Apologies were received from David Greggains.

Members are asked to declare any interests in matters for consideration at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of

a)      the Standard Committee meeting held on 16 July 2009;

b)      the Standards Assessment Sub-Committee meetings held on 28 May 2009 and 27 July 2009;

c)      the Standards Review Sub-Committee meeting held on 29 June 2009.

attached

d)      the Standards Hearing Sub-Committee held on 6 July 2009 and 25 August 2009;

to follow

a)  The Minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 16 July 2009 be received and approved and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

b)  The Minutes of the Standards Assessment Sub-Committee meetings held on 28 May 2009 and 27 July 2009 be received and approved and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

c)  The Minutes of the Standards Review Sub-Committee meeting held on 29 June 2009 be received and approved and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

d)  The Minutes of the Standards Hearing Sub-Committee meetings held on 6 July 2009 and 25 August 2009 be received and approved and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

There were no representations from members of the public.

This report presents for initial consideration by Members of the Committee a draft annual report of the Committee’s work in the municipal year 2008/9, for detailed consideration and for recommendation to September Council.

Report of the Head of Legal and Electoral Services attached.

1.      That the contents of the report be considered, additions and changes discussed be made and authority be delegated to the Chair to finalise the content.

2.       The report be recommended to the Council at its meeting on 20 October 2009.

Further amendments and suggestions were made for incorporation in the final version of the Committee’s Annual Report.  References to the IT Protocol should be removed.  The Committee was keen to emphasise that taxpayers’ money should not be wasted on the scrutiny of complaints which amounted to no more than political point scoring and that complainants should be asking the Standards Committee and its sub-committees to deal with serious issues of conduct and breaches of the Code.

This report presents revised guidance for Members for consideration.

Report of the Head of Democratic Services and working group attached.

1. That the content of the draft guidance be noted
2. That further drafting be undertaken on the sections relating to gifts and hospitality and use of council resources
3. That the subsequent re-drafted document be circulated to the Group Leaders for comment initially, thence to all Members of the Council and the amended version be considered by the Standards Committee at its meeting on 30 November 2009.
4. That the present IT Protocol be deleted in due course and responsibility for its remit be transferred to the Audit Committee as part of its responsibility for compliance, security and risk matters.

The working group established to review the Members’ Protocol was thanked for its work.  The committee discussed the draft Guidance and made suggestions for further change and developed a timetable for completion of the work.

In discussion, the Committee considered that the present IT Protocol was no longer fit for purpose in that it did not distinguish clearly between activity which could be considered a breach of the Code and helpful advice on computer usage.  It was agreed that this issue would better sit with the Audit Committee although Standards Committee would be prepared to offer advice on reasonable requirements for compliance with the Code.

This report draws attention to the latest Bulletin issued by the Standards for England and to further guidance issued as a result of the Standards Committee (Further Provisions) (England) Regulations 2009.

Report of the Head of Legal and Electoral Services attached.

1. That the contents of the Bulletin and the further guidance be noted.

2. That Councillor Stephen Knight, in his capacity as a members of the board of Standards for England be invited to attend the Standards Committee on 30 November, to report on the Annual Assembly.

3. That the Legal Department be asked to draft assessment criteria for complaints for consideration by the Committee.

The Committee considered that useful guidance had been provided on the submission of written apologies.  It was thought that consideration should be given to making the training DVD available to all councillors.  On the further guidance, the use of other action was deemed to be unlikely but it was noted that it could be used if the committee was in any difficulty (as detailed on page 109 of the agenda).

This item enables members of the Committee to provide any relevant feedback in relation to the meetings that they have attended as observers since the last meeting.

Councillor Bennett indicated that he would wish to raise the issue of dissemination of confidential reports at the next meeting of this committee.

The Chair advised that she would be attending the meeting of Council on 20 October 2009.

The Committee’s work programme sets out the planned topics for the year.

Report of the Head of Democratic Services attached.

1. That the work programme of the Committee be noted and that agreed amendments be made by the clerk.

The Committee agreed that the IT Protocol be removed from the work programme and that the Monitoring Officer Protocol be moved to early 2010.  The Committee also decided that it would welcome a report on the format and content of training for new Members at a future meeting.