To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 January 2020 (Minute Nos. 457 - 462) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 January 2020 (Minute Nos. 457 – 462) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.  Councilllor Nicholas Hampshire requested that it be noted that he abstained from the vote as he was not a member of the Standards Committee in January 2020.

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 meeting 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 the report which provided an overview of his work during the period 1 November 2019 to 31 October 2020.  The report covered a range of topics, not all under the remit of the Standards Committee.  The Monitoring Officer said that it had been an exceptional year, with elections, the passing of the Chief Executive, and the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic.  He acknowledged the work that had been carried out by officers during these challenging times, particularly middle and junior level staff, and he thanked them and praised their dedication.

The Monitoring Officer drew attention to paragraph 5 in the report:  Ethical standards and the member code of conduct.  He reported that the Local Government Association (LGA) was working towards a member code of conduct which was likely to be adopted by many local authorities.  A consultation on the draft code of conduct had taken place during the summer of 2020, and Swale Borough Council (SBC) had submitted their response to the consultation.  The final version of the code of conduct was due to go to the LGA in December 2020.  The Monitoring Officer said that the code seemed to resemble the standard unified code that was in place in most Kent authorities.

The Monitoring Officer said it had not been a quiet year for complaints and he highlighted the increased number of complaints involving social media and also the increase in complaints by Councillors, about other Councillors.  He said that there was a danger that the complaints process could become weaponised.

Members were invited to make comments and ask questions.

A Member praised the report and the work that had gone into producing it.  He referred to paragraphs 5.17, 5.18 and 5.19 in the report, in relation to complaints about social media posts.  The Member raised the issue of Members’ comments on social media being perceived as them acting in an official role and considered this was always going to be a problem to mitigate.  The Member also spoke on the newly updated SBC website which he considered not to be very intuitive, and that it was now more difficult to find some pages, such as finding your local councillor.

A Member echoed the thanks to officers and particularly thanked the Monitoring Officer for his work and acknowledged that he had dealt with a lot in the past year.  The Member questioned the Standards Committee involvement in the complaints set out in the report, and considered the Committee should have more of a role in the process, and be kept up-to-date with any complaints.  The Member also acknowledged the problem of social media posts, and considered the code of conduct needed to be updated to take this issue into account.  He did not think the updated guidance on social media went far enough.  He said there needed to be clearer information for both Members and officers on this, with clearer detail on what the standards should be on social media, and he suggested a policy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 256.

Report to-follow.

Report added 11 November 2020.

Councillor Ken Ingleton, as a member of the Member Development Working Group (MDWG), introduced the report which provided an update on progress with Member Training and Development since November 2019.  He explained that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, significantly less training had taken place than in previous years.  He welcomed more training opportunities in the future.

In response to a question, Councillor Ingleton advised that if a Member had a particular topic that they would like as a future training session they should approach the Chairman of the MDWG and it could be considered at their next meeting.

A Member asked about the average attendance of the training sessions and said that alternative means of delivering training should be looked into.  The Senior Democratic Services Officer advised that there had been one remote training session held so far during the pandemic, and the attendance figures could be circulated.  The MDWG was meeting the following week and they would be looking at adding more remote training sessions for Members.

Resolved:

(1)      That the report be noted.