Agenda item

To receive a report from the Monitoring Officer on any matters of relevance to the Committee.

(Report attached)  

Members received a report from the Monitoring Officer (MO) outlining the current position in relation to standards regime matters of relevance to the Committee.

i)       Monitoring Officer’s Report

The MO explained that this was a historical report which had previously been submitted the former Standards Committee and that she was happy to produce a new style report should Members so wish.  She requested that Members let her know if they had any particular issues or requests in this regard.

ii)         Member Complaints

The MO commented that the complaint information detailed in the report was as much as could be provided under the agreed process, with the information being sufficient for Members to identify any emerging complaint trends.

iii)       Hearings Sub-Committees

The MO advised that the proposed memberships of the Hearings Sub-Committees detailed in the report followed the previously established format, with a decision as to the Sub-Committee memberships being required from Members.  The MO added that it had not yet proven necessary under the current standards regime to make use of the Hearings Sub-Committees.

Members agreed, without amendment, the proposed memberships of the Hearings Sub-Committees as set out in the report.

iv)       Member Training

The MO stated that the majority of Member training had taken place around the 2014 Election.  The Member Steering Group met regularly so if the Committee wished to make any recommendations to that Group they could easily be worked into the process.

Highly positive feedback had been received from Members in relation to the Planning training and it was hoped the training would be replicated at Bromsgrove District Council in 2015, following the Council’s all-out Elections.

Members felt that certain elements of the current year’s training had proven more successful than in previous years, particularly where there had been opportunity to train with Members from other authorities. 

On being asked how they had viewed the current Member training programme so far, some of the newly-elected Members commented that the training had been both intense and of a good quality.  It was felt there had been a lot to digest in a relatively short space of time, particularly where training was of a quasi-judicial nature.  One newly-elected Member stated that, as a member of the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee, it would be useful to receive training on what the Members’ role on the Committee was and what exactly they should be looking for when considering the business of the Committee.

The MO responded that Members of the Committee had, where necessary, attended specific external training events to assist them in their roles.  Provided a Member’s Group Leader agreed to any such training in advance and notified Officers of this then the training would be funded by the Council.  From time-to-time where there were relevant updates on procedure rules and the like then the MO would look at both external and internal training packages for Members.

Phil Jones, Engagement Lead at Grant Thornton, advised that Grant Thornton had rescheduled the first of their 2014/15 Midlands Local Government Audit Committee Member Network events from 2nd to 30th July, should any Members of the Committee wish to attend this.  Grant Thornton also produced a number of publications to assist Members in their roles on audit committees and detailing emerging issues which might of interest to Members, some of which were detailed later in the agenda under Grant Thornton’s Progress Update Report item.    

v)         Feckenham Parish Council Representative of the Committee

Officers advised that the next meeting of Feckenham Parish Council was due to take place on 17th July 2014.  The Parish Council would, at that meeting, be seeking a replacement Parish Representative and Deputy Parish Representative to sit on the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee following the previous post holders’ resignations from the Parish Council.     

vi)       Independent Observer on the Committee

The MO explained that when the current standards regime was introduced (some 2 years earlier) the Council had wished for an additional transitional non-voting co-opted Independent Observer role on the former Standards Committee.  This role had been filled by Michael Collins, a former Independent Member on the Standards Committee under the previous standards regime. 

The MO and Chair of the former Standards Committee had recently spoken with Mr Collins and all had agreed that in view of the size of new combined Audit, Governance and Standards Committee, which also included Dave Jones as the existing Independent Member for Audit and Governance matters and a Feckenham Parish Council representative for standards matters, the Committee may well become unwieldy with the additional Independent Observer role as well.  Mr Collins had therefore agreed to step down from this role which would now cease to exist.

The former Chair of the Standards Committee stated that Mr Collins had been involved with the Standards Committee for a number of years and had played a positive part in the Committee’s decision-making.  His work with the Council had been applauded in the past and it had been agreed that he attend the meeting of Full Council in September to receive formal thanks in recognition of his services to the Council.  Members also expressed their formal thanks to Mr Collins for his number of years’ service and contributions to the standards regime.

RESOLVED that

1)            the report of the Monitoring Officer and the additional updates provided by the Monitoring Officer at the meeting be noted;

2)            the following memberships of the Hearings Sub-Committees be approved:

Hearings Sub-Committee 1

Cllr Bennett (Chair), Cllr Brookes and Cllr Fisher

Hearings Sub-Committee 2

Cllr P Witherspoon (Chair), Cllr Braley and Cllr Potter

Hearings Sub-Committee 3

Cllr Thain (Chair), Cllr R Smith and Cllr J Witherspoon; and

3)            the Committee place on record its formal thanks to Michael Collins in recognition of his number of years’ service to the Council as an Independent Member and Independent Observer of the former Standards Committee.