Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: John Meikle Room, The Deane House, Belvedere Road, Taunton TA1 1HE. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services Email: democraticservicesteam@somerset.gov.uk 

Media

Items
No. Item

57.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies were received from:

 

Councillor Hugh Davies

Co-opted Member Paul Hooper

Co-opted Member Alan Hemsley

Co-opted Member David Stripp

 

58.

Minutes from the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 105 KB

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

Minutes:

Resolved that the minutes of the Standards Committee held on 18 July 2024 be confirmed as a correct record.

59.

Declarations of Interest

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

Minutes:

None.

60.

Public Question Time

The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.

For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.

We are now live webcasting most of our committee meetings and you are welcome to view and listen to the discussion. The link to each webcast will be available on the meeting webpage, please see details under ‘click here to join online meeting’.

Minutes:

None.

61.

Standards Committee - Action Plan

a)    Ongoing Review of complaints against Councillors procedures – by Priority Group 1

b)    To consider whether to include Co-opted Member on the Complaints Hearings – by Priority 1.  The Chair will suggest the timescale of this action be reviewed possibly summer 2025

c)     To agree the questionnaire from complainants against Councillors – Priority Group 1

d)    Review Code of Conduct Training and support package for Parish Councils – by Priority Group 2

e)    SALC to be involved with Standards Committee – Scott Wooldridge

 

Minutes:

The Chair gave the following updates:

 

·        Ongoing Review of complaints against Councillors procedures by Priority Group 1 would be discussed at the meeting under agenda item 6.

·        To consider whether to include Co-opted Members on the Complaints Hearings by Priority Group 1 would be included on the work programme for July 2025.

·        To agree the questionnaire from complainants against Councillors by Priority Group 1 would be discussed at the meeting under agenda item 7.

·        Review Code of Conduct Training and support package for Parish Councils by Priority Group 1 would be discussed at the meeting under agenda item 8.

·        SALC to be involved with the Standards Committee:  Ewan Jones was invited by Scott Wooldridge to the meeting.  SALC would ensure that the training was comprehensive and complimentary. 

 

62.

Code of Conduct Complaints 20242025 – Quarterly Update – Q2 pdf icon PDF 86 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer reported the Council had dealt with 10 complaints in quarter 2 of 2024/25.  Some related to the same subject matter and the same alleged breach of the Code of Conduct.  Taking this into account there were 9 separate incidents complained about.

 

He confirmed that the amount of complaints had dropped compared to the monthly average recorded in 2023/24 but the numbers were still within the realms of the volumes predicted prior to Vesting Day based on historical trends from the legacy councils.

 

The Monitoring Officer highlighted that of the 10 complaints received, 5 originated from staff members, 3 were from fellow Councillors and 2 were from members of the public. He further highlighted that taking Q1 and Q2 together the totals were 6 from members of staff, 17 from members of the public and 14 from fellow Councillors. 

 

During the discussion that followed members asked for an update on the intervention made at Chard Town Council.  They were advised that the Chard Town Council Members had been sent a joint letter from Somerset Council and Chard Town Council expressing concern about the high amount of complaints received and how out of kilter this was compared to the rest of the country and offered some advice on how to deal with that.  Afterwards a meeting was held with the Town Council, the Chief Executive and the Deputy Monitoring Officer. There was a new clerk in the post and Somerset Council were working closely with them and SALC (Somerset Association of Local Councils) to help them move forward in a constructive way.

 

The Chief Executive Officer of SALC advised that Parish, Town and City Councillors have training on the Member Code of Conduct.

 

The Co-opted Members thanked the Councils for the interventions they had made which seemed to have had an impact as the complaints were low.

 

The Chair made the following points:

 

  • Priority Group 1 of the Standards Committee should work along with SALC to produce a package to support Parish Councils.
  • A complaint had been lost in Customer Services – MO investigating if others were lost and how this could be avoided – MO report next meeting

 

RESOLVED:

 

The Committee noted the update report.

 

63.

Code of Conduct Complaints Questionnaire pdf icon PDF 44 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer reported that as part of the work programme Priority Group 1, had created a questionnaire to show customer satisfaction with the complaints process.  David Stripp stressed this questionnaire was not designed to address the outcome of the compliant but rather with the complaint process. For example, how easy had it been to find information on the website or to get in contact with officers.

 

The Group had asked the Council’s digital team to enable the questionnaire to be available online as well as printable.

 

During the discussion that followed the Committee agreed that Co-opted Member Robin Horton would test the questionnaire out before it went live to the public – Action RH.

 

The Chair proposed that the questionnaire be launched to the public and observed how it was accepted and it be put on the work programme in 6 months and in twelve months’ time for feedback. This was seconded by Councillor Brian Smedley.

 

RESOLVED:

 

that the questionnaire be launched to the public and observed how it was accepted and it be put on the work programme in 6 months and in twelve months’ time for feedback.

 

64.

Standards Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 36 KB

Minutes:

The Chair went through the Work Programme and agreed its contents as follows:

 

Work Item

By Whom

Committee Meeting

January 2025

Previous Minutes

 

 

DS

January 2025

Action Plan (standing item)

 

Chair

January 2025

Code of Conduct Complaints – Quarterly Update

 

MO

January 2025

Review the Officer’s Code of Conduct

MO

January 2025

Priority 2 are tasked with considering Code of Conduct Training for Parishes and Somerset Councillors

 

 

January 2025

Whistle Blowing Policy

SC

January 2025

Update on National Changes in Code of Conduct

MO

January 2025

Lobbying for Changes to Code of Conduct

MO

January 2025

Annual Report to Full Council

MO

January 2025

Review Hearing Panel Terms of Reference – update to enable Co-opted Members to participate

SW

January 2025

Support Package for all Councils by SC Officers and SALC

SW/SALC

January 2025

Work Programme (standing item)

 

 

DS

January 2025

April 2025

Previous Minutes

 

DS

April 2025

Action Plan (standing item)

 

Chair

 

Code of Conduct Complaints – Quarterly Update

 

MO

April 2025

Bi-Annual Gifts and Hospitality Report (September – February)

DS

April 2025

 

Bi-Annual Report on Complaints Feedback Questionnaire

DS

April 2025

 

Work Programme (standing item)

 

DS

April 2025

July 2025

Previous Minutes

 

DS

July 2025

Action Plan (standing item)

a)    Priority Group 1 are tasked with considering whether to include Co-opted members on the Complaints Hearings

 

 

Chair

 

Code of Conduct Annual Review 2023-2024

 

MO

July 2025

Code of Conduct Complaints – Quarterly Update

 

MO

July 2025

Work Programme (standing item)

 

DS

July 2025

October 2025

Previous Minutes

 

DS

October 2025

Action Plan (standing item)

 

MO

October 2025

Code of Conduct Complaints – Quarterly Update

 

MO

October 2025

Bi-Annual Report on Complaints Feedback Questionnaire

DS

October 2025

Bi-Annual Gifts and Hospitality Report (March – August)

 

DS

October 2025

Work Programme (standing item)

 

DS

October 2025

 

 

 

 

65.

Standards Committee Gifts and Hospitality pdf icon PDF 43 KB

To provide a report on the gifts and hospitality received by members during the period March 2024 to August 2024.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Interim Head of Governance apologised for the late publication of this report.

 

He reported on the details of gifts and hospitality which were registered by Somerset Councillors during the period from March 2024 to August 2024.

 

The Chair confirmed that the committee was happy with the format of the report now including the additions of a column stating whether the gift or hospitality had been accepted/rejected and the reasons for the acceptance/rejection.

 

He further confirmed that this would be a 6 monthly report and for it to be added to the work programme.

 

RESOLVED:

 

The report was noted.

 

 

At the end of the meeting Co-opted Member Robin Horton raised the issue of a survey on DS support from SC Members.  The Chair agreed to discuss this with RH.

 

Also, at the end of the meeting the Chair thanked David Clark, Monitoring Officer for his service to the Standards Committee as he played a crucial role.  The Chair said that he was grateful for his professional, timely and prompt support.