Agenda item

To elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order 29.

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

A list of Members eligible to stand was read and, with both Ann Holmes and Barbara Newman expressing willingness to serve, a ballot was held.

Votes were cast as follows:                Ann Holmes                –          7 votes

                                                            Barbara Newman        –          5 votes

Ann Holmes was therefore duly elected Chairman for the ensuing year and took the Chair. The Chairman thanked the Committee for their support.

VOTE OF THANKS

Proposed by Barbara Newman;

Seconded unanimously;

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:

That the Members of the Standards Committee wish to place on record their sincere appreciation to

Oliver Arthur Wynlayne Lodge

for the courteous and conscientious manner in which he has carried out the duties of Chairman of this Committee since May 2016 and the leadership he has shown in steering it through a significant period of change over the past three years.

SOON after his appointment as Chairman, the decision to commission an independent review of the City Corporation's standards framework was taken in an attempt to re-establish the standing of the Standards Committee in the Court. This review resulted in a number of recommendations with those that were carried altering the composition of the Committee, the role of its Independent Persons and the way in which it handles complaints. A revised Code of Conduct and Guidance to Members came into effect in March 2018.

MORE recently, Mr Lodge oversaw a revision to the organisation’s Dispensations Policy and Guidance, with a view to providing an enhanced level of consistency, of requisite information about disclosable pecuniary interests and of the regulations around such interests and dispensations. The new requirements came into effect as of 1st March 2019.

THE Committee also examined how best to promote greater transparency and consistency in terms of both elected and Co-opted Members’ Declarations of Interest. Through the Chairman’s persistence in this matter, the declarations of all necessary Co-opted Members are now published on the City Corporation’s webpages alongside those of Elected Members and have been publicly available since March 2019.

IN taking their leave of their Chairman, his colleagues are united in conveying to Oliver Lodge their thanks for the contribution he has made to their deliberations and wish him every possible success in the future.

FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Town Clerk be authorised to make arrangements for the resolution to be presented in a manner agreeable to the past Chairman.