Agenda item

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members had before them the report of the Town Clerk on the outcome of the Standards framework review. The following matters were raised:-

·         Noted that the Town Clerk had delegated authority to determine the start of the new complaints process following training for Standards Appeal Committee members. The Chairman asked that officers ensure that the timing of new process commencement avoids any gaps or duplication of arrangements for appeals to maintain confidence in the system.

(Action: TC / CCS)

·         Noted that complaints now in the system would continue to be dealt with under the current arrangements rather than the revised arrangements.

·         A Co-opted Member made a point about the informal resolution of disputes (paragraph 14 to 17 of the complaints procedure, pages 50-51 of the agenda pack) and her views (detailed below) that this element of the procedure needs to be clearer:

-       paragraph 15 refers to the Chief Commoner/Aldermanic Chairmen being effective in resolving disputes between members. If it is intended that they can also be asked to informally resolve a complaint by a member of the public, this should be explicit.

-       either the complainant or the subject of the complaint can at any time during or after informal resolution withdraw their consent to informal resolution and ask for the complaint to be referred to the Standards Committee. This is an important safeguard and needs to be made explicit. Currently paragraph 17 only refers to the right of a member (presumably the member complained about, though that is not clear) to refer a matter to the Standards Committee if aggrieved by any proposed course of action.

            Another Member put forward the view that paragraph 63 (iv) on page 60 of the agenda pack on sanctions did not make reference to the possible withdrawal of an appointment to an outside body.

On these points, the Chairman said that a review of current wording of the documents should be undertaken at the end of the year, by when there should have been opportunity to identify shortcomings. The Town Clerk to maintain a list of points for consideration as they emerge.

(Action: TC)

RECEIVED.