Archived decisions
ITEM 2
AT A MEETING of the STANDARDS COMMITTEE of the HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 29 July 2003.
PRESENT:
Councillors: P.A. Pierce (Chairman); Mrs. S.E. Allbright; Mrs. S.M. Glasspool, DL;
A.D. Ludlow; A.W. Rice, TD; W.H. Wheeler.
Independent Members : Mr. J. Chester; Dr. B. Spender
55 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed. All Members declared an interest in the item on the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel (Items 9 and 10 on the agenda - Minutes 63 and 64 refer). The Head of Corporate and Legal Services and Monitoring Officer advised that Members need not treat this as a prejudicial interest and could remain in the meeting, speak and vote during the course of the relevant debate.
56 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 22 April 2003 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. The Minutes of the meeting held on 8 July were amended so that on page 29 paragraph (iii), the last sentence should read "all Members felt that ..." instead of "they also felt that..." Subject to that amendment, the Minutes were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
57 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS
The Chairman reported receipt of a letter of complaint from a local resident, Mr. K. Tyson, who had made representations to the Independent Remuneration Panel about Members' allowances. The Committee noted the concerns which he had expressed, and suggested that if he continued to feel strongly on these issues, it was open to him to make a deputation at the September meeting of the County Council when a decision would be made on the recommended Members' allowances, and that the Chief Executive would write to Mr Tyson accordingly.
The Chairman also reported his decision to resign with effect from 31 August 2003. He notified the Committee that the County Council had appointed Councillor C.R. Davidovitz as Chairman from 1 September 2003. He went on to report the resignation of Councillor Mrs Glasspool as Vice-Chairman; her replacement would be Councillor Mrs. S.E. Allbright. The vacancy arising on the committee would be filled by Councillor Mrs. C.A. Leversha. In response the Committee expressed their thanks to Councillor Pierce for his chairmanship since the inception of the Standards Committee.
58 DEPUTATIONS
There were no deputations notified on this occasion.
59 MEMBER TRAINING
The Committee considered the report of the Head of Corporate and Legal Services and Monitoring Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on proposed training requirements aimed at promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct. This item had been held over from the April meeting to give an opportunity for all Members to put forward their ideas. The following suggestions for training were made: suggestions made which did not fall into the above category would be forwarded to Hampshire Learning Centre for their attention.
· Quasi-judicial functions such as the Regulatory Committee, notably in the field of planning and site visits
· Human Rights Act
· Update on the Code of Conduct
· Registration of interests, gifts and hospitality
· Respective roles of the Standards Board for England/Standards Committee in the investigation of complaints, with practical examples of decisions reached and penalties imposed
· Corporate Governance and Audit
· Member/Officer protocols and relationships
· Equalities
· Training on effective chairmanship
· Regular refresher training to improve standards and conduct
RESOLVED:
That the Head of Corporate and Legal Services be requested to arrange an informal training event for Members, based on the points noted above and any other ideas notified by Members, as part of a programme to promote and maintain high standards of conduct on the part of all Members.
60 THE COUNTY COUNCIL'S CONSTITUTION
The Committee considered the report of the Head of Corporate and Legal Services and Monitoring Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the relationship between individual Members of the Cabinet and their respective Policy Review Committees. It was reported that, following the Members' Seminar on Executive and Scrutiny arrangements held on 23 July, working groups had been established to consider such issues further and it would be premature to reach any conclusions before the outcome of their deliberations was known.
RESOLVED:
That consideration of the report be deferred until a future meeting when the way forward on executive and scrutiny arrangements has become clearer.
61 SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
The Committee considered the report of the Head of Corporate and Legal Services and Monitoring Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the proposed Part III question procedure at Council meetings; on possible supplementary arrangements for minority groups to appoint deputies; and on the nature of any guidance to be issued to Members on language and conduct at meetings.
With regard to questions, Members felt that the trial period should be extended for a further two council meetings and the Standards Committee would review the situation at the meeting in January in the light of experience at the September and November Council meetings. The Committee agreed with the proposal that minority groups, on an exceptional basis, should be able to nominate a further deputy in the event that both their principal representative and the standing deputy were unable to attend a meeting of the Standards Committee. With regard to guidance to Members, the Monitoring Officer was asked to prepare a letter for all Members on mutual respect, appropriate language and behaviour, and drawing attention to the relevant parts of Standing Orders and Member/Officer protocols.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the Part III - Questions to Executive Member procedure be continued on a further trial basis for the September and November meetings of the County Council, with the Standards Committee to review the situation at its meeting in January in the light of experience and to consider at that time whether they wish to put forward any proposals for permanent change to the Constitution.
(ii) That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the County Council
To amend the Constitution at Part I Chapter 9 paragraph 9.2 by adding at the end of the second paragraph the following:-
"However, so as to ensure that all political parties are represented on the Standards Committee if the Member and Deputy Member representing either of the minority parties are unable to attend any meeting of the Standards Committee, the appropriate Leader of the minority party may nominate an alternative member to attend in their place by notifying the Chief Executive of the reasons for non-attendance of the originally appointed Member and Deputy Member".
(iii) That the Monitoring Officer be requested to formulate guidance on mutual respect and appropriate language, in consultation with the Chairman of the Standards Committee, for subsequent transmission to all Members of the County Council and co-opted Members.
62 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OMBUDSMAN
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the Ombudsman's report and annual letter as they relate to complaints submitted against the County Council. It was noted that a further report on the outcomes emanating from complaints handled within County Council departments would come to the Standards Committee at their October meeting following prior consideration by all Policy Review Committees. Members welcomed the initiative of the Ombudsman's annual letter, but felt that it would have been helpful to receive statistics on complaints in comparable authorities. They also considered that they would like to know whether any other councils consistently achieved the Ombudsman's three-week target for a response; it was pointed out that this was almost impossible to achieve given the complexity of the issues raised by most complaints.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the Committee notes with satisfaction that in 2002/03 numbers of complaints to the Ombudsman remained low in relation to the number of decisions the County Council takes on behalf of its citizens and that the Local Government Ombudsman discontinued investigations of all complaints against the County Council and issued no reports relating to complaints against the County Council.
(ii) That the Committee welcomes the Ombudsman's new initiative of preparing an annual letter, thanks him for the generally supportive comments it makes and asks the Chief Executive to respond on points of detail in presentation of data, but particularly commends the inclusion of some comparative data in future annual letters.
(iii) That the Committee expresses the hope that in 2004 services will report on complaints handling to appropriate Policy Review Committees in time for a corporate report to be made to the Committee at its July meeting.
63 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE INDEPENDENT REMUNERATION PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDING PENSIONS FOR COUNCILLORS
The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on proposals to give effect to the recommendations emanating from the Independent Remuneration Panel and their financial implications. The County Treasurer explained that the report gave further details of proposed pensions for Councillors, which could be backdated only to 1 May 2003. There was a detailed guide to such pensions, copies of which would be placed in the Members' Room.
RESOLVED:
That, subject to the amendments reflected in Minute 64 below, the Standards Committee notes the financial implications of the recommendations on Members' allowances put forward by the Independent Remuneration Panel.
64 MINUTES OF THE INDEPENDENT REMUNERATION PANEL
The Committee considered the outcome of the Independent Remuneration Panel's meeting held on 30 June (Item 10 in the Minute Book) and considered the recommendations on Members' allowances set out therein. Members felt that, given the growing workload in this area there should be a special responsibility allowance for the E-Champion and recommended £2,580 (comparable with Vice-Chairmen of Policy Review Committees) payable with effect from 1st October 2003. The Committee also considered that there was a disparity between the responsibilities held and allowances paid for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Regulatory Committee, when compared with the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of Policy Review Committees. They concluded that the allowances for Regulatory Committee should be increased to £7,500 and (£1,875) respectively, both with effect from 1 October 2003.
RESOLVED:
That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the County Council:
(i) Basic Allowance
That the basic allowance of £10,670 per annum, as recently agreed by the County Council, should continue; and that the Scheme of Allowances should provide that this should be automatically increased annually in line with Hampshire Management Grade pay increases, starting from 1 April, 2004.
(ii) Special Responsibility Allowances
That the special responsibility allowances (as shown in the appendix to these Minutes) recently agreed by the County Council and amplified pursuant to (iii) and (v) below, should continue and that these should increase in line with Hampshire Management Grade pay increases from 1 April 2004.
(iii) Regulatory Committee Chairman and Vice-Chairman
That, to reflect the responsibilities of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Regulatory Committee when compared with the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of Policy Review Committees, the special responsibility allowances should be increased to £7,500 and £1,875 respectively for the Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the Regulatory Committee (Note - the Independent Remuneration Panel had recommended £5,150 and £1,290 for these two roles respectively).
(iv) Health Review Committee - Political Spokesmen
That the same allowances be paid for the political spokesmen on the Health Review Committee as are paid to the political spokesmen on the Policy Review Committees (£5,150 for Liberal Democrats, £2,580 for Labour), such allowances to be backdated to 1 May 2003.
(v) E-Champion
That a special responsibility allowance of £2,580 per annum be paid to the E-Champion, to reflect the growing workload of that role, such allowance to be paid with effect from 1 October 2003, notwithstanding the fact that the Independent Remuneration Panel had recommended that such a special responsibility allowance was not appropriate.
(vi) Full Review
That a full review of all allowances, including special responsibility allowances, be carried out by the Panel in 2005.
(vii) Suspension of allowances
That when a Member of the Council is suspended from all duties, all allowances, including travel, dependants' carers' and childcare allowances, should be withheld for the period of suspension. Where a Member was partially suspended, any special responsibility allowance relating to any duties from which the Member was wholly suspended should be withheld for that period. For other cases of partial suspension, it is expected that such Members would agree to a voluntary suspension of their allowances as appropriate.
(viii) Dependants' Carers' Allowances
That childcare and dependants' carers' allowances be made at the rate paid by Hampshire Social Services and that the maximum payable per annum per Member would be £1,000 (Hampshire Social Services allowances £7.00 per hour for dependants' carers' and £7.62 for 2.5 hours for childcare).
(ix) Travelling and subsistence allowance
That all travel allowances, including those for Co-opted Members, Independent Members and Independent Appeal Panel Members, should be at the same rate as the staff travel allowances and that no subsistence allowances should be paid in future.
(x) Co-opted Members - Independent Members on Standards Committee
That an allowance of £600 per annum be paid.
(xi) Co-opted Members of Education Policy Review Committee
That an allowance of £600 per annum be paid.
(xii) Independent Appeal Panel Members
That loss of earnings rates be increased pro-rata in accordance with the cost of living index for the past 3 years and then increased annually in line with Hampshire Management Grade increases or equivalent, in the case of loss of earnings incurred by Independent Appeal Panel Members.
(xiii) Annual Adjustment
That the scheme of allowances should provide for automatic annual adjustments to allowances by reference to the settlement for Hampshire Management Grade increases or equivalent.
(xiv) Retrospectivity
That only the special responsibility allowance for political spokesmen on the Health Review Committee be backdated to 1 May 2003; no other allowances to be backdated.
(xv) Recovery of allowances paid
That the Scheme of Allowances should provide that any allowance that has been paid to a Member whilst on suspension or any allowance after a Member had ceased to be a Member of the Authority should be recovered.
(xvi) Duplication
That the Scheme of Allowances should provide that, where a Member is a Member of two or more authorities, they should not receive more than one allowance for the same duties.
(xvii) Pensions
That both basic and special responsibility allowances should be pensionable for all Members under the age of 70.
(xviii) Elections to forego allowances
That the Scheme of Allowances should provide that all Members should be enabled, by notice to the Chief Executive, to forego entitlement of all or part of any allowances paid to them.
(xix) Claims and Payments
That the Scheme of Allowances should provide that travelling, dependants' carers' and childcare allowances for all Members, Co-opted Members, Independent Members and Independent Appeal Panel Members must be claimed within six months of the date of the meeting concerned.
65 AUDIT ARRANGEMENTS
The Committee considered detailed presentations by the Audit Commission and the County Council's Internal Audit Service. They drew particular attention to the importance of effective corporate governance; the framework of financial and other controls; testing and compliance; best value; and the preparation of statements of audit opinion. Members felt that the regime of audit, both external and internal, had provided an element of challenge which had facilitated Hampshire County Council's improvement and its achievement of excellent status under the Comprehensive Performance Assessment. They thanked the representatives of the Audit Commission and the Internal Audit Service for their presentations.
66 HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL ANNUAL INTERNAL AUDIT OPINION 2002/03
The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 12 in the Minute Book) on the effectiveness of the internal financial control system during 2002/03 and on the statement of assurance on the framework of controls. Attention was drawn to the fact that the transition of the County Council's financial controls to the SAP system had disrupted the control framework during the year. Reference was also made for the need to investigate further the need for computer back-up services to provide business continuity in the event of disaster or emergency which destroyed part of the Castle site and the computer equipment it contained. The need for further work on compliance in Social Services was noted. It was agreed that Members with any further thoughts or concerns on issues arising from the audit opinion should raise them direct with the County Treasurer who would be pleased to respond. It was also agreed that there should be a six-monthly report to Standards Committee on audit issues.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the Standards Committee approve the internal audit assurance statement 2002/03 as detailed in Appendix A to the submitted report.
(ii) That a report on audit issues be submitted to the Standards Committee every six months.
67 EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC
RESOLVED:
That by virtue of the paragraph 14 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of confidential Appendix C - Minute 68 below.
68 HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL ANNUAL INTERNAL AUDIT OPINION 2002/03 - APPENDIX C (CONFIDENTIAL)
The Committee considered confidential Appendix C to the County Treasurer's report (Item 14 in the Minute Book). They received and noted its contents with interest.
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Appendix
HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
MEMBERS ALLOWANCES SCHEME 2003/04
£
per annum
(i) Basic Allowance 10,670
(ii) Special Responsibility Allowances
Only one special responsibility allowance is payable to any member under the scheme. The allowances in brackets will not be paid whilst the current postholder receives a higher special responsibility allowance in respect of another post or if the postholder, in the case of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority, is not a County Councillor.
£
per annum
The Executive:
Leader 25,750
Deputy Leader 15,450
Education member 15,450
Environment member 15,450
Recreation and Heritage member 15,450
Social Care member 15,450
Spatial Strategy Member 15,450
Economic Development member (15,450)
Community Development and Regeneration member 15,450
Personnel and Training member 15,450
Chief Whip 15,450
Non-portfolio member (currently none) (10,300)
Leaders of Political Groups:
Leader of Liberal Democrat Group 10,820
Leader of Labour Group 7,420
Chairmen of Policy Review Committees:
Policy and Resources 10,300
Education 10,300
Environment 10,300
Recreation and Heritage 10,300
Social Care 10,300
Health Review 10,300
Vice-Chairmen of Policy Review Committees:
Policy and Resources (2,580)
Education (2,580)
Environment 2,580
Recreation and Heritage 2,580
Social Care 2,580
Health Review 2,580
E. Champion 2,580
Minority Parties' Spokesmen:
Liberal Democrats:
Policy and Resources (5,150)
Education 5,150
Environment 5,150
Recreation and Heritage 5,150
Social Care 5,150
Health Review 5,150
Labour:
Policy and Resources (2,580)
Education 2,580
Environment 2,580
Recreation and Heritage 2,580
Social Care 2,580
Health Review 2,580
Regulatory Committee:
Chairman 7,500
Vice-Chairman (1,875)
Standards Committee:
Chairman 5,150
Vice-Chairman 1,290
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority:
(These allowances are only payable if the office holder
is a County Councillor)
Chairman 10,300
Minority Parties' Spokesmen:
Liberal Democrat Group 5,150
Labour Group 2,580
Independent Members on Standards Committee 600
Co-opted Members on Education Policy Review Committee 600
NOTE: allowances shown in bold are those which differ from those recommended by the Independent Remuneration Panel
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