Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Turner and Miss Worne and also from Independent Person Mr John Cooke.

Members and Officers are invited to make any declarations of pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interests that they may have in relation to items on this agenda, and are reminded that they should re-declare their interest before consideration of the item or as soon as the interest becomes apparent.

Members and Officers should make their declaration by stating:

a)            the item that they the interest in

b)            whether it is a pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interest

c)            the nature of the interest

There were no Declarations of Interest made.

The Committee will be asked to approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Standards Committee held on 27 March 2024.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 27 March 2024 were approved by the Committee and signed by the Chair.

The Chair confirmed that there were no urgent matters for this meeting.

To receive questions from the public (for a period of up to 15 minutes)

The Chair confirmed that no public questions had been submitted for this meeting.

The Committee is required to agree its start times for meetings for the year 2024/25.

[5 minutes]

Following discussion and debate, the Committee

            RESOLVED

            That its start time for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2024/25 be 6.30 pm.

This is a regular report to the Committee by the Monitoring Officer to give the Committee an overview of the work of the Monitoring Officer that falls within the scope of the functions for which the Committee is responsible.

[5 Minutes]

The Monitoring Officer introduced his update report to the Committee providing an overview of his work undertaken that fell within the scope of the functions for which the Committee was responsible.

            He highlighted that Full Council at its meeting held on 13 March 2024, had approved constitutional amendments following a meeting of the Constitution Working Party held in February 2024. The amendments related to Part 5 (Section 1 – Council Procedure Rules and Section 2 – Committee Procedure Rules) relating to Public Question Time and Part 7 (Management Structure). The constitution had been subsequently amended on 10 April 2024.

            The Monitoring Officer confirmed that he was due to contact those Town and Parish Councils that had not yet adopted the Local Government Association (LGA) model code of conduct  with the aim of bringing a universal approach to the model across the district. The Committee was also advised that a review of the Arun Code would be undertaken later in the year. 

The Committee noted the report.

This report updates the Standards Committee on the current position of Member learning and development following the completion of the Member Induction Programme.

[5 Minutes]

The Monitoring Officer in introducing his regular report on Member Learning and Development provided a verbal update to the Committee. He informed Members that following the Annual Meeting of the Council and changes in Committee Memberships, Councillor Needs had become a Member of the Licensing Committee and so arrangements were in place to ensure that she received her mandatory training as soon as possible. Plans were in place to provide this in house by a member of the legal services team.

The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Planning Committee were due to attend Planning Training tailored for Chairs of Planning and Development Control Committees on 20 and 21 July provided by the LGA.

The Committee noted the report and the verbal updates provided.

This report updates the Committee on the complaints against Councillors received since the Monitoring Officer’s last report on  27 March 2024.  The Committee is responsible for promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by Members of the District and Town & Parish Councils, for monitoring the operation of the Code of Conduct, and for considering the outcome of investigations in the event of breaches of the Code of Conduct.

[10 Minutes]

The Monitoring Officer introduced the report, drawing Members attention to the table in paragraph 4.2 where it was highlighted that a simplified numbering system had been introduced in terms of case references.

The Monitoring Officer explained that in looking at trends and patterns, there had been a slight increase in the number of complaints submitted since the last meeting of the Committee in March 2024 and especially in respect of parish councils. The Monitoring Officer stated that he would be liaising with the Clerks of those Councils to obtain additional background information and to ascertain if there was a pattern forming so that the appropriate support and advice could then be provided.

In the absence of questions from Members regarding the register of complaints, the Committee noted the report.

The Standards Committee’s functions include considering membership and recruitment of Independent Persons and making recommendations for appointments to Full Council.

Independent Persons (IPs) are appointed for a fixed period of time, and all three of the Council’s IPs’ terms of appointment are due to expire in July 2024. A recruitment process was agreed by the Committee at its meeting on 18 January 2024 with the aim of appointing new Independent Persons at the July 2024 Full Council meeting. The Monitoring Officer has not been able to progress the recruitment process as promptly as envisaged and an extension of term of office is therefore recommended.

[15 Minutes]

The Monitoring Officer introduced his report and reminded Members that the Standards Committee’s functions included considering membership and recruitment of Independent Persons and making recommendations for appointments to Full Council. Independent Persons (IPs) were appointed for a fixed period of time, and all three of the Council’s IPs’ (Sandra Prail, John Thompson and John Cooke) terms of appointment were due to expire in July 2024. A recruitment process had been agreed by the Committee at its meeting on 18 January 2024 with the aim of appointing new Independent Persons at the July 2024 Full Council meeting. The Monitoring Officer had not been able to progress the recruitment process as promptly as envisaged and an extension of each IP’s term of office to 6 November 2024 was therefore recommended.

            Having had the recommendation proposed by Councillor Woodman and seconded by Councillor Ayling, the Chair then invited questions from Members.

Having noted the position regarding the Independent Persons recruitment process;

The Committee

RECOMMENDED TO FULL COUNCIL

That the terms of office of the Council’s current Independent Persons be extended to 6 November 2024.

The Committee received and noted its Work Programme for 2024/25.

The Committee is required to note the Work Programme for 2024/25.

[5 Minutes]