduced his annual report, which related to his role as Monitoring Officer.
Corporate Services Director
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In response to a question, the Corporate Services Director explained that it would be necessary to report back to the Standards Committee in early 2008, with regard to the administration of local filters.
Democratic Services Officer
RECOMMENDED:
(1) That the Standards Committee notes the report and the following action points:
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View the Agenda for this meeting