Meeting documents

1

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

No declaration of interest by a Member or Officer in respect of any item on the Agenda.

2

MINUTES

Minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 27 November 2003 were submitted and confirmed as correct.  (Council Volume 11.12.2003, page 126)

3

TRAINING VIDEO

The Committee was invited to view a training video produced by the Standards Board of England entitled "The Code in Practice". The video contained several scenarios  and allowed pauses for discussion and comment by Members of the Committee prior to presenting the view of the Standards Board on each scenario.

The Committee considered the Video to be useful and took the view that it should be included as part of the ongoing training package for County Council Members.

RESOLVED that the Monitoring Officer be asked to consult with the TrainingOfficer with a view to including the Video as part of the current training programme for elected Members of the County Council.

4

LOCAL HEALTH BOARDS/DISPENSATIONS

A report by the Monitoring Officer providing the Committee with information regarding both Local Health Boards and Grant of Dispensations was submitted for consideration.

In presenting the report, the Monitoring Officer reminded Members of the background to the Local Health Board and its Membership as well as drawing attention to the circumstances where dispensations are required.

Guidance received from the Welsh Assembly Government in December 2003  indicates that the Assembly takes the view that there should be a presumption in favour of granting dispensations to LHB members where membership of the LHB is the only personal interest to be declared, in order to enable effective joint working. However, it was pointed out that it is still important that the Standards Committee judges each application on its own merits.

The Monitoring Officer also drew attention to difficulties created by the wording of section 5.1.3.7 of the Council's Code of Conduct for Members which in practice would  render such dispensations granted to LHB Members as ineffective. This is because membership of a LHB without a dispensation would  normally oblige the member to disclose the fact at the commencement of the discussion and would allow him/her to speak but not to vote, and although dispensations can allow members not to have to withdraw for other types of interest, there is no such provision in paragraph 5.1.3.7. (i) for a dispensation to change the position in cases where the personal interest arises by reason of having been appointed or nominated to another body, such as the LHB by the Council.

RESOLVED :

4.1

to note the contents of the report including the Guidance provided by the Assembly and in noting the potential difficulty in complying with the Guidance, to make observations to the Welsh Assembly Government that the Code should be reviewed to overcome this;

4.2

to suggest to the Welsh Assembly Government that the above guidance might be extended in order to refer to other bodies as well as the LHB;

4.3

to endorse the advice that, generally, any applications by elected Member for dispensations should be made at the earliest possible stage in order to avoid timing difficulties in arranging a Standards Committee meeting;

4.4

to seek clarification from the Welsh Assembly Government regarding the term "Block Dispensations";

4.5

that the Monitoring Officer's letter to the Welsh Assembly Government be copied for information to all Members of the Standards Committee;

5

SINGLE OMBUDSMAN

A report by the Monitoring Officer regarding the introduction of a Single Ombudsman Service for Wales was submitted for information. The Committee noted that verbal contact with the Assembly indicates that a Bill is due to be presented to Parliament around September or the Autumn to further steps towards the establishment of a single Ombudsman and that an update will be presented to this Committee when there are any further developments to report.

6

AMENDMENT TO MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR MEMBERS

A report by the Monitoring Officer, in respect of the above, was submitted to the Committee for information.

The report drew attention to a minor addition to the Code which results in a clarification and slight relaxation of the Code, in the event that the Assembly chooses to proceed to enact pension entitlements for elected members, by allowing  a further class of interest not to be regarded as a personal interest.

Members accepted the report and noted the amendment for information.

Prior to closing the meeting, the Chair referred to the fact that this would be the final meeting

for the Monitoring Officer, Julie Openshaw to be in attendance. On behalf of the Committee, the Chair thanked the Monitoring Officer for her support and commitment to the Committee and wished her every success in her new post and for the future.

DR GWYNETH ROBERTS

CHAIR