Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Robin Eve, Edward Lord (Chairman), Anju Sanehi and Chris Taylor.

There were none.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 13^th September 2013.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13th September 2013 were approved as an accurate record.

Matters arising

AOB- Internal Mechanisms (page 2)

In response to a query, Members were advised that dates were not yet confirmed in respect of which future meetings of the Committee the Chief Commoner and the Chairman of the General Purposes Committee would attend. 

To note the minutes of the meeting of the Dispensations Sub (Standards) Committee held on 11^th November 2013.

The Committee received the minutes of the meeting of the Dispensations Sub Committee which met on 11^th November 2013.

RECEIVED.

At the meeting of the Standards Committee on 8^th February 2013, Members requested that the Director of HR be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee to respond to questions in respect of the Employee Code of Conduct.  

The Director of Human Resources to be heard relative to recent revisions to the Employee Code of Conduct, as attached. 

The Director of Human Resources, Chrissie Morgan, provided the Committee with an overview of the Employee Code of Conduct which, following its revision in 2012 to incorporate legislative changes associated with the Bribery Act (2010) was approved by the Establishment Committee on 27th September 2012.  Given the Standards Committee’s remit to “keep[ing] under review and monitor[ing] City of London Corporation’s Employee Code of Conduct”, Members were invited to comment on the existing Code.   

With reference to the Code and the various policies referred to therein, it was noted that the separate policies had not been included within the Code in order to keep the document as streamlined as possible, for ease of future revision and on the basis that all relevant documents were easily accessible by all employees on-line.

A query was raised regarding the Member/Officer Protocol and its relationship with the Employee Code of Conduct and clarification sought as to whether the Protocol should be referenced in some way within the Employee Code of Conduct (i.e. Part 5).  The Town Clerk undertook to explore the existence of the Member/Officer Protocol and to liaise further with the Director of HR in respect of referencing the Protocol within the Employee Code of Conduct.

The Director of HR confirmed that the Committee would be advised in the future as and when changes to the Employee Code of Conduct were proposed and the document would also be submitted to the Committee for an annual review, as per the Committee’s terms of reference.

This report seeks approval to introduce a mandatory regime for all Members of the Court of Common Council and Co-opted Members in respect of the registration of gifts and hospitality.  In order to replicate all of the provisions of the existing voluntary scheme for registration of gifts and hospitality in a mandatory scheme, including the registration of gifts and hospitality within 28 days of receipt, it is necessary to amend the Code of Conduct, as set out in Appendix 1. 

Following consideration by the Committee, a revised Code of Conduct will be presented to the Court of Common Council for approval in January 2014.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Comptroller & City Solicitor relative to the introduction of a mandatory regime for all Members of the Court of Common Council and Co-opted Members in respect of the registration of gifts and hospitality.  At its previous meeting on 13th September 2013, the Committee had agreed that as the voluntary regime for registering gifts and hospitality (to the value of £250 and above, or cumulative gifts and hospitality to the value of £500 and above from a single source over a 12 month period) was not resulting in appropriate registrations being made, a mandatory regime should be introduced.  In order to replicate all of the provisions of the existing voluntary scheme for registration of gifts and hospitality in a mandatory scheme, including the registration of gifts and hospitality within 28 days of receipt, amendments to the Code of Conduct were required, as set out at Appendix 1 of the report before Members.

The Committee was also asked to note the amended DCLG “guide for Councillors” regarding openness and transparency and its revised “illustrative Code of Conduct” on which the City Corporation’s Code of Conduct was largely based.

A number of revisions were proposed in respect of the revised Code of Conduct, principally in respect of including reference to professional memberships, removing inconsistencies in the document and ensuring that the document appropriately reflected the City of London Corporation’s arrangements.  It was agreed that an updated version of the document, incorporating those suggestions put forward by Members, be submitted for further consideration by the Committee at its meeting on 31^st January 2014.  The Committee further agreed that, given the differing views that were likely to be generated by the introduction of a mandatory gifts and hospitality regime in the future, the

The Committee is asked to note the recommendations of the Selection Panel in respect of appointments to the three vacancies for Co-opted Members of the Standards Committee.  The recommended appointments will be submitted to the Court of Common Council for approval on 5^th December 2013. 

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk relevant to the appointment of Co-opted Members on the Standards Committee.  It was noted that the appointment process had been underway since September 2013 and, following two recruitment campaigns, four applications had been considered by the Selection Panel as well as an application for re-appointment by Ms Felicity Lusk.   The Committee noted the proposed appointment of Ms Judith Barnes and Ms Felicity Lusk which would be considered by the Court of Common Council on 5^th December 2013.

In noting that only two appointments were to be made in the near future and that in addition to the outstanding vacancy, a new vacancy would arise upon Mr Alan Graham’s term of office expiring in February 2014, the Committee considered how the vacancies should be managed.  It was agreed that as the previous recruitment campaigns had resulted in limited public interest, alternative recruitment methods should be progressed in the New Year in order to secure the appointment of new Co-opted Members at the earliest opportunity.  Consequently, the positions would be advertised on the City of London webpages only but, once the vacancies went out to advert, the Livery Committee would be alerted to the vacancies in order to raise wide-spread awareness about the role of the Co-opted Members on the Committee and the current vacancies.   It was further suggested that if the Co-opted Members that were currently appointed to serve on the Audit and Risk Management were also interested in serving on the Standards Committee, they should be encouraged to submit their expressions of interest to the Selection Panel within the agreed recruitment deadlines.  On that basis, the Co-opted Members of the Audit and Risk Management Committee would also be advised about the vacancies once the recruitment campaign commenced.

RESOLVED: - That

There were none.

There was none.