Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 3HT

Contact: Democratic Services, 01795 417330 

Items
No. Item

322.

Welcome

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting and everyone introduced themselves.

323.

Minutes

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 11 November 2014 (Minute Nos. 336 - 339) as a correct record.

 

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 11 November 2014 (Minute Nos. 336 – 339) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

324.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for  themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

 

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

 

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

 

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

 

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Director of Corporate Services as Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

 

Minutes:

No interests were declared.

325.

Annual Monitoring Officer's Report pdf icon PDF 151 KB

To consider the report of the Corporate Services Director/Monitoring Officer.

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer introduced his report which provided an overview of Monitoring Officer work in the last year; an opportunity to review and learn from experience; and a wider context to the importance of good ethical behaviour.  He explained that overall the year to-end October 2015 had been one of relative stability and limited activity.  He stated that case law relevant to the new standards regime was emerging.

 

The Monitoring Officer advised that since the elections in May 2015, with changes at both borough and parish level, there had been an increase in code of conduct enquiries.  He explained that he now had more discretion at a local level, and together with feedback from the Independent Person, this allowed the procedure to be less prescriptive and bureaucratic, and cases could be filtered out, as necessary to allow concentration of resources on the more serious potential breaches of the Code of Conduct.

 

The Monitoring Officer highlighted sections within the report and welcomed questions and comments from Members.

 

Constitutional Review and Revision

 

The Monitoring Officer advised that the Constitution was reviewed substantially in 2014, and there will also be an annual care and maintenance review.  The external auditors had provided a good report of the Council’s financial and governance arrangements.

 

Lawfulness and Maladministration

 

The Monitoring Officer reported that early checks and sound governance arrangements and procedures ensured that unlawful decision-making had not taken place at Swale Borough Council (SBC).

 

Good Governance and Code of Conduct

 

The Monitoring Officer referred Members to the example of cases in the report where the courts had got involved in code of conduct issues and he highlighted the impact of social media when considering Members’ code of conduct.  He advised that in planning matters, it was important not to solely consider whether an interest needed to be declared, but also as to whether there was a potential for bias.  Case law was gradually being built-up which provided good examples of situations that Members might find themselves in.

 

Members were encouraged to speak to the Monitoring Officer or a member of the Corporate Governance Team if in any doubt about whether they should declare an interest or not.

 

In response to a question, the Monitoring Officer advised that in a case where a data protection breach could also be a code of conduct issue, it would be necessary to look at the severity of the breach and to see if there had been a ‘crossover’ of the breach into the code of conduct.  He further advised that it was important to look into the public interest of each case as well.

 

A Member considered that even when all guidance had been followed, it was still possible that a member of the public might still complain, especially in relation to planning applications.  The Monitoring Officer explained that he would consult with the Independent Person at an early stage and the matter could be dealt with at that point.

 

A Member questioned whether it was up to the individual to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 325.

326.

Annual Report on Member Training and Development pdf icon PDF 70 KB

To consider the annual report on progress with Member Training and Development.

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer introduced the report which provided an update on progress with Member Training and Development since November 2014, outlining actions taken by the Member Development Working Group (MDWG) to-date and their future work programme.

 

The Monitoring Officer explained that following the election, a new training programme had been devised following input from both newly, and re-elected Members.  Training and briefing session numbers were increasing.

 

In response to questions, the Chairman advised that it was not always possible for Members to attend every training session.  He outlined the work that the MDWG did, and he acknowledged that some Members might think they no longer needed training, but encouraged them to attend to learn more.  He explained that some training sessions were joint with Maidstone Borough Council and this also helped to broaden Members’ experience.  The Chairman also advised that feedback from Councillors was important and he encouraged parish councils to come forward with training needs.

 

The Monitoring Officer advised that there were now many topics scheduled for training at SBC for Councillors, and the dates were likely to run into the next municipal year’s training schedule.

 

A Member suggested that Data Protection training should be mandatory; and that other training days, apart from Thursdays be considered, including the occasional Saturday, or prior to a Council meeting.

 

The Monitoring Officer agreed that Data Protection Act training was important and explained that this would be part of the Constitution Training session scheduled in December.  He suggested that Members could also have access to the new online learning programme already used by Council staff.

 

A Member welcomed the planning training offered to parish councils.  Another Member suggested advance notification of training sessions be provided to Members.  The Monitoring Officer said that more detailed information would be sent out shortly and in the future it should be possible to send out the training programme earlier in the municipal year.

 

Resolved:

 

(1)    That the report be noted.