The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting and invited those present to introduce themselves.

The Chairman will advise the meeting of the evacuation procedures to follow in the event of an emergency. This is particularly important for visitors and members of the public who will be unfamiliar with the building and procedures.

The Chairman will inform the meeting whether there is a planned evacuation drill due to take place, what the alarm sounds like (i.e. ringing bells), where the closest emergency exit route is, and where the second closest emergency exit route is, in the event that the closest exit or route is blocked.

The Chairman will inform the meeting that:

(a) in the event of the alarm sounding, everybody must leave the building via the nearest safe available exit and gather at the Assembly points at the far side of the Car Park; and

(b) the lifts must not be used in the event of an evacuation.

Any officers present at the meeting will aid with the evacuation.

It is important that the Chairman is informed of any person attending who is disabled or unable to use the stairs, so that suitable arrangements may be made in the event of an emergency.

The Chairman outlined the emergency evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 1 November 2016 (Minute Nos. 984 - 989) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 1 November 2016 (Minute Nos. 984 – 989) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Minutes of the following Standards Hearing Sub-Committees were also taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record: 23 January 2017 (am and pm meetings – Minute Nos. 1114 - 1125); 27 January 2017 (am and pm meetings – Minute Nos. 1146 - 1157) and 19 June 2017 (Minute Nos. 33 – 38).

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.

(c)          Where it is possible that a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts would conclude that there was a real possibility that the Member might be predetermined or biased the Member should declare their predetermination or bias and then leave the room while that item is considered.

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 Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Monitoring Officer introduced her report which provided an overview of the Monitoring Officer work in the past year; an opportunity to review and learn from experience; and a wider context to the importance of good ethical behaviour. 

The Monitoring Officer briefly outlined each section of the report, and welcomed questions and comments from Members on her first report as Monitoring Officer.  The report showed that the year to end of October 2017 had been one of the busiest in terms of hearings and complaints received, however, the position had remained relatively stable with any emerging issues being identified and dealt with appropriately.

In respect of section 5 – Good Governance and the Code of Conduct – the Monitoring Officer referred to the Annual Standards Conference where it had been clear that all Monitoring Officers shared the same frustrations regarding the lack of sanctions available under the Localism Act.  She drew attention to the update on case law, drawing attention in particular to Dedmen v ICO 2016, and Hussain v Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council 2017.  The only case to be prosecuted under the new Standards regime remained R v Flower, details of which were set out in the report.

The increasing use of social media continued to raise issues throughout the country, and the Monitoring Officer referred to the guidance that had been issued to Members regarding this and drew attention to the case law set out in the report.

In response to questions on paragraph 5.13 under the section ‘Local Context’, the Monitoring Officer advised that the term ‘friends’ had replaced the term ‘close associations’, and this was often a matter of predetermination or bias.  It was a matter for the Member to consider and declare, and it was important for the Member to consider perception, i.e., what a fair minded individual might think.  Any issues of concern of this nature should be reported to the Monitoring Officer.  The Monitoring Officer also referred to the training session she had held earlier in the year on the Code of Conduct, and confirmed that parish councillors would be welcome to attend future training on this topic.

In respect of paragraph 5.15 of the report which set out details of historic cases, the Monitoring Officer advised that there were no sanctions to check that the training had been carried out as they were recommendations for the Parish Council.  In terms of new complaints, there had been a rise in the number of complaints received, with two being referred for investigation and one hearing being held.

In response to a question concerning Section 8 of the report – Whistleblowing (Protected Disclosure Policy), the Monitoring Officer advised that this was on the intranet as it was an internal document for Council staff, however, she would look into why this document was not also on the Council’s website.  She also agreed to clarify the meaning in Section 2 ‘report on sufficiency of resources’ following a question regarding whether there had been a report regarding resources  ...  view the full minutes text for item 325.

The Chairman of the Member Development Working Group (MDWG) introduced the report which provided an update on progress with Member Training and Development since November 2016, outlining progress made by the MDWG and their future work programme. 

In introducing the report, he advised that 21 briefings had been held, however, there was an issue regarding poor attendance which he intended to discuss with Group Leaders.  Discussions were continuing with IT regarding the availability of the intranet and he was hopeful that e-learning opportunities would soon be possible.  The MDWG were now focussing on holding training sessions on key skills, however despite asking Members for feedback, there had only been four responses to date, and he would be following this up with Group Leaders.

A general discussion ensued regarding the briefing sessions, and it was acknowledged that some sessions were less relevant to some Members; that there could be improvements made to officer presentations and delivery; that consideration should be given to including activities such as group discussion, role play, exercises, etc to reflect different learning styles; that perhaps there were too many briefing sessions; and that the majority of sessions were held on Thursdays which were not convenient for all Members.  In terms of core skills, whilst there had not been many responses to the questionnaire on training needs, suggestions were made to include public speaking, media skills and chairing skills.  It was acknowledged that it was often those who needed the training the most who were less likely to attend; and it was suggested that consideration should be given to a variety of methods such as e-learning and video conferencing.  The Chairman of the MDWG also advised that the Group were considering induction arrangements for 2019, which was likely to include a Saturday session.

The Chairman thanked Members for their feedback and encouraged any additional feedback to be directed to himself or the Chairman of the MDWG.

Resolved:

(1) That the Annual Report on Member Training and Development be noted.