Agenda item

To submit the report of the Propriety and Elections Manager.

Note the information and continue to present the information to the Standards Committee in a form of summaries without specific details.

Submitted – the report of the Propriety and Elections Manager presenting information about the Ombudsman's decisions on formal complaints against members. The report also asked the Committee to consider whether they wished for these matters to be treated as exempt items in the future, so that the extensive information provided by the Ombudsman could be presented to allow the Committee to discuss in more detail the implications of the decisions from the standpoint of interpreting the Code of Conduct.

The Monitoring Officer noted that:-

·         There was an option to be closed, but he was uncertain about what value it would add to the Committee from having the details regarding the identity of the individuals and councils in question, etc.

·         The officers were aware of the original report where problems have arisen, and if there was a need to contact, e.g. to discuss a councillor's situation, that could be done.

·         If a pattern arose, e.g. in a specific council, that he would be careful bringing that to the Committee regardless, because a case relating to that council could appear before a Standards Committee hearing in due course.

Observations / questions were invited from the members.

It was noted that the wording in cases 202303259 and 202303399 were ambiguous because the councillor was referred to as 'him' in the first sentence, but as 'her' in the following sentence.

It was recommended that the training had not improved the situation at all in Tywyn Town Council, where minor cases arise often. In response, the Monitoring Officer noted:-

·         That these were complaints that do not proceed to an investigation, and this may suggest that the training does work.

·         That it was not possible to completely avoid complaints and, possibly, that the existence of these complaints in the report did not create such a bleak picture.

It was noted that it was not understood why the Ombudsman, after discovering that a member had broken the Code of Conduct, had decided not to take any further steps in relation to the matters investigated. There was concern that this could lead to a worse situation in the future, and it was suggested that any case, regardless of how minor it was, should be investigated if the councillor in question had previously broken the Code. In response, the Monitoring Officer noted:-

·         That he did not disagree with the comment, but that advising on complaints was hard on those occasions where the councillor had clearly broken the Code, but where there may not be public interest in taking steps relating to the matters investigated.

·         That the Ombudsman and its officers also faced a hard task evaluating the complaints and reaching a conclusion regarding which ones that merited an investigation.

·         That the Ombudsman's Annual Report highlighted that there was an emphasis on respect and equality, and possibly that those were the cases that the Ombudsman was most likely to investigate, and also most likely to take steps in the public interest.

Referring to the 202201791 case, it was noted that there was a suggestion by the Ombudsman that the advice given by the Clerk was not as clear as it could have been, and it was enquired whether the officers had noted that training needed to be provided to the Clerk regarding that. In response, the Propriety and Elections Manager confirmed that had been noted. He also noted that such cases could be useful to the officers in terms of preparing training as it highlighted what happens on the ground and where the weaknesses were.

It was noted that research completed last year with a selection of town and community council clerks in relation to the Ethical Standards Framework had highlighted that only a small amount of them had a specific qualification to be able to advise. In response, the Monitoring Officer noted that the clerk's role equated to the Chief Executive in terms of the range of duties, if not their size, and that challenges could arise regarding the post.

RESOLVED to note the information and continue to present the information to the Standards Committee in the form of summaries without specific details.