Agenda for Councillor Conduct Committee on Wednesday, 2nd December, 2020, 6.30 pm

Agenda and minutes

Contact: Penelope Williams 

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome and Apologies

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. 

 

Apologies for absence were received from Christine Chamberlain (Independent Person).

2.

Substitutions

Any member who wishes to appoint a substitute for this meeting must notify the Monitoring Officer in writing, before the beginning of the meeting, of the intended substitution.

 

Any notifications received will be reported at the meeting. 

Minutes:

There were no substiutions for this meeting. 

3.

Declaration of Interests

Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests relating to items on the agenda. 

Minutes:

There were no declaration of interests. 

4.

Independent Person Recruitment pdf icon PDF 169 KB

To receive a report on the recruitment to the Council’s vacant “Independent Person” post. 

 

To confirm the arrangements for the “Independent Person” interviews. 

 

Minutes:

The Committee received a report from the Monitoring Officer on Independent Person Recruitment.

 

NOTED

 

1.    Sarah Jewell’s term of office as one of the Independent persons of the committee had come to an end.

2.    The committee are required to have at least one independent person under the Localism Act.

3.    The committee has two Independent persons: Sarah Jewell and Christine Chamberlain. The time for Sarah Jewell had come to an end in October 2020 having already been extended.

4.    The Monitoring Officer was seeking permission from the committee to agree to fill the Independent Person vacancy. The month to do so would be with effect from the Council AGM in May 2021.

In order to do this a recruitment process needs to be followed including a public advert. For the interim, Sarah Jewell would be asked to continue in her role. The Monitoring Officer had spoken with Sarah Jewell and she was happy to do so if decision of the committee is to agree to extend her role to May 2021 and the Council AGM.

5.    The reason for extending to the Council AGM, as well as to give time to go through the recruitment process, was that officers could then do the recruitment process for both independent persons, as Christine Chamberlain’s time as an independent person would be coming to an end in June 2021.

If members were minded to agree, Sarah Jewell’s replacement would start the day after the Council AGM in May 2021 or be appointed effective from this date. Christine Chamberlain’s replacement would start with effect from June 2021 when her current extension from office comes to an end.

6.    In terms of process previously, whilst the actual appointment is a Council appointment, the process of recommending the Independent Persons is something that has been done via the Councillor Conduct Committee. The Monitoring Officer sees no reason to move away from this protocol. Therefore, members of the committee would be involved in the actual selection of the two Independent Persons recommended to full council in the AGM in May 2021.

7.    Attached to the report is a form of job description and a form of advert. If the committee agree then the monitoring officer would provide a timetable for the recruitment in detail and circulate this to members by e-mail including dates that members can attend for virtual or face to face meetings.

ACTION: Jeremy Chambers (Director of Law & Governance)

8.    The Committee extended their thanks to both Christine Chamberlain and Sarah Jewell and commented on how wonderful it had been to have such support on the committee from them both.

9.    The Chair concluded that it made sense to run the two recruitment processes at the same time and was content with everything the Monitoring Officer had laid out in the report.

 

 

AGREED:

·         To fill the Independent Person vacancy due for renewal with effect from the date of the Council AGM in 2021 and to ask the current holder of the role to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Minutes of the previous meetings pdf icon PDF 292 KB

To receive and agree the minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2020 and 23 September 2020. 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

NOTED

 

1.    The minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2020 were agreed as a correct record. 

2.    The minutes of the meeting held on the 23 September 2020 were deferred.

The Chair was under the impression that notes were to be inserted in the final part of the last hearing after discussing this with officers.

The Monitoring Officer would check this with the legal representative, who was advising the committee at this meeting, and establish if there is an agreement for the notes to be in the public minutes. He would e-mail the answer to members of the committee.

ACTION: Jeremy Chambers (Director of Law & Governance).

 

6.

Date of Next Meeting

To note the dates agreed for future meetings of the committee:

 

·         Tuesday 2 March 2021

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

NOTED

 

1.    The next meeting of the Councillor Conduct Committee would be Tuesday 2 March 2021.

7.

Part 2 Item Containing Exempt Information

8.

Update on Complaints

To receive a Confidential Appendix from the Director of Law and Governance on the complaints currently being considered.

 

 

(This item contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person – including the authority holding that information) of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended).

 

 

Minutes:

1.    Members received a brief report of complaints currently under consideration.