election of chairman

election of vice-chairman

minutes

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 24th February 2009 (Minute Nos. 683 - 685) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

declarations of interest

No interests were declared.

part a minutes for confirmation by council

key line of enquiry 2.3

The Corporate Services Director, in his role as Monitoring Officer, introduced his report which presented a proposal for consideration in relation to communication issues identified at the last Standards Committee meeting. He explained that the aim was to address issues raised in the Key Line of Enquiry (KLOE) and put in place actions which reflected some of the best practice identified as a result of the establishment of the Local Government Chronicle Standards and Ethics Award. He also explained that there was some overlap with this item and agenda item number nine.

The Monitoring Officer reported that this was an opportunity for the media to promote and enhance the work of the Standards Committee to residents within Swale. He brought Members' attention to the Action Plan in Annex A in the report which outlined the promotional opportunities that had been suggested so far.

The Chairman highlighted an error on the action plan that should read that there were three Independent Members, rather than three Chairman of the Standards Committee.

The Monitoring Officer explained that the key issue was the role of the Independent Members of the Standards Committee and how they sat within the local framework and considered their role could be highlighted to promote the Standards Committee.

In response to a question, the Monitoring Officer explained that the Action Plan had been set up within the existing budget. He suggested that the Action Plan be launched and reviewed at a later date to establish what methods of promotion had worked and what could be improved. The Action Plan was the start of the process and this could be 'tweaked', subject to any budget changes.

The Chairman emphasised the need for the Standards Committee to be seen as independent.

In response to a question, the Monitoring Officer advised that some of the promotional opportunities could run in parallel and suggested that the process could start with SBC's internal media publications. He advised that it was important to get the right balance and ensure that the appropriate message was promoted.

revised guidance on dispensations

The Monitoring Officer introduced his report which presented guidance from the Standards Board for England on dispensations. The Standards Committee (Further Provisions) (England) Regulations 2009 (the regulations) revoked the previous regulations. He explained that the revised Code of Conduct had allowed Members to take more part in debate. Dispensation had always been a part of the Code of Conduct, but the revised guidance had allowed an overall desire to give Members the opportunity to speak on important matters in a local community.

The Monitoring Officer brought Members' attention to paragraphs two, three and four in the report, which outlined the legal requirements, key issues for consideration and adaptations of the questions to become criteria for consideration. The Dispensation document was tabled for Members' information.

A Member raised concern when Councillors were unable to speak at meetings when, although they knew a lot about the subject, they had to declare an interest.

The Monitoring Officer explained that the role of the Standards Committee was to grant dispensation to Councillors to allow them to speak at meetings; the Standards Committee would need to consider the facts of the particular case against the criteria in the report.

Members considered the process that would have to be applied if dispensation was required. They considered that information would be needed in advance to establish whether dispensation was needed. The Monitoring Officer advised that dispensation would normally be required in high profile cases where awareness and timing of procedures came early in the decision making process. Some Members raised concern as to whether the dispensation would be applied as a 'one-off' or whether it would continue over time and be ongoing.

The Interim Head of Legal advised that dispensation would not be given as open ended or ongoing and would be in relation to decisions with a specific final result.

The Monitoring Officer explained that where a Member was dual-hatted, any dispensation would be applied to the meeting where the ultimate decision was being made. Members in this position needed to demonstrate that they had not closed their minds so as to avoid pre-determination, pre-disposition and bias. He further advised that anyone who was affected by an issue on equal terms to others in the community, there would be no need for dispensation to be granted. He stated that dispensation was there to ensure that those elected to represent a community got the chance to debate an issue of major importance.

The Interim Head of Legal advised that dispensation would normally only be granted in rare cases.

parish council governance toolkit

The Monitoring Officer introduced his report which presented the recent publication of the revised governance toolkit for Parish and Town Councils. He supported the document and explained the importance of ensuring that Parish Clerks had a direction to go in if they needed information and that it provided a method of consistency of advice. The Toolkit would help Parish Councils to help themselves and provide solutions at an earlier, rather than a later stage, by getting the appropriate advice.

Members of the Committee supported the document.

local government chronicle standards and ethics award

The Monitoring Officer introduced his report which advised of the recent results of the Local Government Chronicle Standards and Ethics Award and set out key learning points for consideration. He explained that the award was introduced in 2008 and he highlighted the learning points that had been grouped into five areas.

In response to a question, the Monitoring Officer explained that training and skills for Members was currently being developed. He considered that it was important to include and build in any issues that the Independent Members had into training and skills opportunities. He reported that the Member Development Working Group could be requested to reflect the needs of the Independent Members.

In response to a question regarding the Monitoring Officer's annual report, the Monitoring Officer explained that the report could run in parallel with a report from the Standards Committee. The report from the Standards Committee Chairman could then be submitted to Council. The Monitoring Officer also asked the Committee to consider whether it would be appropriate for the Chairman of the Standards Committee to have formal meetings with the Leaders' Group Meetings and that any suggestions could be programmed into the review of the Constitution.

The Monitoring Officer considered that SBC did do some of the learning points in the report, but this was not publicised and suggested that this could be done through the media, as discussed in item six on the agenda.

record of thanks

The Chairman thanked the Monitoring Officer and Interim Head of Legal for their assistance and guidance with regard to the Standards Sub-Committee.