Issue - meetings

To submit the report of the Monitoring Officer.

1.    Approve the Protocol on the Duties of Leaders of Political Groups and the Standards Committee to be signed by the Chair of the Committee and the Political Group Leaders.

2.    Accept a further report on the implementation of the Protocol to the Standards Committee meeting in June.

Submitted – the report of the Monitoring Officer inviting the committee to approve a draft Protocol on the Duties of Political Group Leaders and the Standards Committee.

During the discussion, the following matters were raised:-

·         It was suggested that the second bullet point under the Protocol Actions should be strengthened, to note ‘Expect group members to attend relevant development or training opportunities...’ rather than  ‘Encourage’ to do so, thereby placing a duty on the group leaders to make that a priority.  In response, the Monitoring Officer noted that this had arisen in the discussions with the Group Leaders, and that the statutory guidance was to suggest ‘encourage’. The action referred to working with the Monitoring Officer to arrange that all Group members had attended Code of Conduct training at the beginning of the term. It was not believed that the Group Leaders had powers to enforce this, and it was suggested that a mindset of collaboration was a more practical and constructive method of achieving this.

·         It was noted that it could be more difficult for Independent Group leaders to maintain order as they had no political party powers to support them.  In response, it was noted by the Monitoring Officer that this was now a statutory requirement, but that it was a vehicle for working with Leaders to promote good standards, conveying key messages and solving problems through discussion, and sooner, and before they intensify.

·         Referring to the recommendation to submit a further report on the operation of the Protocol at the June meeting of the Standards Committee, it was noted that it would be desirable to have confirmation that the three Group Leaders had signed the Protocol by then.  In response, the Monitoring Officer noted that the intention was to approve the Protocol now, to be signed by the Leaders.

·         It was noted that it was difficult for the Standards Committee to monitor the compliance of Leaders as only three committee members were councillors, and the Monitoring Officer was asked to inform the committee in June if any problems had arisen. In response, the Monitoring Officer noted that he did not anticipate that situation, but if he came across a substantial problem, he was duty-bound to report on it to the Standards Committee.

·         In response to a concern expressed by a member regarding two matters relating to conduct that had arisen recently, the Monitoring Officer explained that the protocol did not replace the Ombudsman's complaints procedure and complaints under the local resolution procedure, and where it was believed that a member had breached the Code of Conduct, the usual channels would be followed.

RESOLVED

1.         To approve the Protocol on the Duties of Political Leaders and the Standards Committee to be signed by the Chair of the Committee and the Political Group Leaders.

2.         To receive a further report on the implementation of the Protocol at the meeting of the Standards Committee in June.