Issue - meetings

To consider the LGA’s new Model Code of Conduct and feedback from the 2020 public consultation into the Council’s existing Code.

The Committee considered a report, set out at Agenda pages 7 to 50 which considered issues relating to the updating of the WBC Councillor Code of Conduct.

The report reminded Members that, on 23 December 2020, the Local Government Association (LGA) had published a Model Councillor Code of Conduct. All Councils were required to have a local Councillor Code of Conduct in place and the Model Code was provided as a template to which could be added local amendments. Members were also reminded of the public consultation undertaken by the Committee in the autumn of 2020 in relation to potential changes to the existing Councillor Code of Conduct.

Appended to the report were the LGA Model Code, the existing WBC Councillor Code of Conduct and the results of the public consultation. Members were reminded that the LGA Model Code and the Committee’s public consultation exercise were based on the best practice recommendations set out in the 2020 report by the Committee for Standards in Public Life (CSPL). The CSPL made a number of specific recommendations to the Government and a formal response was still awaited.

The Standards Committee report stated that Town and Parish Councils currently had the choice to adopt the Council’s Councillor Code of Conduct, the LGA Model Code or the Model Code produced by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC).

The report stated that the Committee was faced with several options, viz:

·           recommend no change to the Councillor Code of Conduct and resolve to continue with the existing Code;

·           recommend to Council that the LGA Model Code be adopted, with or without specific amendments;

·           identify issues for further consideration and request a further report to the Committee;

·           resolve to defer making any decisions pending the outcome of the Government’s consideration of the recommendations from the CSPL report.

Prue Bray proposed that the LGA Model Code of Conduct be adopted with the following local variations:

·           social media guidance (as discussed later in the Agenda) be attached to the Model Code of Conduct;

·           the monetary threshold for gifts and hospitality remain at the current level of £25;

·           in relation to “dealing with disrespect”, the word “report” be replaced with the word “notify”;

·           in relation to exempt information, the complexity of the issues be recognised and Members be advised to seek advice from the Monitoring Officer before releasing information which could reasonably assumed to be confidential or exempt;

·           the Code of Conduct be reviewed every two years or following changes to LGA guidance or Government legislation;

·           the best practice principles proposed by the Committee for Standards in Public Life be reviewed by the Standards Committee following publication of the Government’s response.

In relation to the Committee’s public consultation in late 2020, Members felt that the following issues should be considered at the next meeting:

·           the publication of Member names when breaches of the Councillor Code of Conduct are resolved informally;

·           the process for handling complaints made by a Town or Parish Clerk against a Councillor;

·           guidance on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50