Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of the previous meeting(s) of the Committee held on the following date(s) as a correct / correct records.

The Chair was authorised to sign the minutes of the meeting held on the 15^th February 2017 subject to the following amendments:

Present:

Independent Members Mrs J Evans and Mr S Hays

County Councillor G I S Williams

Community Councillors Ms C Evans, H Pattrick and D Pugh

Apologies:

Apologies for absence were received from Independent Members Mrs H Rhydderch-Roberts (Chair and Mrs C Jackson (Vice-Chair).

To receive any declarations of interest from Members relating to items to be considered on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were received.

To receive the report of the Solicitor to the Council.

The Committee received the report of the Solicitor to the Council (copy filed with signed minutes).

A         Referral of Councillors to Public Services Ombudsman

A         Town and Community Councillor referrals

            The current position regarding existing matters with the Ombudsman is as follows: 

1/17/TCC       Ombudsman decided not to investigate

2/17/TCC       Ombudsman decided not to investigate

3/17/TCC       Ombudsman decided not to investigate

4/17/TCC       Ombudsman decided not to investigate

5/17/TCC       Ombudsman decided not to investigate

B         Dispensations

B1       Applications – County Councillors

            No applications for dispensations from Town and Community Councillors had been received.

C         Appointment of Independent Member

The process for appointing an Independent Member had commenced.  The post had been advertised in the Brecon and Radnor and the County Times and had also been placed on the front page of the Powys County Council website.  To date there have been 35 expressions of interest and 11 applications.  The closing date for submitting applications is the 6^th October 2017.  Shortlisting will take place on the 23^rd October 2017 with Interviews taking place on the 8^th November 2017.

The Interview Panel will comprise of the following members:

Mrs S Thompson – High Sheriff

Mrs H Rhydderch-Roberts – Chair of Standards Committee

Mrs J Evans – Independent Member Standards Committee

Councillor S Lewis – County Councillor Member Standards Committee

Community Councillor Hugh Pattrick – Community Councillor Member Standards Committee.

The appointment will be made at the meeting of Powys County Council on the 25^th January 2018.  The first meeting of the Standards Committee thereafter will be the 7^th February 2018.

D         Ombudsman’s Casebook

The Ombudsman had published Code of Conduct Casebooks for the following periods:

·         April 2017 – June 2017

A copy of this Casebook was attached at Appendix A.

E         Dispensations

E1       General Dispensations

The following general dispensations were considered.

School Modernisation and School Transport Reviews.

The County Council is continuing a School Modernisation Programme which has raised a number of complex issues in relation to the Members’ Code of Conduct. 

The previous Standards Sub-Committee’s discussion centred around the need to allow members of the public to have a voice through their elected representative on an issue of such importance to the whole community and to ensure that the democratic process was not restricted.  Whilst it was confirmed that there was no problem with school governors taking part in the process it was uncommon for a Member to be solely a school governor and most members had multiple and complex interests.

            The previous Sub-Committee considered that the main area of difficulty for Members arose when pecuniary interests arose which were defined as those Members who

·         were employed in a school,

·         who had a close personal association with someone employed in a school (spouse, parent, child)

·         had a contract for school transport

·         Members who have children in schools who are likely to be affected by the decision or have a close personal association with a person who has children in a school likely to be affected  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8-2017