Agenda item

To consider a proposed revised Code of Conduct.

The Committee considered a report on proposed changes to the Wokingham Borough Council Code of Conduct set out on Agenda pages 11 to 14 and a copy of the proposed revised Code of Conduct set out on Agenda pages 28 to 35. 

Mary Severin, Borough Solicitor presented the report to the Committee.  The proposed changes followed the Committee’s request at the previous meeting that the current Code of Conduct be reviewed and in light of the objective of making continuous improvements, particularly in the area of declaration of interests.  Members of the Committee were referred to pages 12 to 13 of the Agenda which set out key a summary of the proposed changes.  The following points were highlighted:

·           An objective of the redrafting process had been to make the Code easier for the public, Councillors and Officers to understand and operate.  The proposed Code had been modelled on a draft Code of Conduct published by Paul Hoey Associates, a leading authority on Code of Conduct issues;

·           The ‘seven principles of public life’, originally widely known as the ‘Nolan Principles’ had been removed from the body of the proposed Code of Conduct document and placed as part of the introduction.  This reflected the Government’s intention when introducing the new ethical governance arrangements that local Codes of Conduct should be based upon the principles, but reduced the opportunity for spurious and difficult to assess complaints;

·           The requirements of the Code around the declaration and registration of interests had been clarified.

Before inviting comments and suggestions from Members of the Committee, the Chairman commented that the process of revising the current Code had been an important piece of work and it was incumbent on the Committee to be clear and comfortable about what proposed.  The following points were raised in the Committee’s discussion:

·           A number of members of the Committee commented that they felt the proposed revised Code was clearer to read and understand subject to the correction of a number of minor typographical errors.  It was acknowledged that as members of the Standards Committee they had a higher level of awareness and experience of the Code than Councillors more generally and that it was also important to consider ease of use of the document from a non-expert Councillor’s perspective;

·           In response to a question, Kevin Jacob commented that it was intended in the future to make provision for Wokingham Borough Councillors to submit and amend their Register of Interests electronically;

·           After discussion it was felt that the wording of paragraph 9.2.8.3 of the proposed Code should be amended to reverse the order of the words ‘improperly’ and ‘to’ as Councillors felt that this would make the meaning of the paragraph clearer;

·           It was confirmed that all formal complaints had to be considered. There was provision within the process for consideration of complaints for the Monitoring Officer to not progress complaints which were of a vexatious or trivial nature;

·           It was felt by Councillors that the issue of bullying remained a difficult issue to adequately define and formalise within the Code.   Mary Severin commented that separate guidance for Councillors was to be drafted on the issue.  This would be based upon guidance previously issued by the former Standards Board for England; 

·           Discussion took place regarding the wording of the proposed paragraph 9.2.8.5 which dealt with the disclosure of confidential information.  Whilst some members of the Committee felt that the proposed wording was clear and fair, other members of the Committee felt that it did not sufficiently take account of circumstances where a Councillor might accidently disclose confidential information or the circumstance where it would be reasonable to disclose information to a third party, for example if a safeguarding issue came to a Councillor’s attention.  On balance it was decided to amend the paragraph to read: Councillors must not knowingly disclose information which they believe, or ought reasonably to be aware, is confidential or where disclosure is prohibited by law, unless it is with good cause, or they have the consent of the person authorised to give it, or they are required by law to do so’;

·           It was felt that when agreed the Code of Conduct should be circulated to all Members as a separate document so that it would be immediately identifiable to Borough Councillors in addition to any training that might be offered;

·           In response to a question, it was confirmed that if the proposed revised Code of Conduct was adopted by the Borough Council the Monitoring Officer would inform all of the town/parish clerks so that they could consider adapting it and adopting it as their own Code of Conduct.  

RESOLVED:

1)     That the Standards Committee request that the Constitution Review Working Group recommend the revised Code of Conduct to Council subject to the amendments made at the meeting;

2)     That following the adoption of the revised Code of Conduct, separate copies of the Code be circulated to all Borough Councillors and for information to all parish and town council clerks.