Contact: Peter Robertson (01962) 871595

1. Introduction

1.1. As reported to the meeting of the Authority on 16 January 2001, part of the Government's New Ethical Framework, which was introduced by the Local Government Act 2000, requires all relevant authorities, except parish councils, to set up a Standards Committee to:

(i) advise authorities on the adoption of the Code of Conduct for its members;


(ii) provide advice and training to members in relation to the code;


(iii) help raise awareness of ethical and conduct issues in authorities.

1.2. The Authority submitted its response to the Government's consultation exercise and the Regulations governing the composition and procedure requirements were laid before Parliament on 7 August and came into force on 28 August.

1.3. References to independent members in the context of this report does not mean independent Police Authority members. It refers to an additional requirement to have a person wholly independent of the Police Authority as a member of the Standards Committee only.

2. The Principal Requirements

2.1. The Regulations set out the procedures that authorities must follow when setting up their Standards Committee. They are different in several respects from those on which the Government consulted last December and the principal changes are as follows:-

· An authority must ensure that, where its Standards Committee has more than three members, at least 25% are external independent members;


· The Authority is required to advertise posts in one or more newspapers circulating in the area of the Authority


· The appointments must be approved by a majority of the members of the Authority


· The Authority is left to determine how the appointments should be made


· Ineligibility rules are now more closely defined insofar as they relate to friends and relations of any member or officer of the Authority. In addition a provision has been added to prevent the appointment of individuals who have been members or officers of the authority within the last five years;


· The quorum for a meeting of a Standards Committee or Sub-Committee of a Standards Committee shall be at least three members (including at least one external independent member) present for its duration. The Government had previously recommended that two external independent members needed to be present in respect of committees larger than four members. The Government accepted that it would be impractical to require both external independent members to be present at all times and would, inevitably lead to situations where the Committee simply could not meet.

3. The Next Steps

3.1. The Authority now needs to take steps to establish its Standards Committee and place advertisements for the agreed number of external independent members. It is suggested that, as part of the selection process, the Authority should consider establishing a selection panel to recruit the number of independent members that it requires for its Standards Committee. It is proposed that this should mirror the Selection Panel for the appointment of Independent Authority Members which has a membership of three and works well. In this case, the Panel could consist of 1 Councillor, 1 Magistrate and 1 Independent Authority Member.

3.2. This Panel should also be responsible for agreeing the person specification and format of the job advertisement for the vacancies.

3.3. With regard to the size of the Authority's Standards Committee, it is suggested that the number of members should be 7 to consist of 1 Independent Authority Member, 3 Councillor Members, 1 Magistrate Member and two external Independent Members.

3.4. Subject to any further comments that Members may wish to make the Authority is invited to agree:-

(a) That the Standards Committee comprise 7 Members comprising 1 Independent Authority Member, 3 Councillor Members, 1 Magistrate Member and 2 external Independent Members.


(b) That arrangements be put in hand to advertise the posts.


(c) That a Selection Panel of 3 Police Authority Members comprising 1 Independent Authority Member, 1 Councillor and 1 Magistrate be appointed to select and recommend the name of the 2 external Independent Members to the Authority for approval.


(d) That the draft Terms of Reference for the Standards Committee be presented to a future meeting of the Authority for approval.

RECOMMENDATION

That the Authority be recommended to agree the arrangements to establish a Standards Committee as set out in paragraph 3 above.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1 Published works.

2 Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

4fR13801