Agenda item

To update the Standards Committee, as part of its agreed work programme, on the current position of mandatory training for Members (and named substitute members) of the Council’s Audit, Licensing & Registration, Planning and Standards Committees.

There was submitted a report (A.2) by the Monitoring Officer which sought to update the Committee, as part of its agreed work programme, on the current position of mandatory training for Members and named substitute Members of the Council’s Audit, Licensing & Registration, Planning and Standards Committees.

The report reiterated the Council’s decision and constitutional requirement to make relevant training mandatory for Members, and their named substitutes, in respect of their membership on those committees which provided regulatory type functions. The report also detailed training undertaken and attendance to date.

Appendix A to the report provided details of those Members who had attended the new Code of Conduct training in May 2019 (which had previously been reported to the Committee at is meeting held in July 2019). Since then two additional District Councillors had received training which had been delivered at Harwich Town Council in December 2019. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that due to the type of matters considered by the Standards Committee, each topic involved consideration of the relevant factors and in doing so the Committee received a range of information to take into account. When hearings were required to determine the outcome of Members’ Code of Conduct complaints a briefing would be held with the Committee beforehand, though no hearings had been undertaken so far in 2019/20.

The Committee was made aware that, in February 2020, the Monitoring Officer would be delivering two training sessions to Parish and Town Councillors. Invites would also be sent to those District Councillors who had yet to receive the required training for this year. The Monitoring Officer informed the Committee that at the first of these training sessions held on 4 February 2020 three additional District Councillors had received Code of Conduct training. This left a total of 11 District Councillors outstanding.

Appendix B to the report provided details of the Planning Committee Mandatory Training for 2019/20. The Committee noted that a range of subjects had been delivered, with concentration on determining applications being included within the post Council elections training for newly elected Members, Appeals and Affordable Housing. Those sessions were essential to understanding the various considerations to be taken into account by the Planning Committee when making decisions on applications. It was reported that a further session was scheduled for 28 January 2020 which would cover the Planning Inspector’s decisions with regard to the planning enforcement appeals at Point Clear, St Osyth. The Monitoring Officer verbally reported at the meeting that all members of the Planning Committee had attended that session.

Appendix C to the report detailed the training record for the Licensing and Registration Committee. As usual only one session had been delivered (in June 2019) but it had covered a range of topics. Two additional 1-2-1 training sessions had been delivered to members of that Committee who had either been unable to attend the first session or had been newly appointed to the Committee.

In respect of the Audit Committee the Committee was informed that the Head of Finance, Revenues and Benefits & Section 151 Officer had undertaken general Audit Committee post-election induction training for all members of the Committee prior to its first meeting in the current municipal year.

The Committee was reminded that in order to ensure that the training was successful and the principles had been understood by Members, each session had tended to have a workshop style question and answer session at the end. This style had been adopted by the Licensing and Registration and Planning Committees’ training sessions and had worked well for both Members and officers and had encouraged debate.

Members were made aware that the Audit Committee, at its meeting held on 30 January 2020, had decided that a letter should be sent jointly in the names of the Chairmen of the Standards Committee and of the Audit Committee to strongly urge all Members to attend all Members’ Briefings and that such letter also:-

(1)    requests feedback from Members as to the reasons why they were unable/unwilling to attend Members’ Briefings;

(2)    requests their suggestions on how the organisation of those Briefings could be improved e.g. arranged on different days and/or at different times of the day; and

(3)    inform Members that the letter has been sent because there is concern about the reputational risk to the Council arising from low Member attendance at the Briefings together with the financial cost to the Council of arranging such Briefings.

Following discussion by the Committee, it was moved by Councillor Harris, seconded by Councillor Wiggins and:-

RESOLVED that the Committee -

(a)   notes the contents of the report and its Appendices;

(b)   continues to encourage Members of the Planning, Licensing and Registration and Audit Committees to attend organised mandatory training events in order to comply with the requirements of the Council’s Constitution;

(c)   requests the Review of the Constitution Portfolio Holder Working Party to investigate whether it would be feasible for the Planning Committee to have a pool of trained Members who could be drawn on to be a substitute Member(s) at a Planning Committee meeting in order to maintain its level of membership and protect the probity of that Committee. Such investigation would be required to focus on, but not be limited to, issues such as:-

(1)    the legal basis of such a pool e.g. the rules of political proportionality; and

(2)    the implications for the Council’s Constitution e.g. ensuring that the choice of substitute remained with the relevant Political Group Leader;

(d)   requests Officers to investigate alternative ways of providing Code of Conduct training to Members e.g. via an on-line mechanism, with a view in the longer term to making undergoing training on the Code of Conduct a mandatory requirement for Members; and

(e)   requests that, within the joint letter referred to above, the importance of Members’ attendance at Code of Conduct training be included and that the schedule of Member attendance at Code of Conduct training shown in Appendix A be attached to that letter.