5 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE 2019/20 PDF 183 KB
To submit the
report of the Senior Solicitor (Corporate)
(attached).
Additional documents:
Decision:
To approve the annual report to
be submitted to the Full Council on 3 December, subject to adding:-
·
a paragraph noting that every council, and
every member of every council, has a role to uphold and promote a high standard
of conduct in the public eye and to challenge inappropriate behaviour, be that
with or without the Ombudsman's involvement.
·
an introduction and foreword by the Chair and
the Monitoring Officer.
Minutes:
Submitted - the draft
of the committee's annual report for 2019/20. The committee's observations and
approval of the document were invited.
Members were asked to
check their biographies and to contact the Senior Solicitor - Corporate with
any amendments / updates.
Councillor Beth
Lawton noted the need to delete the reference to her as Chair of the Education
and Economy Scrutiny Committee, and to note that she was now Vice-chair of the
Care Scrutiny Committee.
It was explained that
it was intended to carry on with the committee's work programme in light of the
pandemic crisis, by submitting an amended work programme for members in
February, when the situation in terms of resources, etc. would be clearer.
It was asked whether
a reference should be included in the annual report towards a matter raised in
the full Council on more than one occasion regarding the public interest
test. In response, it was explained that
the training for community councils emphasised the message that councils
adopted their own code, and no matter what the situation in terms of
investigation, that promoting appropriate behaviour was part of the structure
of every body and every meeting. The members agreed there was a need to convey
a further message that conduct was not always something for the Ombudsman to
resolve, and that the individual and the body in question had a responsibility,
and the Senior Solicitor - Corporate was asked to include a paragraph along these
lines in the annual report.
To approve the annual report to be submitted to the
full Council on 3 December, subject to adding:-
·
a paragraph noting that every council, and every
member of every council, has a role to uphold and promote a high standard of
conduct in the public eye and to challenge inappropriate behaviour, with or
without the Ombudsman's involvement.
·
introduction and foreword by the Chair and
Monitoring Officer.