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

There were none.

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee, held on Wednesday 3 October 2018.

The minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee, held on 3  October 2018, were approved as a correct record and 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 none 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.

There were none on this occasion.

The Monitoring Officer will give a presentation to the Committee, for its information and guidance, on standards related decisions and actions taken nationally.

The Monitoring Officer gave a presentation to the Committee for its information and in particular drew the Committee’s attention to seven national cases relating to:

1.         Notice of Censure

2.         Overinflated Mileage Claims

3.         Is the Council’s MO a “Qualified Person”

4.         Localism Act v Grievance Procedures

5.         Ex-Leader exceeding authority in dispute

6.         Ex-Planning Committee Chair resigns following acceptance of gifts and hospitality

7.         Councillor’s Use of Social Media.

The Monitoring Officer agreed to let the Committee know of the final outcomes on these cases.

The Monitoring Officer also informed the Committee that the National Audit Office Study of local governance and accountability had recently been received and it focussed primarily on financial considerations.  There would be no impact on the Standards Committee’s Terms of Reference.

The Ethical Standards Review outcome was due on 30^th January 2019 and the Monitoring Officer said that she would circulate this when it was received and it would be discussed at the next meeting of the Committee.

The Monitoring Officer will give a quarterly update on Complaints.

Quarterly Complaints Update

The Monitoring Officer circulated to the Committee the quarterly schedule, which gave general details of complaints received, without providing any names, and went through them with the Committee.

Updates from the Monitoring Officer

The new Independent Persons had now been appointed and approved by full Council in November.  The Chairman welcomed them to their first meeting.  They would receive their training following today’s meeting.