Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence was received from Councillors P Gidney and Mrs M Wilkinson.

To approve the minutes of the Panel Hearing held on 28 November 2017.

The minutes from the Panel Hearing on 28 November 2017 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of an interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on any item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider any business which, by reason of special circumstances, the Chairman proposed to accept as urgent under Section 100(b)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There was no urgent business.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chairman of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before the meeting commences.  Any Member attending the meeting under Standing Order 34 will only be permitted to speak on those items which have been previously notified to the Chairman.

There were no Members present under Standing Order 34.

There was no Chairman’s correspondence.

In presenting the report, the Monitoring Officer advised Members of the current review by the Committee on Standards in Public Life (“CSPL”) of local government ethical standards, and to seek the views of the Committee in relation to the consultation questions.

The Monitoring Officer drew Members’ attention to the following sections of the report:

·         Background.

·         Current Standards Regime.

·         Former Standards Regime.

·         Consultation Questions.

·         Commenting on the Questions.

·         Conclusion.

The Committee considered the questions (a) to (j) set out at section 4 and suggested  responses to all questions which were noted by the Monitoring Officer.

RESOLVED: 1) Members of the Committee issue a collective response to the consultation.

2) The response to be formulated by the Monitoring Officer following discussion by the Committee and emailed to Members prior to the submission deadline of 18 May 2018.

The Monitoring Officer presented the Annual Report 2017/18 which summarised the more important matters arising from the Monitoring Officer’s work for the Council from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 and highlighted the following sections:

·         The Monitoring Officer’s work April 2017 – March 2018.

·         Key messages.

·         Looking Forward.

·         Code of Conduct

·         Constitution and Regulations.

·         Overall opinion on the adequacy and effectiveness of the Governance Framework.

The Committee was invited to ask questions, comment on the Annual Report 2017/18.

There were no questions from the Committee.

RESOLVED:  That the Monitoring Officer Annual Report for 2017/18 be noted.

To be convened when required.

RESOLVED:  To be convened when required.