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To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of the previous meeting(s) of the Committee held on the following dates(s) as a correct record: · 5th October 2016 Minutes: The Chair was authorised to sign the minutes of the meeting held on the 5th October 2016 as a correct record subject to the following amendments:
In E.1 Member attendance to make it clear that it is Cllr P Harris to which this matter refers. |
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Apologies To receive apologies for absence. |
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Declarations of interest To receive any declarations of interest from Members relating to items to be considered on the agenda. Minutes: No declarations of interest were received. |
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Report of the Solicitor to the Council PDF 231 KB To receive the report of the Solicitor to the Council. Minutes: The committee received the report of the Solicitor to the Council (copy filed with signed minutes).
A General Standards Issues for County Councillors and Co-opted Members
A1 Code of Conduct Training
The Head of Democratic Services confirmed that two Councillors had now submitted responses which meant that there remained two Councillors who had not undertaken refresher training. Members were of the view that it would be appropriate for this training to take place within the current term of office and it was
RESOLVED that Cllr G Price and Cllr G Jones be invited to attend refresher training on the Members Code of Conduct prior to the end of this term of office.
B Referral of Councillors to the Public Services Ombudsman
B1 County Council Referrals
The current position regarding existing matters with the Ombudsman is as follows:
6/15/CC With the Adjudication Panel for Wales 8/15/CC Referred to the Standards Committee 9/15//CC Referred to the Standards Committee 04/16/CC Ombudsman investigating 07/16/CC Investigation ended. No breach found. 09/CC/2016 Ombudsman investigating 10/CC/2016 Ombudsman investigating 15/CC/2016 Ombudsman investigating 16/CC/2016 Ombudsman investigating 17/CC/2106 Ombudsman investigating
C. Other Standards Issues
None.
D Dispensations
D1. Applications - County Councillors
No applications for dispensation have been received from County Councillors.
E. Attendance
E.1 Member attendance The Head of Democratic Services presented full attendance data as recorded on the Council’s ‘Modern’ system. It was noted that not all Member meetings are recorded on this system (such as attendance at Fostering Panel or Employment Hearings). Neither did this system include Member attendance at other meetings attended in their role as Councillor (such as Governing Bodies, Mid Wales Health Care Collaborative etc). It was noted that it would be inaccurate to publish attendance figures including some but not all of a Councillors workload.
RESOLVED that this matter be deferred to the next meeting of the Standards Committee when further detail of other meetings attended by Councillors will be sought.
F Ombudsman’s Casebook
The Ombudsman had published the July 2016 – September 2016 Code of Conduct Casebooks which can be accessed at.
http://www.ombudsman-wales.org.uk/en/publications/The-Code-of-Conduct-Casebook.aspx
(Copy filed with signed minutes)
G Ombudsman’s Annual Report
The Ombudsman had published his Annual Report for 2015-16 which could be accessed from the website of the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales at http://www.ombudsman-wales.org.uk/en/publications/Annual-reports.aspx
This report covers both service complaints and code of conduct complaints.
H Local Resolution
In 2013 the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales issued guidance on the Code of Conduct for Members of Local Authorities and recommended that a local resolution procedure was adopted to deal with low level complaints made by a Member against a fellow Member.
The Standards Committee adopted the Local Resolution, as contained within Section 25 of the Constitution on the 25th of June 2014.
The objective of the local resolution procedure adopted by the Council is to engage early and at a relatively informal level with a view to nipping issues in the bud with minimal involvement from the Monitoring Office and Standards Committee.
Since this was introduced the ... view the full minutes text for item S4-2017 |