Agenda item

Council determination on new standards regime

Minutes:

The Chairman invited the Committee to consider, and if appropriate, comment on the new Members’ code of conduct regime approved by the Council at its meeting held on 16 May 2012.

 

Members noted the detail of the new code of conduct, the processes approved for dealing with complaints and the constitution of a new Standards Committee.

 

Council, it was further noted, had not accepted any of the Committee’s recommendations for a new standards regime.

 

Concern was expressed that no representation from town/parish councils had been included within the new standards regime.  The regime should, at some stage, include provisions to ensure standards issues affecting parish/town councils were dealt with appropriately. 

 

Individual parish/town councils wishing to adopt codes of conduct that contained provisions not within the template should contact the Monitoring Officer for advice.

 

The Committee stressed the importance of public perception and that any standards regime must command public trust.  Members considered that the Monitoring Officer should be required to report summary details of complaints received and dismissed as trivial, together with the reasons.

 

The Committee debated a number of further areas of concern relating to:

 

(a)             the appointment and role of independent members;

(b)             the content of the code of conduct, and

(c)             the process for dealing with complaints, particularly the role of the Monitoring Officer. 

 

The Committee noted that Council would be reviewing the code and associated processes in the light of experience and best practice information.

 

Councillor Carver, on behalf of the Authority, thanked independent members and representative town/parish council representatives for their work on the Standards Committee.

 

          RESOLVED – that the Monitoring Officer be requested to convey the debate and comments of the Committee, as now detailed, on its new standards regime to East Herts Council.

 

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