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 20 November 2018 (Minute Nos. 345 - 350) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 20 November 2018 (Minute Nos. 345 – 350) 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 the report which proposed an amendment to the code of conduct obliging members to disclose gifts and hospitality with a value of £100 or more received in their capacity as councillors.  Members were asked to agree the wording for recommendation to full council for inclusion in the constitution.

Members considered the proposal and raised the following points:

·         The value of gifts and hospitality should be less than £100.  The Nolan Committee suggested a value of £50, or totalling £100 or over a year, from a single source, Swale should adopt this;

·         there are many people living in poverty in the borough to whom the £100 threshold might look excessive;

·         £50 would make more sense;

·         Members needed to make it clear whether they were attending functions privately or as a member; and

·         the proposed wording needed to be clearer for members.

In response to questions, the monitoring officer stated that transportation would also be covered, and that the wording “non-trivial gifts” could be removed.

Discussion ensued and members considered that the Monitoring Officer should produce a briefing note to make it clearer to members what they needed to declare.

Councillor James Hunt moved the following amendment to the recommendation to Council set-out at paragraph 3.1 of the report: “Any gifts and hospitality received over a value of £50, or totalling £100 over a year, from a single source” not £100 as stated. That the Monitoring Officer be given delegated authority to produce a briefing note for members.  This was seconded by Councillor Elliott Jayes.  This amendment was agreed by members.

Recommended:

(1)      That the wording in paragraph 3.1 of the report be approved for inclusion in Swale’s code of conduct subject to the following amendments:  “…..any gifts and hospitality received over a value of £100” be deleted and replaced with the following: “….any gifts and hospitality received over a value of £50, or totalling £100 over a year, from a single source”.  That delegated authority be given to the Monitoring Officer to produce a briefing note for members. 

The Chairman introduced the report which provided an update on the work of the Monitoring Officer during the period 1 November 2018 to 31 October 2019.

The Monitoring Officer drew attention to the table on page 12 of the report which set-out the functions of the Monitoring Officer.  He considered his three main roles were: a duty to report on any maladministration or injustice where the ombudsman had carried out an investigation; guardian of the council’s constitution; and to promote and maintain high standards of conduct.

In response to a query about the Corporate Plan, the Monitoring Officer stated that the draft had been considered by the Policy Development and Review Committee in September 2019.

A member congratulated the monitoring officer for his work during a particularly challenging year.  The Member raised concern that the number of formal complaints had increased.

Members went through the report section-by-section.

The Monitoring Officer introduced Sections 3 (Maintenance and review of the constitution) and Section 4 (Lawful decision-making and good governance).

There were no questions from members.

The Monitoring Officer introduced Section 5 (Ethical standards and the members’ code of conduct)

In response to queries from members, the Monitoring Officer explained that the two social media cases that were included in the report had been included as they were high profile cases.  He considered that recommendation 3 from the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) on appendix I of the report was a pragmatic and proportionate response.

A member considered that the council could implement some of the CSPL recommendations now.

Councillor James Hunt moved the following motion:  That the Monitoring Officer be given delegated authority to review and consider recommendation (11) from the CSPL for implementation: “Local authorities should provide legal indemnity to Independent Persons if their views or advice are disclosed.  The government should require this through secondary legislation if needed.”  This was seconded by Councillor Elliott Jayes.  This was agreed by members.

Councillor James Hunt moved the following motion:  That recommendation (12) from the CSPL be implemented: “Local authorities should be given the discretionary power to establish a decision-making standards committee with voting independent members and voting members from dependent parishes, to decide on allegations and impose sanctions.  This was seconded by Councillor Elliott Jayes.  The Monitoring Officer advised that legally this could currently not be implemented.  The proposer and seconder agreed to withdraw this motion.

Councillor James Hunt moved the following motion:  That the Monitoring Officer be given delegated authority to implement recommendation (23) from the CSPL: The Local Government Transparency Code should be updated to provide that local authorities must ensure that their whistleblowing policy specified a named contact for the external auditor alongside their contact details, which should be available on the authority’s website.  This was seconded by Councillor Elliott Jayes.  This was agreed by members.

A member referred to section 10 (support to council, cabinet, scrutiny and committee meetings) and thanked the democratic services team for their support.

Resolved:

(1)      That the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 461.

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Monique Bonney, Chairman of the Member Development Working Group (MDWG) to the meeting.

Councillor Bonney introduced the report which provided an update on progress with Member Training and Development since November 2018, outlining actions taken by the MDWG to-date and their future work programme.

A member welcomed the fact that member training was not now always scheduled for a Thursday.  The Member suggested that the MDWG explored whether Skype could be used if members were not physically able to attend Swale House. 

Councillor Bonney agreed to take this forward for discussion at the MDWG.  She explained that IT was part of a wider issue and the correct training and access to the council’s portal was needed.

A Member considered that data protection training should be made compulsory.  Councillor Bonney stated that this training was on the member training programme, but was unsure on what basis it could be made compulsory.

Resolved:

(1)      That the report be noted.