Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Munsur Ali and Deputy Christopher Hayward. Helen Fentimen and Deputy Nighat Qureishi also issued apologies, but observed the meeting online.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 15^th December 2023.

The Sub-Committee considered the public minutes and non-public summary of their last meeting held on 15 December 2023.

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2023, be approved them as a correct record.

Comptroller and City Solicitor to be heard.

The Sub-Committee received an update from the Comptroller and City Solicitor regarding the outcome of a recent consultation which canvassed the comments and views from Members and co-optees in relation to the Members Code of Conduct. The Comptroller and City Solicitor will present a full report to the Sub-Committee at its next meeting.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which detailed recommendations and findings of the Local Government Association’s independent review of Members behaviour. The review having been commissioned by the Town Clerk, supported by the Chief Commoner and Policy Chairman.

By way of consultation, the document had been shared with the full Court membership at their meeting of Informal Court in February 2024, this had allowed for discussion in advance of a formal response to this Sub-Committee, the Policy and Resources Committee and, ultimately, the Court of Common Council for adoption.

To further direct and instruct the Town Clerk in terms of next steps, the Sub-Committee reflected and responded to questions posed in paragraph 7 of the document, with the aim of, under delegated authority, instructing officers to devise an action plan to be further considered in advance of its adoption.

The Chief Commoner reflected on the code of conduct and sanctioned mandatory training for specific core elements such as the role of committee chairman, with the potential instruction that Members were unlikely to chair a committee if they had not completed the training. 

The Town Clerk suggested a common-sense approach to the action plan which felt appropriate. Members acknowledged that implementation of the code required a key culture shift and that not all Members would engage and take responsibility for challenging poor behaviour.

The Sub-Committee discussed, in turn, the key points raised in paragraph 7 of the independent review document. Considering 7a of the paper, what does “good” look like, it was agreed that a Corporation Mission Statement was a good idea and could feature on the homepage of, the Corporation’s website.  Members further suggested that in addition to what “good” looks like there should also be a statement, in the avoidance of doubt, referencing “what is not

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Town Clerk and were advised of action taken since the last meeting, by the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chair and Deputy Chair, in accordance with Standing Order No. 41(b).

The Sub-Committee noted the action taken under urgent decision to amend Standing Orders to reflect repeal of Section 618 of the Housing Act 1985.

RECEIVED.

Comptroller and City Solicitor to be heard.

The Town Clerk reported that there were no outstanding live complaints, and that the single complaint received since the last meeting had been resolved informally. 

At the annual meeting of Independent Persons, useful discussions had taken place which included outcomes and learning from recent cases. The Panel via this Sub-Committee plan to submit a report to the Policy and Resources Committee and then to the Court of Common Council.  The Chief Commoner expressed the hope that the pre-complaint protocol would continue to work well and limit the number of Member on Member complaints.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Town Clerk.

A report of the Town Clerk was considered by the Sub-Committee, which sought endorsement for sessions planned for Quarter 1 and provided a forward look at Quarter 2 of the Member Learning and Development rolling programme.

The Sub-Committee were disappointed with the low level of interest and poor attendance at sessions which had led to cancellation or deferment.  The Chair discussed the provision of City-specific sessions, which had appeared to have no impact on attendance figures. The Town Clerk had thought creatively to improve attendance, sessions had been offered in various formats, hybrid, face-to-face etc; a variation of timings and days of the week had be trialled. Members suggested sending calendar invitations (as opposed to email alerts which tended to get lost in inboxes). The date would then be saved in Members’ Outlook calendars. The Sub-Committee was in agreement that future sessions should be time limited to one hour unless the subject required longer. The competition for Members’ time had been a contributing factor in attracting participation, and so this was considered a good idea for  making the offerings a more attractive prospect. Recording sessions had not been successful in capturing post session viewers, which had been introduced in recognition of Members  time constraints.  A Member suggested enabling Microsoft Word prompts or search tools in recording transcript, to ‘bookmark’ recordings which would reduce the requirement to view the entire video. 

The Town Clerk provided an update on the portal and confirmed that since the last meeting of the Sub-Committee, working with several Members, including the Chair of the Digital Services Committee, useful suggestions had been made to refresh the look, feel and content of the page. A demonstration of this work would be provided to Members at the next meeting of the Sub-Committee.

Members endorsed the information technology focused sessions

Town Clerk to be heard.

The Town Clerk reported that in preparation for the delivery of the new Member induction programme 2025, discussions here would frame the content and delivery of a three month series of offerings. The positive feedback had been taken into account from Members in 2022 and the aim was not to deviated from the existing format but to update and improve the content in 2025. The Town Clerk would seek to attract those returning Members, presenting  the programme as an opportunity to refresh knowledge and to share their past experiences with newly elected Common Councillors. 

Working with colleagues in Electoral Services, key dates would be made available to all candidates. Successful candidates will then be notified in good time of the dates of various receptions with the Chief Commoner, Policy and Resources Chairman and Town Clerk. Housekeeping, essentials (business cards etc) and equipment would be made available on launch day of the induction/refresher programme.

The current documentation, e-handbook and flyers, will require some update (for example, the new Corporate Plan). Officers are conscious not to overwhelm newly elected Members, therefore information would be phased to allow time for reading  and digestion. The considerable amount of information would be kept relevant, and to a minimum. Our existing Members (elected in 2022) will have a significant part to play in the modification and delivery of this Induction Plan, as their experience and comments of their own first three months at the City Corporation, would be a valuable source of information. Some content can be emailed to allow for Members to consider at their leisure, coupled with recordings of sessions.  Each Member will have available to them, a hard copy of the ehandbook at their adjourned Wardmote (i.e. when the results are announced).

At 12.10pm, the Chair left the meeting, the Chief Commoner Elect

To agree dates and times of future meetings

Wednesday 17^th July 2024 - 11.00am

Thursday 24^th October 2024 – 11.00am

Thursday 30^th January 2025 – 11.00am

RESOLVED: The Sub-Committee agreed the dates and times of future meetings.

Wednesday 17 July 2024, 11.00am

Thursday 24 October 2024, 11.00am

Thursday 30 January 2025, 11.00am

There were no questions.

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration.

The under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED - That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Item No                                               Paragraph No(s).

4                                                                      1

14                                                                    1

To agree the non-public minutes of the previous meeting held on 15^th December 2023.

The Sub-Committee considered the non-public minutes of their last meeting held on 15 December 2023.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2023, be approved them as a correct record

There were no questions in the non-public session.

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration in the non-public session.