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 report be noted.

(2)      That delegated authority be given to the Monitoring Officer to review and consider implementing recommendation (11) from the CSPL.

(3)      That delegated authority be given to the Monitoring Officer to implement recommendation (23) from the CSPL.