Agenda and minutes

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Of the meeting held on 18^th July 2016 to be approved and signed.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 18^th July 2016 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

That the Standards Committee consider the Annual Review Letter (Appendix 1) of the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) for the period covering 1st April 2015 to 31st March 2016 for information and comment.

The Committee considered the Annual Review Letter of the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) for the period covering 1^st April 2015 to 31^st March 2016.  The Monitoring officer presented the report and commented that, whilst the number of complaints and enquiries received by the LGO had risen to 14 from 12 the previous year, the number was still relatively small. The Council sought to address any issues identified by improving processes and the complaint remedies recommended by the LGO in respect of the two upheld cases were implemented. These cases had been reported to the Committee previously.

In the ensuing discussion, Committee Members highlighted effective use of feedback and lessons learnt to improve services and reduce the potential for similar or repeat complaints.

RESOLVED: That the Committee note the Annual Review Letter of the Local Government Ombudsman for the period covering 1^st April 2015 to 31^st March 2016.

That the Committee note any complaints which have received a report, an upheld decision or where maladministration has been identified by the Local Government Ombudsman.

The Committee were advised that, to date for the year commencing 1^st April 2016, there had been no reports or upheld decisions received or incidents of maladministration identified by the Ombudsman to report to the Committee.

RESOLVED: That the Committee note the report.

That the Committee note the contents of the report.

The Committee were advised that, since the last meeting, 3 complaints had been received.  Before making a decision on each case, the Monitoring Officer consulted one of the Independent Persons from the pool appointed to consider complaints.  The Monitoring Officer and the Independent Person found as follows:

·           Complaint 1 – no action taken

·           Complaint 2 – no action taken

·           Complaint 3 – complaint resolved informally.

RESOLVED: That the Committee note the report.

To review the registers of Members’ and Officers’ gifts and hospitality and register of interests. The registers will be available for inspection from 6.30p.m. onwards, so that Members can have the opportunity to review them either before or at the meeting.

The Committee were given the opportunity to review the registers of Members’ and Officers’ gifts and hospitality and register of interests.

Which in the opinion of the Chairman is of sufficient urgency as to warrant consideration.

The Chairman made reference to the recent training for Members on standards issues.  Arising from the matters covered by the training, Members had raised two issues where she felt advice and guidance would be beneficial:

·           Social Media – Guidance for Members on appropriate use of social media accounts, both as a Member and as a private individual.

·           Use of Personal Email Addresses – Guidance on the use of personal email addresses for Council business.

In response, the Monitoring Officer suggested that there would be merit in looking at Social Media by way of a report to the next meeting.  Guidance in relation to using email could be dealt with by way of a note in the Members’ weekly information items.

Committee Members supported the Monitoring Officer’s proposed way forward.