Agenda item

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 29 January 2016.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 29 January 2016 were considered and approved as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

Complaints Procedure and Form (page 3) – A Co-opted Member pointed out that the Committee, at their last meeting, had requested a written note from the Chief Commoner summarising the complaints he had dealt with informally whilst in office. The Town Clerk responded that this information had been sought but had not been forthcoming.

The Co-opted Member stated that she felt it was difficult to demonstrate that the Standards Committee had fulfilled their role in terms of oversight of these disciplinary powers in the absence of a written report.

The Town Clerk clarified that the Chief Commoner had never been required to produce this information previously. She added that it was therefore important for the roles and responsibilities of the office of Chief Commoner and the role of the Standards Committee in this area to be properly defined. Members were informed that Item 9 on the agenda asked that some further thought be given to this.

Ward Newsletters in the run up to the 2017 Common Council Elections (page 7) – In response to questions raised at the last meeting of the Standards Committee regarding editorial oversight of the Ward Newsletters, the Comptroller and City Solicitor reported that the first line of oversight lay with the editors of the individual newsletters. The Head of Publishing then reviewed the newsletters according to the City Corporation’s guidelines before these went to press.

Members were informed that any issues identified were flagged with the Head of Publishing’s Line Manager but this had only been necessary on a few occasions.

The Chairman thanked Officers for this feedback and reassurance that there was some formal structure/oversight in place.