Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations made.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held 16 November 2017 be approved, subject the clarification of attendance by elected members and non-elected members

The Committee considered a report with regards to a consultation exercise to review local government ethical standards by the Committee for Standards in Public Life.  Discussion included the types of sanctions currently available, allegations made against parish councillors and circumstances which may trigger an investigation. 

The committee also considered requirements for declaration of interests at meetings.  This included the potential advantages of declaring a conflict of loyalty as a type of interest at meetings, as used by some other organisations.  It was thought that this may sometimes enable a councillor, not involved in making the decision, to continue to provide useful background information during meetings where they may have an overlapping role (e.g. representation of the Council to an outside body).  Discussion also included the possible addition of a “right to make representations” for councillors at meetings such as Development Control Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted and that authority be delegated to officers to respond to the consultation on behalf of the Council.

To resolve that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business as there may be disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972

RESOLVED:

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items as there may be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

There was a report on complaints made to the Monitoring Officer under the Council’s agreed arrangements for dealing with standards complaints. 

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.