Agenda item

Further to Minute No. 38 of the meeting of the Committee held on 14th April, 2011, consideration was given to a report presented by Richard Waller, Senior Manager, Legal and Electoral Services, which referred to the Localism Bill receiving its third reading in the Lords on the 5th September, 2011 following which it would return to the House of Commons for consideration of any amendments made to the Bill by the Lords.  The provisions of the Bill concerned with the standards regime (Chapter 5 (standards) and Schedule 4 (conduct of local government members) have so far remained unchanged.  It was, therefore, likely that these provisions would become law in their current form. 

Further information was provided on Chapter 5 and the duty placed upon certain authorities and Town and Parish Councils to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by members and co-opted members of the authority (Clause 16 of the Bill).  

At its meeting on the 14th April, 2011, the Committee identified a number of issues to be addressed were the Council minded to adopt a voluntary code of conduct overseen by a Standards Committee and the Committee was also invited to submit their views on the Standard Committee’s future. 

The Committee also noted that the Director of Legal Services at Sheffield City Council recently circulated an e-mail to the Monitoring Officers of Barnsley and Doncaster Councils and the Council advocating a shared standards regime.  Drafts of Sheffield’s proposed Standards Protocol and draft procedure for dealing with allegations of breach of the Sheffield Code of Conduct were set out in detail as part of the report.

It was suggested that the issues be explored over the next few months with a view to proposing to the Cabinet and the Council an appropriate standards regime and voluntary code of conduct once the Localism Bill had become law. 

The Committee sought clarification on the regulations and the sanctions that could be imposed.

Discussion ensued on the shared arrangement which would invariably result in members of the Standards Committees of the four Local Authorities having to comply with a uniform standard of code and could lead to concerns over a lack of knowledge and independent view.

The Committee was mindful of the changing environment, the need for more prescriptive Terms of Reference and how the complaint workload would change, but did not want to dismiss the wider role of the Standards Committee.

It was suggested that further comments on this matter be sent to the Monitoring Officer by the 30^th September, 2011, following which a meeting be arranged with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman to draw up draft Terms of Reference and for them to be submitted back to the next meeting for consideration.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the contents of the report be noted.

(2)  That any comments be forwarded to the Monitoring Officer by the 30^th September, 2011, following which a meeting be arranged with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Standards Committee to draw up draft Terms of Reference and for them to be submitted back to the next meeting for consideration.