Basingstoke & Dean Borough Council Standards Committee Meeting

Apologies were received from Camilla Proctor.

Apologies were received from Linda Agnew

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no urgent items.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2022 were approved by the Committee and signed by the Chair as a correct record. 

The Monitoring Officer introduced the report which provided an update to the Committee on the progress in determining Code of Conduct complaints received against Borough, Parish and Town councillors.

She confirmed that there had been one complaint received since the meeting on 11 July 2022.

The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments which included:

• Welcomed the report and that there had only been one code of conduct complaint.

• Pleased that half of the Parish Councils had now adopted the new Code of Conduct.

Resolved:  The Committee 

Notes the progress made on complaints received and the learning derived from the consideration of complaints.

The Monitoring Officer introduced the report which requested the Committee’s approval to commence the recruitment process for the appointment of two Independent Persons (IP) and three Independent Standards Assessors (ISA).

She advised that the council had previously agreed that there should be three IPs and four ISAs.

The council currently had two IPs after one resigned in February 2023.  The term of one of the IPs would expire on 31 December 2023 and could not be extended any further. The other IP had indicated he was willing for his term (which would expire on 31 October 2023) to be extended subject to approval by Council. Therefore, two vacancies for IPs would need to be filled.

With regard to ISAs, the terms for two of the three ISAs would expire on 31 December 2023 and those could not be extended any further. The remaining ISA had indicated that she was willing for her term (which would expire on 31 October 2023) to be extended for a further two year period subject to Council approval.  In addition, there had been an ongoing vacancy for ISA, which was unable to be filled during the last recruitment process. Therefore, three vacancies for ISAs would need to be filled.

She confirmed that the recruitment process would commence after the upcoming local election and any nominations for the Interview Panel would be sought at that stage.

The committee discussed the report and made the following comments which included:

·         The previous recruitment process for the roles was considered fair and should be replicated.

·         It was commented that the vacancies needed to be publicised in other media as well as the local newspaper and website. The Monitoring Officer stated that the vacancies had to be advertised in the local newspaper by law.

·         The utilisation of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and the Local Government Association (LGA) as a medium to advertise the vacancies.

·         It was highlighted that candidates had previously applied from various parts of England.

·         Members discussed the interview panel, and it was noted that it would be arranged after the local elections.  One of the Borough Councillors advised that he would be involved in the interview panel for an Independent Person for the Audit and Accounts Committee.

·         Switch bullet points 2 and 3 around on Appendix 2 - the Independent Person eligibility criteria.

·         Benefits of the role were discussed, such as payment, travel expenses, and allowing individuals to put it on their CV.

·         Help was offered with the recruitment process from an ISA to give an insight into the role for future applicants.

·         A suggestion was made to utilise YouTube and other social media to promote the roles.

Resolved: The Committee: 

1.    Approves the recruitment of two Independent Persons and three Independent Standards Assessors in accordance with the process outlined in Appendix 1.

2.    The interview panel consist of two Borough Councillors and one Parish/Town Councillor and the Monitoring Officer or Deputy Monitoring Officer to be present as adviser to the panel.

3.    The Standards Committee agrees that the interview panel recommend to Council the appointment of up to two Independent Persons and up to three Independent Standards Assessors.

The Monitoring Officer introduced the report which sought the Committee’s approval to its Annual Report attached at Appendix 1 of the report.

The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments which included:

• Members suggested the following amendments to the Standards Committee Annual Report:

• The importance for Parish and Town Councils to adopt the code of conduct was emphasised.

• Proposed that a full day workshop be arranged potentially in June for the Parish Clerks.  The event would give them a chance to network as well as an opportunity to highlight the benefits of the new Code of Conduct to encourage adoption.

• It was highlighted that the new Code of conduct could protect clerks from harassment and bullying concerns. 

• It was acknowledged that training for the Parish Councils had previously been on hold due to the limited adoption of the Code of Conduct.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed that as the number had increased significantly training would be arranged for the Clerks and Parish Councillors.

• The Chair reiterated his thanks to Parish Councillor Les Fryer for his long service to the Standards Committee.

Resolved: The Committee:

1.     To approve, subject to any amendments made by the Committee, the Annual Report for publication in the form appended in appendix 1.

2.     Recommends presentation of the Annual Report to Council for consideration.

The Committee reviewed and agreed its work programme with the following comments:

·         The Monitoring Officer agreed to bring the final version of the Annual Report to the June committee meeting.

• The committee emphasised the importance of Code of Conduct training for both Borough and Parish/Town Councils.  It was highlighted that it had been agreed with Group Leaders that the Code of Conduct Training for Borough Councillors would be made mandatory from the new municipal year.

·         Code of Conduct training progress review to be included in the November meeting work programme.

The meeting ended at 7:09 pm.

Chair