To receive questions from members of the public who may wish to ask a general question of the Mayor, Cabinet Member or the Chairman of a Committee in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.
Minutes:
(1) Mr. Harron asked how could it be that the petition tabled at the Council meeting on 22nd May, 2019 (a petition from October, 2017 blocked apparently by the actions of the Chief Executive for about eighteen months) had not received a response by 5th September, 2019, yet the petition tabled at the Council meeting on 4th September, 2019 received a response from the Assistant Chief Executive on 5th September, 2019?
The Leader explained the Council would respond to petitions as quickly as practicable, but sometimes this took longer than others. He understood that in this particular situation there had been a simple administrative error that meant a reply had not been sent. Mr. Harron was issued with apology from the Council and he included his own apologies for the process taking so long.
In a supplementary question Mr. Harron focused on the second response he received which was the following day to the Council meeting. That petition was actually asking the Council to suspend the changes to the petition scheme and fully consult with members of the public before implementing the changes. He was curious as to how, having addressed the Council, by mid- morning the next day he had received a response from an officer.
He, therefore, wanted to complain as he believed his right had been removed to go to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board. He had been sent a copy of the Unreasonable Complainant Behaviour Policy and there was nothing to suggest he had right of appeal. He, therefore, asked was there a right of appeal and for confirmation when the above Policy was adopted by Council as there was no reference to Elected Members within it.
The Leader confirmed he was not aware of the response specifics to Mr. Harron so would need to check and come back to him. He also advised that if the officer response was not satisfactory then Mr. Harron could take this forward using the Council's Complaints Procedure. The Leader again apologised that a response to Mr. Harron had not been circulated sooner.
It was also pointed out that following feedback and an internal review of support services for governance, improvements had been made to the back office processes in the administration of petitions which should avoid significant delays in responses being issued by officers.
(2) Mr. Simon Ball was unable to attend the Council Meeting so his question“That just 8 out of the 63 councillors here have been given the power to make nearly all Council decisions. In this undemocratic decision-making system, the other 55 councillors have little or no say, are you happy for this undemocratic way to continue?” would receive an answer in writing.
(3) Mr. Peter Thirlwall asked could the Chair of the Standards and Ethics Committee please tell me the outcome of my complaint dated 16th August, regarding the failure of Councillor Brian Cutts to complete his ‘Register of Interests’?
Councillor Clark, as Vice-Chair of the Standards and Ethics Committee, explained that it was not appropriate to go into detail about individual cases in this forum, as the rules stated that Council questions should be general questions.
However, it was confirmed that all Members’ interests forms had been appropriately completed including the subject of his enquiry. It was each Member’s responsibility to make sure that their Register of Interests was correct, updated within twenty-eight days of any change and signed.
The Council should be seen to take strong action against any person who did not comply as this was a clear responsibility of being an Elected Member.
In a supplementary question Mr. Thirlwall thanked the Vice-Chair about the need for strong action which he agreed with. However, Councillor B. Cutts was elected on the 5th May, 2015 and two and a half years later he had still not declared his property interests. This had prompted at least five questions at Council on the subject.
Councillor B. Cutts had been mentioned by name so was fully aware of the position and the need to abide by the Code of Conduct. He had also been spoken to by the Monitoring Officer at the time and a seminar for the UKIP Members about the filling in of their Register of Interests had also taken place.
It would appear that outstanding Register of Interest forms were all completed by UKIP Members apart from Councillor B. Cutts who eventually completed it the day before the last Council Meeting.
Despite asking questions this was reported in detail to the Standards and Ethics Committee. Mr. Thirlwall, therefore, asked what incentive did any Councillor have to complete their Register of Interests if there was no penalty for not doing so. An apology was, therefore, warranted to this Chamber and a suggestion that the allowance paid to Members be removed for the period the updates to the Register of Interests remained outstanding.
Councillor Clark reiterated how it was not appropriate to go into detail in this forum about individual cases. However, she gave her assurance that the supplementary information provided would be raised at the next meeting of the Standards and Ethics Committee and included as an agenda item regarding Register of Interests and how they should be dealt with from a legal perspective by each individual Members.