To consider the report of the Corporate Services Director/Monitoring Officer.

The Monitoring Officer introduced his report which provided an overview of Monitoring Officer work in the last year; an opportunity to review and learn from experience; and a wider context to the importance of good ethical behaviour.  He explained that overall the year to-end October 2015 had been one of relative stability and limited activity.  He stated that case law relevant to the new standards regime was emerging.

The Monitoring Officer advised that since the elections in May 2015, with changes at both borough and parish level, there had been an increase in code of conduct enquiries.  He explained that he now had more discretion at a local level, and together with feedback from the Independent Person, this allowed the procedure to be less prescriptive and bureaucratic, and cases could be filtered out, as necessary to allow concentration of resources on the more serious potential breaches of the Code of Conduct.

The Monitoring Officer highlighted sections within the report and welcomed questions and comments from Members.

Constitutional Review and Revision

The Monitoring Officer advised that the Constitution was reviewed substantially in 2014, and there will also be an annual care and maintenance review.  The external auditors had provided a good report of the Council’s financial and governance arrangements.

Lawfulness and Maladministration

The Monitoring Officer reported that early checks and sound governance arrangements and procedures ensured that unlawful decision-making had not taken place at Swale Borough Council (SBC).

Good Governance and Code of Conduct

The Monitoring Officer referred Members to the example of cases in the report where the courts had got involved in code of conduct issues and he highlighted the impact of social media when considering Members’ code of conduct.  He advised that in planning matters, it was important not to solely consider whether an interest needed to be declared, but also as to whether there was a potential for bias.  Case law was gradually being built-up which provided good examples of situations that Members might find themselves in.

Members were encouraged to speak to the Monitoring Officer or a member of the Corporate Governance Team if in any doubt about whether they should declare an interest or not.

In response to a question, the Monitoring Officer advised that in a case where a data protection breach could also be a code of conduct issue, it would be necessary to look at the severity of the breach and to see if there had been a ‘crossover’ of the breach into the code of conduct.  He further advised that it was important to look into the public interest of each case as well.

A Member considered that even when all guidance had been followed, it was still possible that a member of the public might still complain, especially in relation to planning applications.  The Monitoring Officer explained that he would consult with the Independent Person at an early stage and the matter could be dealt with at that point.

A Member questioned whether it was up to the individual to declare an interest, or others to advise when there might be a code of conduct issue.  The Monitoring Officer explained that although Members recorded their interests on the Register of Interests it was still necessary to be aware that they need to declare at meetings as well.  Advice could be given, but it was the Member’s judgement ultimately at each meeting to declare as necessary.

Local Context

The Monitoring Officer emphasised the importance of newly elected members of parish and town councils going through an induction process, and the need to ensure that parish and town councillors were up-to-date with their local governance procedures.  These were not matters for the Monitoring Officer to advise on.

Historic Cases

In response to a question, the Monitoring Officer explained that additional capacity was being looked into on the Council’s computer system to ensure that all parish councillors were added to the register of interest section on the website.  All Borough Councillors’ interests were already on the website.

A Member congratulated the Monitoring Officer on the work he had carried out on the cases within the report.

Support to Council, Cabinet, Scrutiny and Committee Meetings

The Monitoring Officer explained that the increase in the number of Planning Working Group meetings was significant.  He explained that these were resource intensive for officers, and that it was important that there was an understanding as to why these meetings were requested, and their benefits, and whether they were a good use of resources.

Conclusions and Comments

The Monitoring Officer concluded by stating there had been a variety of complaints, and the new regime was fit for purpose.

Recommended:

(1)    That the report be noted.

(2)    That there be no further action to review the regime at the present time.