Apologies for absence were received from Councillors CNH Attwood and JW Millar. 

There were no named substitutes. 

Councillor GA Powell declared a non-disclosable pecuniary interest in agenda item 6 [Standards Panel Report, 22 November 2012, minute 41 below], and remained in the meeting for the duration of the item.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 November 2012.

The Chair commented that the Library at the Shire Hall, where the previous meeting had been held, was a suitable alternative venue for meetings of the Committee as the need arose.

Referring to minute 30 [Work Programme 2012/13], a Committee Member commented that some potential items of business identified at previous meetings for future consideration were still outstanding and requested that these be expedited.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 November 2012 be approved and signed as correct record by the Chairman.

[Note:  Agenda item 6 (minute 41) was considered before item 5 (minute 40) but the agenda order has been retained below for ease of reference.]

The purpose of this report is to recommend a change to the Council’s Procedure Rules for notices of motion and a protocol for adoption.

The Assistant Director Law, Governance and Resilience reported that issues with the process for amending notices of motion had been highlighted at Council in September 2012.  Consequently, the amendment of the Council’s Procedure Rules was recommended, alongside a related protocol.  This would allow Members to retain priority by lodging a notice of motion (or a description of the subject matter) and then to refine the wording, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, to ensure proper formulation prior to the publication of the relevant agenda.

The Chairman welcomed the report and noted the need for the deadline on submission to ensure that sufficient notice could be given of the subject matter to be debated.

In response to a question, the Assistant Director Law, Governance and Resilience confirmed that the existing Procedure Rules limited the number of notices to a maximum of three notices on each agenda [paragraph 4.1.16.2 refers].

The Committee endorsed the recommendations to Council.

RESOLVED:  That the following be recommended to Council:

(a)       Procedure Rule 4.1.16 be amended as indicated in the protocol appended to the report; and

(b)      the protocol appended to the report be adopted.

The purpose of this report is to consider the recommendations of the Independent Person, following the Standards Panel meeting on 22 November 2012, in respect of Councillor GA Powell.

The Assistant Director Law, Governance and Resilience submitted a report on the recommendations of the Independent Person in relation to a breach of the Code of Conduct by Councillor GA Powell.

The Chairman commented that this was the second report from the Standards Panel since the introduction of the new standards system in July 2012.  It was noted that a report from the Committee regarding breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct by Councillor MAF Hubbard [minute 34 of 2012/13 refers] had been submitted to Council in November 2012 but, due to unforeseen circumstances, the item had been held over until an extraordinary meeting of Council on 4 January 2013.

The Chairman explained the procedure that would be followed.  He emphasised that the investigation into the complaint had been completed and considered by the Standards Panel.  Therefore, unless new evidence was presented or issues were identified with the process, the Committee was not expected to reopen the whole case but to move forward by considering the recommendations. 

The Chairman noted that the complaint had been made in 2010 and the length of time taken to reach this position was likely to have had an impact on the wellbeing of Councillor Powell.  He added that this highlighted the need for cases to be dealt with as efficiently and as speedily as possible.

The Assistant Director Law, Governance and Resilience reported that the Assessment Sub-Committee of the Standards Committee had considered the complaint in December 2010 and referred the allegation for investigation but there had been delays subsequently, in part due to the abolition of the regime under the Localism Act 2011 and the implementation of a new system.  As a complaint for final determination under the old regime but not concluded by the Standards Committee, this case fell to be considered by the newly constituted Standards Panel.

It was reported that the Standards Panel had met on 22 November 2012 to consider the complaint, originating from an email from the subject member on 21 July 2010 about certain matters relating to the Northolme Community Centre Association [NCCA]; detailed notes of the Panel meeting were appended to the report.  The Panel found that: it was reasonable to perceive the subject member as acting in her capacity as a councillor when she sent the email; the allegations in the subject member’s email were unsubstantiated; and the subject member had failed to comply with the Code of Conduct.  Attention was drawn to the recommendations of the Independent Person, as follows:

·                the Audit and Governance Committee be asked to present a report on the consideration of the investigation of the complaint to the next full council meeting;

·                the Audit and Governance Committee be asked to recommend to Council to consider whether it was appropriate for the member to be appointed or nominated by the authority as a representative to external bodies; and

·                training should be arranged for the subject member to ensure that she is fully aware of the provisions of the Members’ Code of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

Friday 18 January 2013 10.00 am. 

The Committee noted that the next scheduled meeting was to be held on Friday 18 January 2013.  This would be followed by a private, informal meeting with Committee Members and the Heads of Internal and External Audit, as part of established best practice.

[Note: The 18 January 2013 meeting was subsequently cancelled.  Therefore, the next scheduled meeting was to be held on Tuesday 19 February 2013.  The informal meeting with the auditors was postponed and was to follow the Committee meeting on Friday 15 March 2013.]