Agenda and minutes

Venue: Room 27, Wallfields, Hertford. View directions

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Chairman

To appoint a Chairman for this meeting.

Minutes:

It was moved by Councillor P Boylan and seconded by Councillor T Stowe that Councillor B Deering be appointed Chairman of the Sub-Committee for the meeting.

 

RESOLVED – that Councillor B Deering be appointed Chairman of the Sub-Committee for the meeting.

2.

Chairman's Announcements

To receive any Chairman’s announcements.

Minutes:

The Chairman advised of a change in membership of the Sub-Committee in that Councillor T Stowe had replaced Councillor C Woodward.

3.

Minutes - 14 February 2017 pdf icon PDF 45 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 2017.

Minutes:

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

4.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

To move that under Section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of item 7 on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the said Act:

 

It is for the Sub-Committee to determine whether or not this item should be considered in public and the report made available for public information.  Until a decision is taken, please regard the report as confidential. 

Minutes:

With the Chairman’s permission, Councillor D Andrews raised a point of order in that he considered that this Sub-Committee hearing should be heard in public due to the considerable interest in the code of conduct complaints.

 

Councillor T Stowe proposed and Councillor P Boylan seconded, a motion that the press and public be excluded from the meeting pursuant to Section 100(A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during consideration of the business referred to in Minute 5 on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act.  After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, this motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED – that the press and public be excluded from the meeting pursuant to Section 100(A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during consideration of the business referred to in Minute 5 on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act.

5.

Code of Conduct Complaints

Minutes:

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer submitted a report updating the Sub-Committee and providing clarity to Members on the reasons the matters remained outstanding.  The Head sought recommendations from the Sub-Committee on the progression of two code of conduct complaints.

 

Councillor P Boylan commented on the code of complaint regarding Councillor 1 and the mediation approach that had been adopted.  Members proceeded to discuss the case at length whilst receiving information and advice from the Monitoring Officer and the Independent Person.

 

The Sub-Committee resolved that the Monitoring Officer should write to the Investigator to seek an updated version of his report.  Members agreed that the Sub-Committee should meet again within four weeks to consider the Investigator’s updated report once this had been received.

 

The Sub-Committee noted the Investigator’s final conclusion in respect of a breach of the Code of Conduct.  Members considered information and advice from the Monitoring Officer and the Independent Person.

 

The Sub-Committee resolved that the case regarding Councillor 2 should proceed to be considered at a full hearing of the Standards Sub-Committee on the basis that there had been a breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

 

RESOLVED – that (A) in respect of Councillor 1, the Monitoring Officer write to the Investigator on the basis that the process of amicable resolution had fallen through and to seek an updated version of his report;

 

(B)   a further meeting within 4 weeks be held to consider the Investigator’s updated report once received in respect of the complaint regarding Councillor 1; and

 

(C)   the complaint in respect of Councillor 2 should proceed to be considered at a full hearing of the Standards Sub-Committee.