Archived decisions

        Report of the

      Standards Committee

          Part II

Local determination of complaints concerning Member conduct

1. The Standards Committee has decided how best to respond to recent changes in the law which have had the effect, since 8 May 2008, of requiring all complaints concerning Member conduct under the Code of Conduct to be filtered initially by the County Council's Standards Committee rather than by the Standards Board for England. The statutory Regulations are prescriptive as to the measures that needed to be taken to ensure compliance.

2. The Regulations require that the Standards Committee establish two sub-committees consisting of at least three members and to be chaired by one of the independent members, one to carry out the initial assessment as to whether or not an allegation appears to disclose a failure by a Member to comply with the Code of Conduct and the other to undertake any review that might be required. It is important to note at this stage that the membership of the two sub-committees must be entirely separate. Each initial assessment of an allegation must be carried out within twenty working days of receipt with any review of a decision not to investigate a complaint being carried out within a period of three months. To ensure compliance the Committee has appointed a Standards Assessment Sub-Committee and a Standards Review Sub-Committee and, in line with the Regulations, it has approved the Terms of Reference for each as set out in the appendix to this report. Meetings of both will be in private.

3. The Monitoring Officer will, when any complaint is received, appoint and convene a meeting of the Standards Assessment Sub-Committee and, if necessary, the Standards Review Sub-Committee. The Monitoring Officer will also appoint an independent member of a Standards Committee from another authority as an independent member of the Standards Assessment or Standards Review Sub-Committee should the Monitoring Officer consider that to be necessary in the particular circumstances.

4. As a matter of policy, the Committee will not consider any complaints made against a member of the County Council where the complainant fails to disclose their identity but the Monitoring Officer has been given authority, at his or her discretion, to withhold the identity of a complainant.

5. These new arrangements do not have any significant impact on the pre-existing procedure whereby complaints can be referred from the Standards Board for England to a local standards committee for investigation and, if appropriate, hearing. That procedure will essentially remain as hitherto with the Standards Committee having an obligation to consider the Monitoring Officer's report into an investigation and depending upon the Monitoring Officer's recommendation to decide to take no further action or to require a hearing to take place.

6. The Regulations require the County Council to publish the address to which written allegations should be made and also to ensure that procedures it will follow in relation to any written allegation received are similarly published. Details and an application form are accordingly available on the Council's website.

7. The procedure is undoubtedly more bureaucratic than that which previously applied when the Standards Board for England undertook the initial filtering of complaints and is very likely to result in extra costs being incurred. Depending upon the number of allegations that are received, the new procedure will result in significantly more work falling to the Monitoring Officer and to those other officers who will need to be called upon to fulfil the statutory obligations placed upon the Council.

              Martin James

              Chairman

                    Appendix

Terms of reference - Local determination of complaints against Members of the County Council

1. Standards Assessment Sub-Committee

(a) To receive allegations that a Member of the Council has failed to comply with the Council's Code of Conduct.

(b) Upon receipt of each allegation and any accompanying report by the Monitoring Officer, the Sub-Committee shall make an initial assessment of the allegation and shall then do one of the following:

    (i) Refer the allegation to the Monitoring Officer with an instruction that he/she arrange a formal investigation of the allegation or directing that he/she arrange training, conciliation or such other appropriate alternative steps as are agreed with the Monitoring Officer.

(ii) Refer the allegation to the Standards Board for England.

(iii) Decide that no action should be taken in respect of the allegation.

    (iv) Where the allegation is in respect of a person who is no longer a Member of the Council but is a Member of another relevant Authority (as defined in Section 49 of the Local Government Act 2000) refer the allegation to the Monitoring Officer of that other Authority; and shall instruct the Monitoring Officer to take reasonable steps to notify the person making the allegation and the Member concerned of that decision.

(c) Upon completion of an investigation by the Monitoring Officer the Sub-Committee shall be responsible for determining whether:

    (v) It accepts the Monitoring Officer's finding of no failure to observe the Code of Conduct.

    (vi) The matter should be referred to consideration at a hearing before a Sub-Committee of the Standards Committee; or

    (vii) The matter should be referred to the Adjudication Panel for England for determination.

2. Standards Review Sub-Committee

(a) To review upon the request of the person who has made an allegation that a Member of the Council has failed or may have failed to comply with the Council's Code of Conduct a decision of the Standards Assessment Sub-Committee that no action be taken in respect of that allegation.

(b) Upon receipt of such request for a review and any accompanying report by the Monitoring Officer the Standards Review Sub-Committee shall review the decision of the Assessment Sub-Committee and shall then do one of the following :-

    (i) Refer the allegation to the Monitoring Officer with an instruction that he/she arrange a formal investigation of the allegation or specifying that he/she take alternative action as permitted by regulations.

(ii) Refer the allegation to the Standards Board for England.

    (iii) Decide that no action should be taken in respect of the allegation; or

    (iv) Where the allegation is in respect of a person who is no longer a Member of the Authority but is a Member of another relevant Authority (as defined in Section 49 of the Local Government Act 2000) refer the allegation to the Monitoring Officer of that other relevant Authority; and shall instruct the Monitoring Officer to take reasonable steps to notify the person making the allegation and the Member concerned of that decision.

(c) Where the Complaints Review Sub-Committee resolves to do any of the actions set out above the Sub-Committee shall state its reasons for that decision.