Agenda item

A joint report of the Town Clerk and the Comptroller and City Solicitor presenting, for assessment by the Sub-Committee, a complaint made against a member of the Court of Common Council.

Copy of decision letters attached.

The Committee considered a joint report and associated papers of the Town Clerk and the Comptroller and City Solicitor presenting, for assessment by the Committee, a complaint made against a member of the Court of Common Council.

The Comptroller and City Solicitor provided a brief introduction to his report and reminded Members of the need to ascertain whether they were satisfied that if

the complaint was proven it would constitute a breach of the Code of Conduct, along with the current Corporation Assessment Criteria. During discussion, a Member asked that the Code of Conduct be circulated to Committee members in advance of future meetings as a guidance document.

The Committee then proceeded to discuss the contents of the report and duly considered all relevant matters including hearing the views of the Independent Person that was present. The Committee were clear that Mr Goyal had breached the Code of Conduct, as acknowledged by him, and considered that an investigation was unlikely to elicit any further information. The Committee judged that Mr Goyal’s offer to apologise, attend a training session, reimburse the Corporation and give an undertaking as to his future conduct, with the details to be approved by the Committee, would be sufficient remedy. The Committee were also keen to determine the matter in a timely fashion given the upcoming election. At the conclusion of discussion, it was

RESOLVED:- That the Assessment Sub (Standards) Committee agree that:-

(a)      Having considered the complaint received and comments submitted by Mr Goyal on it, and given Mr Goyal’s admission of a breach of the Code of Conduct, the matter should not proceed to investigation subject to Mr Goyal’s compliance with the actions set out in paragraphs (i) to (iii) below.

(i)        That within 7 days of the date of being formally notified of the Committee’s decision, Mr Goyal issue a letter of apology and an undertaking not to use Corporation’s resources for inappropriate purposes in breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct to the Court of Common Council in the form set out in the Schedule.

(ii)       That within 14 days of the date of being formally notified, Mr Goyal attend training on the Members’ Code of Conduct with the Monitoring Officer.

(iii)      That Mr Goyal reimburse the Corporation for the cost of production of the leaflets the subject of the complaint, as determined by the Director of IS, within 14 days of receipt of such determination.

(b)       That the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Chairman and the Independent Person, be authorised to commence an investigation of the complaint and bring a report to the Hearing Sub (Standards) Committee in the event that Mr Goyal fails to comply with the steps set out in (a) (i) - (iii) above to the Monitoring Officer’s reasonable satisfaction.

(c)       That the report of the Monitoring Officer and its appendices, the decision letter and any apology received from Mr Goyal, be accessible to the public in the usual way, pursuant to the access to information provisions of Part VA of the Local Government Act 1972, and placed on the notice board in the Members’ Room.