Agenda item

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 15^th May 2015.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 15 May 2015 were considered and approved as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

Item 6: Gifts and Hospitality – Ceremonial Officeholders

The Town Clerk reported that Mansion House had sought clarification regarding certain webpage links earlier this week in order to be able to publish the Lord Mayor’s register of gifts and hospitality online. It was reported that this would be ‘going live’ later this week. The Town Clerk added that there would also be links between the Lord Mayor’s pages and the office holders existing register of interests.

In response to a question regarding the registering of gifts and hospitality for Sheriffs, the Town Clerk reported that there was no longer a stand-alone webpage dedicated to the Sheriffs on the City’s website and that further work was therefore needed to establish where any register might be published, particularly in the case of the Non-Aldermanic Sheriff, where they were not otherwise an elected Member.

In response to a further question regarding the Chief Commoner, the Town Clerk reported that the officeholder was always an elected Member and therefore already had a register of interests published online. The Committee were informed that the officeholder was also supported by staff to ensure that their register was kept up to date. The Committee were therefore of the view that there was no requirement for a separate register to be published in this case.

A Co-opted Member suggested that the importance of maintaining an up to date register of interests should be included within the Job Description for the Chief Commoner going forward.

Item 6: Update to the Members’ Declarations

The Chairman referred to an informal meeting that had taken place earlier in the day with the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee. The Deputy Chairman summed up by stating that, on the whole, the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee was in agreement with the Standards Committee regarding declarations of gifts and hospitality. The Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee had made it clear that he believed he had always complied with the Code of Conduct and its Guidance and would continue to do so.

The Deputy Chairman went on to state that, in the interests of transparency, members of the Standards Committee had underlined the need for the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee to err on the side of caution in terms of declaring gifts and hospitality and to possibly consider publishing his diary going forward.

The Committee were also informed that, as a result of the morning’s informal meeting, it had been suggested that the Guidance to Members regarding compliance with the Code of Conduct be revisited and greater clarity given to certain points particularly those around cost/value for the benefit of all Members. The Chairman suggested that the Guidance (tabled) be reviewed under ‘Any Other Business’.

Item 8 – Members’ Declarations – Co-opted Members

The Town Clerk informed the Committee that a report on this matter would be submitted to the Policy and Resources Committee and also to the Court of Common Council for information later this month. In response to questions, the Town Clerk stated that the Policy and Resources Committee had oversight of the organisation’s governance arrangements and, historically, had had sight of these matters.

The Committee were informed that the report to be submitted to the Policy and Resources Committee drew heavily on the report approved by the Standards Committee at their last meeting.

Item 9: Complaints Review Process

The Committee were informed that the Complaints Procedure would be brought to them for review at their next meeting in October.

Item 10: Annual Report of the Standards Committee

The Chairman reported that the Committee’s Annual Report had been received by the Court of Common Council last week.