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.

The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting, particularly the recently appointed Monitoring Officer, and invited everyone to introduce themselves.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 14 November 2017 (Minute Nos. 321 - 326) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 14 November 2017 (Minute Nos. 321 – 326) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

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 his report which provided an overview of the work of the Monitoring Officer during the period 1 November 2017 to 31 October 2018.  He thanked his predecessor Donna Price, and Deputy Monitoring Officer Robin Harris, for their assistance in the early stages of his new role.

The Monitoring Officer briefly outlined each section of the report and welcomed questions and comments from Members on this, his first report as Monitoring Officer.

In respect of section 3 – Maintenance and review of the Constitution, the Monitoring Officer welcomed the unqualified audit and value-for-money opinion from the External Auditors, which reflected well on the finance team.  He referred to the reviews of the Constitution, agreed by Full Council in March 2018, and October 2018.

In respect of paragraph 4.6 of the report, the Monitoring Officer reported that  there had been no instances of the Monitoring Officer issuing a report concerning potentially unlawful decisions during the year up to 31 October 2018.

In respect of section 5 – Ethical standards and the Members’ Code of Conduct, the Monitoring Officer referred to the review on local government ethical standards being undertaken by the Committee on Standards in Public Life.  The results of the review should be known by the end of this calendar year.  The Monitoring Officer referred to some examples of case law, notably that a grievance procedure could not be held alongside a standards regime procedure.

A Member referred to paragraphs 5.2 and 5.3 in the report, in relation to the limitations in terms of sanctions, if there had been a breach in the Code of Conduct.  A common sanction was the requirement for further training.  There were cases where parish councillors were able to continue in their role as often vacancies within parish councils were uncontested.  In response, the Monitoring Officer explained that the Council had responded to the above review, about the concerns in the lack of ability to uphold the Code of Conduct.  The Chairman explained that he had noted at Local Government Association meetings that other Councils had felt the same way about the limitations in the sanctions.  He would welcome a sensible approach following completion of the review. 

A Member suggested there be a mechanism to re-call a Councillor when there had been a breach, and the Member held to account in that way.  He also referred to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and considered this had caused a few problems, and questioned how a breach in GDPR was dealt with in terms of standards and the code of conduct.

In response, the Monitoring Officer did not consider the process of a re-call would be actioned, and that Members were data controllers in relation to GDPR, and so sanctions were applicable to Members, like everyone else. Whether that also meant that the Code of Conduct had been breached, would be made on a case-by-case basis.  The Deputy Monitoring Officer confirmed that where a breach of the GDPR was a criminal offence then  ...  view the full minutes text for item 349.

The Chairman introduced the report which provided an update on progress with Member Training and Development since 2017, outlining actions taken by the Member Development Working Group (MDWG), to-date and their future work programme.  He added that there were continuous endeavours to organise the relevant training, and to encourage Members to attend.  The MDWG was planning a good programme of induction training for May 2019, and he hoped re-elected Members would also attend, as a refresher.

A Member welcomed the Elms e-learning training, which he had considered to be straightforward, but was disappointed that the training session had not been well-attended, as Members had requested it.  Another Member suggested that this training session be re-run in the near future, or after the election in May 2019, or instead to have more informal sessions in smaller groups.  The Member also suggested that GDPR training should be mandatory, and that 13 was not a good attendance, meaning that a lot were not trained, especially as this matter affected both Borough Councillors and Town/Parish Councillors.  The Chairman suggested that in respect of e-learning, Members came into Swale House, and used the IT Training Room.  He asked that this be advertised in the weekly despatch to Members. 

In response, a Member advised that some Parish Councils had held training sessions on GDPR, so many Members might have already attended with their Parish Council, rather than go to the Borough Council training.  A KALC representative suggested that training sessions at Swale be dove-tailed with training sessions that KALC (Kent) held, for completeness.

The Monitoring Officer suggested that Members be asked if they had attended any GDPR training, and he acknowledged the need to ‘sell’ the benefits of training to Members.

Resolved:

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