Agenda and minutes

The Committee is asked to note any apologies for absence and substitutions received from Members.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Gina Placey and Mick Skeels and Sue Gallone (one of the Council’s Independent Persons).

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee, held on Wednesday 8 February 2023.

It was moved by Councillor Casey, seconded by Councillor Steady and:-

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on Wednesday 8 February 2023 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Personal Interest, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

There were no Declarations of Interest made by Members at this time.

Subject to providing two working days’ notice, a Member of the Committee may ask the Chairman of the Committee a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the Tendring District and which falls within the terms of reference of the Committee.

No Questions on Notice had been submitted by Members pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 38 on this occasion.

The Committee is invited to give consideration to its draft Work Plan for the 2023/2024 Municipal Year.

The Committee considered the following draft Work Plan for 2023/2024:-

19^th July 2023 (provisional date)

·      Introduction to the Standards Framework and Terms of Reference of the Standards Committee

·      Update on Member Induction and Code of Conduct training

·      Review of the Planning Probity Protocol

·      Regular Complaints update by Monitoring Officer

11^th October 2023 (provisional date)

·      Update on Mandatory Training for Members

·      Review of the Independent Person joint working arrangements and recruitment preparations for 2024

·      Town and Parish Councils Code of Conduct and Interests review

·      Regular Complaints update by Monitoring Officer

7^th February 2024 (provisional date)

·      Case review and guidance update for the Committee on decisions and actions taken nationally

·      Regular Complaints update by Monitoring Officer

24^th April 2024 (provisional date)

·      Update on Mandatory Training for Members

·      Annual Report on declarations of interest (meetings, gifts and hospitality)

·      Regular Complaints update by Monitoring Officer

Members were made aware that the above meeting dates were provisional pending ratification at the Annual Meeting of the Council on 23 May 2023 and that, in addition, individual matters might be referred to those meetings by the Monitoring Officer, in accordance with the Committee’s Terms of Reference as necessary, for example, an appeal against a dispensation decision or a Code of Conduct hearing.

The Executive Projects Manager (Governance) was pleased to inform the Committee that, further to decisions made by Full Council at their meetings held in November 2022 and March 2023, all four Independent Persons (IPs) had now confirmed to the Monitoring Officer their willingness to continue in their joint roles as IPs and also as members of the Independent Remuneration Panel.

Having duly considered and discussed the contents of the draft work plan:-

It was moved by Councillor V E Guglielmi, seconded by Councillor J Henderson and:-

RESOLVED that the Work Plan for the Standards Committee for 2023/2024 be approved and adopted.

The Committee will receive from the Council’s Head of Democratic Services & Elections a presentation on the new Member Induction Programme for the Councillors duly elected at the District Council elections to be held on Thursday 4 May 2023.

The Committee received from the Council’s Head of Democratic Services & Elections (Keith Simmons) a presentation on the new Member Induction Programme for the Councillors who would be duly elected at the District Council elections to be held on Thursday 4 May 2023.

That presentation covered the following matters:-

(a)    The elements of Induction;

(b)    Envisaged Meetings –

(i)         Annual Council on 23 May 2023;

(ii)        Planning Committee on 6 June 2023;

(iii)      Licensing and Registration Committee (to be confirmed);

(iv)      Cabinet on 23 June 2023; and

(v)       Audit Committee on 29 June 2023.

(c)    What have we got already in place:

(i)         Signpost Booklet – A Guide for Elected Members of Tendring District Council;

(ii)        Initial Letter to successful candidates at the Count (4/5 May);

(iii)      Date for first ‘new’ Councillors event (11 May);

(iv)      General Welcome Event for all Councillors (15 May);

(v)       Dates for two Tours of the District (26 May and 8 June);

(vi)      Date for Planning Mandatory Training (to be confirmed);

(vii)     Date for Licensing Mandatory Training (8 June – evening);

(viii)    Date of Audit Mandatory Training (to be confirmed);

(ix)      Councillor Consultative Event on the Corporate Plan 2024 – 2028 (30 May);

(x)       Cabinet Away Day (9 June);

(xi)      Councillor Development Session throughout the year (21 June – first one);

(xii)     Evaluation Sheets on Training Delivered; and

(xiii)    LGA Online Training Resource.

(d)    What we are also planning:

(i)         Initial Training Needs Analysis for Members; and

(ii)        Service based video resources.

(e)    Induction Plan Word Cloud.

The Committee noted the foregoing.

The Committee will receive the Monitoring Officer’s quarterly update regarding standards complaints together with an update on other pertinent matters.

The Committee had before it the Monitoring Officer’s quarterly schedule, which updated it on existing and new conduct complaint cases, along with other general matters.

The Committee noted the foregoing.