To consider
the report of the Monitoring Officer
(attached).
Minutes:
Submitted:-
·
The report of
the Monitoring Officer inviting the committee’s observations on Part 4 of the Local Government Bill (Wales) 2015, in so far as it
related to the functions of
the Standards Committee, to
be considered as part of the preparation of the corporate response to the Bill.
·
Part 4 of the draft Bill.
The Monitoring Officer
explained that:-
·
Part 4 of the Bill imposed new duties on
standards committees to deal with complaints
that members of new prospective county councils had breached the statutory duties imposed upon them in
terms of the performance of
their functions, such as attending
meetings, holding regular ward surgeries, answering correspondence, completing compulsory training courses and publishing an annual report.
·
Standards committees were
also expected to monitor
the compliance of leaders
of political groups with their duties
to take reasonable steps to promote and maintain high
standards of conduct by members of their
group and also to advise, and arrange relevant
training.
·
Standards committees would
also have a duty to provide an annual report
to the Council describing how they have
implemented those functions during the year.
·
The procedure
for handling complaints about an alleged failure
by a councillor
to abide by the duties imposed, required the Monitoring Officer to refer the matter to the chair of the Standards Committee. Should the Monitoring Officer and the chair both
consider that a matter should not be investigated, no investigation could take place, but
should either the Monitoring Officer or the chair consider
that a matter should be investigated, the Monitoring Officer would have to investigate
it and provide
a report of the investigation
to the Standards Committee.
RESOLVED to submit
the following observations on Part 4 of the Local Government Bill (Wales)
2015 to be considered as part of the preparation of the corporate response to the Bill:-
·
The idea of introducing
statutory duties is supported as it
sets a framework that should be worked within, but more clarity is required regarding the element of flexibility, e.g. is it acceptable
for a member to explain that he/she is not holding surgeries as he/she is undertaking the work in another
manner, and are members expected
to acknowledge receipt of correspondence or provide a full response within 14 days?
·
Members of the new prospective county councils will sign up
to this procedure and will therefore
be aware of what is expected of them.
·
The investigation and enforcement procedure leads the Monitoring Officer and the Standards Committee into the field of managing the performance of individual members and it
must be questioned whether or not the Standards Committee is the best resource to deal with under-performance
within the Council and alternative methods of ensuring performance should be considered, such as the allowances procedure.
·
There is a concern regarding the implications of the proposed procedure, especially in terms of the Monitoring Officer and the Chair of the Standards Committee as the requirements are very broad
and could nearly change the Chair's function into a full-time job and make it
difficult to get people applying to become members of the Standards Committee.
Supporting documents: