Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Alastair King and Judith Barnes (Co-opted Member).

There were none.

The Order of the Court of Common Council of 24^th April 2015, appointing the Committee and approving its terms of reference, was received.

Resolved: That -

(i) the Order of the Court of Common Council of 24^th April 2015 be received; and

(ii) in the future, the Order of the Court to include the names of the Independent Persons.

To elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29.

The Committee elected a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29.

The Chairman moved into the Chair and thanked the Committee for its support.

Resolved:- That Edward Lord be appointed as Chairman of the Standards Committee for 2015/2016.

To elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30.

The Committee elected a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No.30.

Resolved:- That Oliver Lodge be elected as Deputy Chairman of the Standards Committee for 2015/2016.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 20^th February 2015.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 20^th February 2015 were approved.

Matters Arising

Item 5: Gifts and Hospitality – Ceremonial Officeholders

The Chairman advised the Committee that Mansion House had confirmed that gifts and hospitality in respect of The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor had been logged since 1^st April 2015 in the manner agreed by the Committee and officers were prepared to publish the first quarterly declaration on-line in June.  The Town Clerk would be speaking further with Mansion House to establish the on-line registration arrangements ahead of further discussions with the Secondary and the Chief Commoner in respect of their declaration arrangements.  The Committee would be further updated in due course.

Item 6: Update to the Members’ Declarations

The Town Clerk tabled a letter from Mark Boleat, Chairman of the Policy & Resources Committee, which had been received following circulation of a letter by the Comptroller & City Solicitor, upon instruction from the Committee at its February meeting that a communication be sent to those Members where partial compliance or non-compliance had been identified. 

The Committee considered the response and a number of comments were raised including the Chairman’s apparent misinterpretation of the Code of Conduct and the role of the Committee which, Members’ felt, had a duty to assist the Court in its statutory duty to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by Members and Co-opted Members of the Corporation, and in particular to assist Members in complying with the revised Code of Conduct which was approved by the Court of Common Council in October 2014. 

The Committee’s view, in respect of valuing gifts and hospitality, was that a common sense test should be adopted of whether a reasonable observer would conclude that the total cost to the provider of making the hospitality available

At its meeting on 20^th February 2015, the Standards Committee approved a number of actions in respect of the Members’ Declarations with a view to ensuring that all Members had appropriately responded to the 2014 annual update process.

This report of the Town Clerk sets out how those actions have been progressed since the Committee’s last meeting and also proposes new arrangements in respect of the future management of the Members’ Declarations.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk in respect of a further update about the Members’ Declarations following the Committee’s decision on 20^th February 2015 that the issue of partial or non-compliance be escalated and the Comptroller & City Solicitor circulate relevant correspondence to certain Members in respect of the annual update and partial or non-compliance. 

With reference to Appendix 1 of the report, the Chairman advised the Committee that the vast majority of Members were now compliant with the requirements of the Code of Conduct and the annual update request, although a further seven to ten Members still appeared either not to have responded to the request for confirmation that no updates were required or they had not yet updated their Members’ Declaration.   A copy of the letter that was sent to some Members by the Comptroller & City Solicitor in respect of incomplete declarations (i.e. no pecuniary interests or gifts and hospitality registered) was tabled for information and the Committee then proceeded to review Appendix 1 and comment on potential non-compliance by some Members who were known to have non-pecuniary interests but whom had not yet made the relevant declarations. 

With regard to what further action could be taken in respect of partial or non-compliance, the Comptroller & City Solicitor tabled a short note detailing a number of possible courses of action that could be considered if the Standards Committee remained dissatisfied with the responses from certain Members to the reminder in relation to the registration of interests.    The list of further actions included the circulation of a further reminder from the Monitoring Officer highlighting the Committee’s dissatisfaction and the importance of compliance.  The Comptroller suggested that each letter could be tailored to an individual Member and indicating that if a response was not received within a specified

A joint report of the Town Clerk and the Comptroller & City Solicitor relative to a proposal in respect of the adoption and implementation of a consistent approach to the management and publication of Declarations of Interest by the City Corporation’s elected and Co-opted Members. 

The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Comptroller & City Solicitor in respect of the declaration arrangements for the City Corporation’s Co-opted Members.  The report had been requested by the Committee at its meeting in February to enable Members to fully understand the registration requirements for Co-opted Members and to enable them to consider the implementation of a more consistent approach to registration by both the City Corporation’s elected Members and its Co-opted Members.

The report set out the current arrangements which required voting Co-opted Members to submit a declaration which was retained on file in the Town Clerk’s department.  The Town Clerk advised the Committee that, during the annual update process, all Co-opted Members were contacted in writing, advised about the City Corporation’s registration requirements and then, in the case of the non-voting Co-opted Members, encouraged to submit a declaration.  The voting Co-opted Members were reminded of the requirement to submit a declaration.

A proposal in respect of the adoption and implementation of a consistent approach to the management and on-line publication of declarations of interest by both the City Corporation’s elected Members and the voting and non-voting Co-opted Members that serve on City Corporation committees was considered. The proposal would result in all Co-opted Members (voting and non-voting) being required to submit and maintain a Declaration of Interests, including both pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests.  It was noted that whilst a substantial amount of work would be required to implement the new arrangements over the coming months, and within the timescales specified in the report, on-going management would be relatively easy.  It was also noted that, given the changes, it was important that the Co-opted Members were fully aware of the new approach to managing and publishing declarations and that ample time be afforded to

At the request of the Standards, this joint report of the Town Clerk and the Comptroller & City Solicitor sets out the City Corporation’s current complaints procedure and the governance arrangements in respect of the Sub Committees that are constituted to consider any alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct. The report invites Members of the Standards Committee to consider and comment on the current complaints process.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Comptroller & City Solicitor relative to the City Corporation’s current complaints procedure and the governance arrangements in respect of the Sub Committees that are constituted to consider alleged breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

The Chairman suggested that the procedure should make greater reference to the Chief Commoner and the Chairman of the Privileges Committee of Aldermen and the existing internal mechanisms to manage Members’ behaviour.  He further suggested that the procedure should also clarify the opportunities for Members to appeal against the imposition of any sanctions by the Chief Commoner or the Chairman of the Privileges Committee of Aldermen such as the removal of hospitality privileges.   Whilst it was noted that the form should not be too legalistic, it was suggested that the complaints form be revised to invite people to specify which paragraphs of the Code of Conduct had allegedly been breached.   Contact details of those who manage the complaints process should also be included.  Further comments were made in respect of the role of the Independent Person/s and it was suggested that the role should be outlined in the introduction of the procedure (page 32 of the report).  With regard to the complainant type list within the procedure, the Town Clerk and the Comptroller & City Solicitor were requested to review the list and propose suitable revisions.  All Members were invited to examine the procedure further outside of the meeting and feed-back comments to officers.

Resolved:- That the Town Clerk and the Comptroller & City Solicitor review the complaints procedure and the complaints form (alleged breaches of the Members’ Code of Conduct) and submit revised documentation to the next meeting of the Standards Committee for further consideration.

A report of the Town Clerk relative to the Standards Committee’s draft Annual Report which, in accordance with the Committee’s terms of reference, will be submitted to the Court of Common Council on 25^th June 2015.   

The Committee considered its draft Annual Report ahead of submission to the Court of Common Council in June 2015, in accordance with the Committee’s terms of reference. 

A number of points were raised in respect of the draft including the inclusion of further explanation about the annual update process (Members’ Declarations) and the Committee’s attempts to address the issue of non-compliance with the City Corporation’s requirements by some Members. 

On the basis that the Annual Report of the Standards Committee should be amended ahead of submission to the Court of Common Council, delegated authority was granted to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Standards Committee, to amend the Annual Report and incorporate further details regarding the annual update process and the Committee’s concerns about non-compliance with the City Corporation’s registration requirements.

Resolved:- That delegated authority be granted to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Standards Committee, to revise the wording of the Draft Annual Report of the Standards Committee ahead of submission to the Court of Common Council on 25th June 2015, in accordance with the Committee’s terms of reference.

There were none.

(i)         Committee Management

The Chairman advised the Committee that Gemma Stokley (Town Clerk’s Department), who had been welcomed to the meeting at that outset, would be assuming committee management responsibility for the Standards Committee henceforth in place of Lorraine Brook.  On behalf of the Committee the Chairman thanked Lorraine Brook for her support to the Committee over recent years.   

(ii)        New Members

The Chairman welcomed Alderman Baroness Scotland to the Committee for the year ensuing.

(iii)       Committee dinner

The Chairman advised the Committee that the annual Committee dinner would take place on 2nd December 2015 in the Chief Commoner’s Parlour, Guildhall.