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

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Codling (with no substitution) 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 11 March 2026.

It was moved by Councillor Casey, seconded by Councillor Alexander and unanimously:-

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on Wednesday, 11 March 2026 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Other Registerable Interests of Non-Registerable Interests, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

There were no Declarations of Interest made on this occasion.

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 will formally receive and note, for its information only, the minutes of the meeting of the Town and Parish Councils Standards Sub-Committee held on Thursday 12 February 2026.

The Committee formally NOTED, for its information only, the minutes of the meeting of the Town and Parish Councils Standards Sub-Committee held on Thursday 12 February 2026.

To present the Committee with an overview on the register of, and declarations of, interests made by Members from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026.

Members recalled that it had been agreed at the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 29 June 2016 that, as part of its annual work programme, the Committee would receive an annual report on declarations of interest and associated matters. The report now before the Committee covered the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 and provided statistics on:

• the number of Declarations of Interest made at meetings;
• the number of offers of gifts and hospitality that had been registered by Members during this period; and
• updates to the Members’ Register of Interests.

The data had been collated from the Committee system Modern.Gov which the Council had started using as of August 2016 and from Members’ submissions.

Register of Members’ Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

The Committee was made aware that the Council was required to publish the ‘Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests’ on its website in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 and The Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012, which prescribed the categories of interest.

It was confirmed that the Council’s website included a Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and Other Registerable Interests for all District Councillors and that this was updated when an individual Member provided details of an amendment directly to the Monitoring Officer. Any entry which was relevant to a business item on an agenda, must be declared by the individual Member and they must subsequently remove themselves from the meeting, unless a prior dispensation had been granted by the Monitoring Officer.

The Committee was informed that there had been a dispensation for all District Members granted by the Monitoring Officer at full Council on 17 February 2026 for the purpose of the report of the Corporate Director (Finance & IT) as follows:

“Tendring District Council adopted the LGA Model Members’ Code of Conduct which does not include the provisions confirming Members do not have a declarable interest which relates to the function of setting the Council Tax under the Local Government Act 1992. Therefore, to enable you to debate and vote on the budget item to set the Council Tax, the email of 9 February 2026 provided all District Councillors with a dispensation under Section 33(2)(a) to (e) of the Localism Act 2011. Consequently, you will not be required to declare an interest based on the fact that you live in the District and therefore have to pay Council Tax.

However, Members are importantly reminded of Section 106 of the Local Government Act 1992, which provides that any Member, who is in arrears by at least 2 months with their Council Tax payments cannot vote on matters concerning either the level of or administration of Council Tax. It is important to note that this also covers Council Tax liabilities outside of the District and property which may not be your main residence. If present at the meeting, a Member to whom this provision applies must disclose the fact and may speak on the item but cannot vote. Non-compliance with this section  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

To present the Committee with a review of the Members’ Gifts and Hospitality Policy conducted by Officers for the Committee’s comment and suggestions along with subsequent approval of the review and any associated amendments.

The Committee heard that the current Members’ Gifts and Hospitality Policy (the Policy) had been last considered by the Standards Committee at its meeting held on 14 March 2016.

Members were informed that the Council had adopted the Local Government Association’s Model Members’ Code of Conduct (the Code) with effect from May 2023, which Members must adhere to. The General Principles of Councillor conduct stated:-

“Everyone in public office at all levels; all who serve the public or deliver public services, including ministers, civil servants, councillors and local authority officers; should uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life; also known as the Nolan Principles. Building on these principles, the following general principles have been developed specifically for the role of councillor.

In accordance with the public trust placed in me, on all occasions:

• I act with integrity and honesty
• I act lawfully
• I treat all persons fairly and with respect; and
• I lead by example and act in a way that secures public confidence in the role of councillor.

In undertaking my role:

• I impartially exercise my responsibilities in the interests of local community
• I do not improperly seek to confer an advantage, or disadvantage, on any person
• I avoid conflicts of interest
• I exercise reasonable care and diligence; and
• I ensure that public resources are used prudently in accordance with my local authority’s requirements and in the public interest”

The Committee was told that under the “protecting your reputation and the reputation of the local authority” heading within the Code, Members were required to register and disclose their interests and consider their position with regard to Gifts and Hospitality.

“10. Gifts and Hospitality

As a Councillor:

10.1 I do not accept gifts or hospitality, irrespective of estimated value, which could give rise to real or substantive personal gain or a reasonable suspicion of influence on my part to show favour from persons seeking to acquire, develop or do business with the local authority or from persons who may apply to the local authority for any permission, licence or other significant advantage.

10.2 I register with the Monitoring Officer any gift or hospitality with an estimated value of at least £50 within 28 days of its receipt.

10.3 I register with the Monitoring Officer any significant gift or hospitality that I have been offered but have refused to accept.

In order to protect your position and the reputation of the local authority, you should exercise caution in accepting any gifts or hospitality which are (or which you reasonably believe to be) offered to you because you are a councillor. The presumption should always be not to accept significant gifts or hospitality. However, there may be times when such a refusal may be difficult if it is seen as rudeness in which case, you could accept it but must ensure it is publicly registered. However, you do not need to register gifts and hospitality which are not related to your role as a councillor, such as Christmas gifts from your friends  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

To present the Committee with the outcome of a review of the Social Media Guidance for Members conducted by Officers for the Committee’s comments and suggestions along with subsequent approval of the draft, following any associated adjustments.

Members heard that the current Social Media Guidance for Members (the Guidance) had been last considered by the Standards Committee at its meeting held on 2 February 2022 and was attached as Appendix A of the Officer report (A.3), detailing Officers’ comments after conducting their review.

The Committee was informed that, whilst the 2022 guidance was not incorrect, it was felt necessary to produce a new draft based on current use of social media platforms and terminology.

Members were also informed that the Council recognised the benefits of communication between Members and residents that social media platforms afforded and utilised by most Members with varying frequency. Social media could reach a demographic of society that might not always be reached by more traditional methods, along with the speed with which communication could take place, providing both potential benefit and pitfall, than traditional correspondence.

The Committee was told that, as part of their work programme, the Committee was requested to review the Guidance in association with Officers, to ensure that it was clear in order to assist elected Members in understanding social media and their use of it.

The Committee was made aware that Members had last received dedicated social media training on 27 January 2022 which had broadly covered the following topics:

• Identifying strengths and weaknesses of major social media channels
• Working within the majors ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ of social media
• Finding and targeting an audience
• Building a ‘brand’ across social media platforms
• Managing trolls and keyboard warriors
• Applying the Seven Principles of Public Life (Nolan Principles) and Members’ Code of Conduct to the use of social media
• Identifying Tendring District Council’s existing policies for social media use (and development of future policies)
• Identifying the point for reporting misuse of social media

Officers reported that, through the Members’ induction programme in 2023, Code of Conduct training (which had been refreshed in 2025) had referenced the Council’s Social Media Guidance and the Local Government Association’s published Social Media Guidance for Councillors.

Following the Committee’s consideration of the draft Social Media Guidance for Members, it was planned to develop an updated training session in association with the Council’s Communications Team, to deliver to Members to accompany the reviewed Guidance, taking into consideration the review and the Committee’s subsequent comments.

The Guidance and proposed training package would highlight that inappropriate use of social media could amount to a breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct, and that it was the individual responsibility of each Member to consider the Guidance when using social media.

It was proposed that the training be delivered to District Councillors on the draft Guidance, to seek feedback and comments on the draft Guidance, in particular whether anything else needed to be covered, and report to the Committee, to enable it to approve a final version.

The Committee and the Independent Persons present put forward the following comments/views/suggestions/requests et cetera:-

• The percentage of how many complaints related to social media;
• A few training sessions on the Social Media Guidance such  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

To present for approval the Standards Committee’s proposed work programme covering the period April 2026 to March 2027.

The Committee considered the following draft Work Programme for 2026/27:-

April 2026

• Annual report on Declarations of Interest (including meetings, gifts and hospitality)

• Updates by Monitoring Officer covering complaints and national policy changes
• Annual Work programme for 2026/27

• Social Media Guidance review

• Gifts and Hospitality Policy review

July 2026

• Updates by the Monitoring Officer covering complaints and national policy changes

• Social Media Guidance review update

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

• Update on mandatory Members’ Code of Conduct training

• Licensing and Registration Probity Protocol

October 2026

• Updates by the Monitoring Officer covering complaints and national policy changes

• Town and Parish Councils’ Code of Conduct and Interests review – including Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) implications

• Role of the Monitoring Officer and review of administrative delegated powers

February 2027

• Updates by the Monitoring Officer covering complaints and national policy changes
• Update on mandatory training for Members

Members were made aware that the above meeting dates were provisional pending ratification at the Annual Meeting of the Council to be held on 19 May 2026 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.

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

It was moved by Councillor Wiggins, seconded by Councillor Alexander and unanimously:-

RESOLVED that the Work Programme for the Standards Committee for 2026/27 be approved and adopted.

The Committee will receive the Monitoring Officer’s update regarding standards complaints and an update on national policy changes, as necessary.

The Committee had before it, as set out below, the Monitoring Officer’s update on existing and new conduct complaints cases.

The Committee NOTED the foregoing.