Minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2007

Present:

• The Right Worshipful The Lord Mayor Councillor David Sandiford - In the Chair
• Councillors Burns and Whitmore.
• Mrs E. Carmichael and Mr J. A. Snadden - independent members

ST/07/6 Minutes

Decision

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 January 2007.

ST/07/7 Revised Model Code of Conduct for Members (report online)

The City Solicitor submitted a report seeking the Committee's comments on the consultation paper issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on the proposed changes to the code of conduct for members and the draft response to that consultation paper published on 22 January 2007 and seeking views by 9 March 2007 on a draft revised code of conduct for members.

Members noted that the revised code following the announcement in the Local Government White Paper 'Strong and Prosperous Communities' of the Government's intention to put in place a clearer simpler and more proportionate Code. The Code had been circulated to all members of the Council to invite their comments before a formal response was made to the consultation round.

The main proposed changes were identified to the Committee as -

• the rules have been amended so that notwithstanding a prejudicial interest members may with the consent of the meeting attend meetings to make representations answer questions and give evidence. This will particularly benefit members who may for example wish to make representations on planning and licensing applications which affect their own property or neighbourhood;
• there is a new category of 'public service interest' which makes the requirements for members appointed or nominated by the authority to outside bodies less onerous. The interest is only declarable if the member speaks on an item in the meeting and it is only prejudicial in limited circumstances;
• the personal interest test relating to family and friends has been widened to include individuals with whom the member has a "close personal association" the Standards Board for England (SBE) will issue guidance on how members should interpret this but it is anticipated that the definition includes business and professional associates. The requirement for a member to disclose interests relating to a family member friend or person with whom they have a close personal association is limited to those that the member is aware of or ought reasonably be aware of. Also the personal interest test has been defined as one which affects the member to a greater extent than the majority of their ward residents thereby reducing the likelihood of there being a personal interest;
• the unlawful discrimination provision is to be replaced by a duty that members should not do anything that would seriously prejudice their authority's statutory duties in regard to equality. This will allow action to be taken on some discrimination issues that have previously been outside the scope of the Code;
• bullying is specifically referred to in the Code and its definition will be clarified by SBE guidance;
• the whistleblowing duty to report breaches by other members has been removed;
• members will be able to disclose confidential information where the disclosure is in the public interest. The SBE will issue guidance on how to apply the public interest test (the City Council raised concerns regarding the application of this difficult test in its response to the SBE's consultation in 2005);
• certain behaviour outside of official duties will be regulated but the proposal is that this should be limited to behaviour found to be unlawful by a court. However the current drafting does not seem to reflect this intention;
• the provision on use of an authority's resources is to be extended to include having regard to the Government's Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity (this was not supported by the Council in its response to the SBE's consultation in 2005 the Council felt that breaches of the publicity code should be enforced locally). The definition of "political purposes" has been clarified as "including party political purposes";
• the draft revised Code prohibits the intimidation of any person involved in an investigation including the complainant witnesses and officers of the authority; and
• members will be required to register gifts and hospitality over £25 in the register of interests and to declare these at meetings within 5 years of the date of registration.

The City Solicitor indicated that the proposed changes did not address the issue of bias; clarify the confusion regarding when a beneficial interest in a company is a personal interest or raise the threshold for the declaration of gifts and hospitality. The consultation paper was also silent on the timing and implementation of the revised Code following the consultation process. However the SBE understood that the revised Code was intended to be tabled in Parliament later in March and that authorities would then have six months from May 2007 to adopt it. The Government had previously indicated that it hoped local authorities would be able to adopt the revised Code at their annual meetings in May. She also highlighted certain aspects relating to publicity in respect of which she would wish to make representations to better reflect the modern role of councillors in their dealings with the media together with a number of issues where the drafting of the code required greater clarity.

Noting and supporting the proposed response to the consultation the Chair made reference to the retention of the £25 threshold for the reporting of gifts and hospitality and he compared this with the existing parliamentary rules which required members of parliament to report only those gifts and hospitality in excess of 1% of an MPs salary (approx £630) He suggested that a threshold for declarations equivalent to 1% of the current basic allowance for members of the Council would be more equitable and proposed that this should form part of the Council's response to the consultation. Other members agreed that the £25 threshold was artificially low and imposed draconian penalties upon members when translated into personal interests.

Members welcomed the proposed changes in relation to the representative role of members in relation to planning and licensing applications which affect their own property or neighbourhood and where the existing limitations effectively undermined the role of members as champions of their local community.

Decision

1. To support the proposed response to the consultation on the Code.

2. To recommend to the Department for Communities and Local Government that the £25 threshold for the declaration of gifts and hospitality should be abolished as being unworkable and over burdensome on members and that instead a threshold be established that replicates Parliamentary rules and is equivalent to 1% of the basic allowance to which the members of each local authority are entitled.

3. To delegate to the City Solicitor authority to respond to the consultation paper incorporating the comments provided by the Standards Committee.

CC/07/8 Standards Board Roadshow 2007

The Committee noted that the Standards Board for England (SBE) was hosting a series of 11 roadshows across the country in June 2007. The focus was to be on the Revised Code and preparation for the proposed introduction of the local filter system for complaints in 2008. The roadshows will offer an opportunity to discuss any issues that have arisen since the implementation of the Revised Code and any concerns about local preparation for dealing with complaints.

Decision

To approve the attendance of Councillor Carroll and Whitmore and the City Solictor or her nominee at either the event taking place in Liverpool on 6 June 2007 or the event taking place in Leeds on 7 June 2007.

CC/07/9 Standards Board for England - 6th Annual Assembly

The Committee was informed that the Sixth Annual Assembly of Standards Committees will take place on the 15-16 October 2007 in Birmingham.

Decision

That the two independent members and Councillor Whitmore together with the City Solicitor or her nominee should be authorised to attend.

CC/07/10 Raising the profile of ethical standards conduct and behaviour across the Council

The Committee considered a report of the City Solicitor on the programme for raising the profile of ethical standards conduct and behaviour across the Council and seeking comments on the proposed activities.

Decision

To support the suggested timetable for the programme of activity set out in the report; the proposals for members training on the revised code of conduct for members and the contents of the Annual Report to the Annual Meeting of the Council on 16 May 2007.

CC/07/11 Registers of (a) Interest and (b) Gifts and Hospitality

The Register of Interests and the Register of Gifts and Hospitality were submitted for inspection.