Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Alderman Fiona Woolf, Alan Graham (Independent), and Felicity Lusk (Independent).

There were none.

Order of Common Council, 19 April 2012 appointing the Committee and approving the Committee’s Terms of Reference (copy attached).

The Order of the Court of Common Council, dated 19 April 2012, appointing the Committee and approving its Terms of Reference were received.

Election of Chairman

The Committee proceeded to elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29.

The Town Clerk read out a list of Members eligible to stand as Chairman and Dr Colin Kolbert, being the only Member indicating his willingness to serve, was duly elected Chairman for the ensuing year, and took the Chair.

Election of Deputy Chairman

The Committee proceeded to elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30.

The Town Clerk read out a list of Members eligible to stand as Deputy Chairman and Julian Malins, being the only Member indicating his willingness to serve, was duly elected Deputy Chairman for the ensuing year.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 28 February 2012 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 February 2012 were approved as a correct record.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Comptroller & City Solicitor (copy attached).

A joint report of the Town Clerk and the Comptroller & City Solicitor on the Standards regime under the Localism Act 2011 was considered. The report highlighted that as a code of conduct must be adopted by 1 July 2012, as a statutory requirement, it be proposed that the City’s existing code of conduct be re-adopted for the time being, until such time as the regulations defining disclosable pecuniary interests had been clarified.

The Comptroller & City Solicitor explained that this was an interim report and that it was the government’s desire to move away from the current Standards regime. He pointed out that further regulations/guidance from government was still awaited and that there was an obligation for complaints to be investigated locally when the code of conduct had been breached. It was noted that any new code of conduct would need to be based on the Nolan Principles and that further information on interests was yet to be provided. In relation to the role of the Independent Person it was noted that there was a statutory requirement for an Independent Person to be consulted when making a decision on a complaint that had been investigated. It was noted that shortlisting of Independent Person candidates had been done and interviews would be taking place on 14 June 2012.

The Committee queried why a decrease in the composition of a future Standards Committee had been proposed and some concern was expressed regarding the need to maintain impartiality, particularly if complaints were to be heard and adjudicated solely by elected Members.  Following a discussion about the importance of maintaining a level of independent membership on the Committee to preserve the Nolan principles, there was a consensus amongst those present that the proposed composition should be increased to 5 Commoners, 1 Alderman and 4 Co-opted

Current Complaint

It was noted that a current complaint which had been lodged against a Member would be dealt with under the current standards regime and, depending on the outcome of the Assessment Sub Committee and any subsequent hearing, local sanctions may be imposed.

There were none.