Agenda and minutes

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

Contact: Democratic Services, 01795 417330 

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Items
No. Item

80.

Emergency Evacuation Procedure

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.  Nobody must leave the assembly point until everybody can be accounted for and nobody must return to the building until the Chairman has informed them that it is safe to do so; 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.

Minutes:

The Chair outlined the emergency evacuation procedure.

81.

Minutes

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 November 2021 (Minute Nos. 431 - 435) as a correct record, and to accept the Minutes of the Standards Hearing Sub-Committee held on 25 April 2022 (Minute Nos. 761 – 765).

 

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 November 2021 (Minute Nos. 431 – 435) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

 

The Minutes of the Standards Hearing Sub-Committee held on 25 April 2022 (Minute Nos. 761 – 765) were accepted by the Chair, subject to an amendment to Minute No. 764 to note that visiting Members who had joined virtually were ejected from the meeting.

82.

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 Interests (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.

 

Minutes:

No interests were declared.

Part B Minutes for Information

83.

Standards champions within political groups pdf icon PDF 124 KB

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer introduced the report which set-out the idea of the introduction of standards champions within political groups, which was first proposed by the standards working group in late March 2022.  He explained that there was a ‘grey area’ in between cases that were clearly a breach of the code of conduct and others that could be classed as undesirable behaviour.  The Monitoring Officer explained that the standards working group had proposed that each political group nominated one of its members to act as a standards champion.  This would enable an issue, not serious enough to be referred to a standards hearing, to be dealt with informally.  He highlighted paragraph 3.3 in the report which set out suggestions for a role description for the standards champions.

 

The Chair welcomed the proposed approach and invited members to ask questions and make comments.  Points made included the following:

 

·         Clarification sought on the process of any discussions with the standards champion;

·         the new role would help to regulate members’ behaviour towards each other;

·         welcomed there being a ‘first port of call’ before an issue escalated;

·         any possible offence could be subjective, dependent on the member’s character;

·         the standards champion would offer the chance for a conversation to start about a particular issue and enable working towards improving behaviour between members;

·         considered all groups should have their own code of conduct; and

·         there could be an issue if a potential complaint was against a group leader or a standards champion.

 

In response to a question, the Contentious and Corporate Governance Team Leader explained that a member would speak with the standards champion within their own political group, not with a standards champion representing another group.  The Chief Executive outlined the benefits of having standards champions and said that an issue could be resolved at an early stage, before it got more serious.

 

There was some discussion as to when the scheme would come into effect.  The Monitoring Officer suggested that members provided feedback to the Chair and him and this would be reported to the next Standards Committee meeting on 27 September 2022.

 

Resolved:

 

(1)          That members discussed the idea within their groups and provide feedback to the monitoring officer with a view to agreeing a final version of the scheme at the next Standards Committee.

84.

Member-officer protocol pdf icon PDF 165 KB

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer introduced the report which set out a skeleton version of a member-officer profile. The report sought the views of Standards Committee members on the specific points the protocol would cover and how members and officers should be involved in the process of agreeing a final protocol.  The Monitoring Officer explained that most councils had a protocol in place, and it could help build and maintain trust between members and officers.  The protocol could also be beneficial to new members and officers and it would set-out what they could expect from each other.

 

The Contentious and Corporate Governance Team Leader drew Members’ attention to the list set-out on page 16 of the report.  He explained that officer behaviour was regulated under employment law, whilst, members were guided by the Council’s code of conduct and he considered it appropriate for the Council to have a member-officer protocol.

 

The Chair invited Members to ask questions and make comments.  Points made included the following:

 

·         This was a good initiative;

·         whereas not everyone read the constitution, this was a more concise document;

·         welcomed the document now, especially as the Council had moved to the committee system;

·         there was sometimes an issue with how long a matter took to get resolved by officers;

·         it would be good to have a working group to investigate this further; and

·         welcomed the historic scheme of ‘you-said, we-did’ within the council.

 

In response to a question, the Monitoring Officer said that service standards could be a part of the protocol from both members’ and officers’ point of view. He also explained that there was a Council staff engagement group and this could work with the standards working group.

 

Resolved:

(1)      That a member-officer protocol was supported.

(2)      That a working group be set-up and they consult with the staff engagement group.

 

 

 

85.

Committee work programme 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 78 KB

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer introduced the report which outlined the work programme of the Standards Committee over the coming municipal year, and sought members’ views on the appropriateness of the programme.  He explained that meetings would now be held quarterly, rather than annually.  The Monitoring Officer drew attention to the proposed agenda items for each meeting, set-out on page 20 of the report.

 

Resolved:

(1)      That the report be noted.

86.

Membership of standards working group 2022/23

No report for this item.

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer explained that the standards working group was an informal group, that usually met at short notice for an informal steer on matters related to the Standards Committee.  He explained that the group was broadly politically balanced and he invited nominations from each group to sit on the working group from within the Standards Committee membership.

 

Resolved:

(1)          Membership of the standards working group confirmed as: Councillors Lloyd Bowen, Steve Davey, Ken Ingleton, Elliott Jayes, Hannah Perkin and Bill Tatton, with confirmation of a nomination from the Independent Group to follow.