Meeting documents

STANDARDS COMMITTEE

Minutes of the meeting held on 27 January 2010

1.     DECLARATION OF INTEREST

     There was no declaration of interest by a Member or Officer.

2.     MINUTES

     Minutes of the meeting held on 6th October 2009 were submitted and confirmed as correct.

3.       APPLICATION FOR DISPENSATION

     The Chair invited the Monitoring Officer to address the meeting. The Monitoring Officer drew

     attention to the report which had been submitted as part of the Agenda for the meeting. She           referred to the relevant parts of the Code of Conduct which Members should bear in mind, in           particular:-

     Part 3 - Personal Interest

     10(2) - You must regard yourself as having a personal interest in any business of your                authority if :

     (a)   it relates to, or is likely to affect -

     (i)   any employment or business carried on by you;

     Prejudicial Interest

     Part 3 , 12(1) “..... where you have a personal interest in any business of your authority you

     also have a prejudicial interest in that business if the interest is one which a member of the

     public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it

     is likely to prejudice your judgement of the public interest.”

     The Monitoring Officer quoted the following extract from the Statutory Grounds :

     S1 2001 No.2279 (W169( Section 2(f) “the participation of the member in the business to

     which the interest relates is justified by the member’s particular role or expertise”

     as being applicable and being key to the decision which the Committee was being asked to           make. She advised Members that they should, in deciding whether or not to grant the

     dispensation, consider the Terms of Reference of the Task and Finish Panel which has been

     set up to consider Strategic Issues regarding the future of the smallholding estate. She also

     referred to the composition of the Panel and drew attention to the fact that Councillor Hughes

     would be one of two opposition Members whilst the remaining three Members would be from

     the ruling group on the Council. Finally, the Monitoring Officer said that should the Committee

     have misgivings regarding granting a dispensation then it should consider granting the

     application by imposing conditions and only after that should the Committee refuse the                request.

     The Head of Service (Property) said he had no comment on Councillor Hughes’ application

     but provided Members with a background to the establishment of the Smallholdings Panel.

     He reported a significant maintenance problem and lack of funding appertaining to the estate

     and referred to the need to look at the future requirements/outputs from the estate. He

     confirmed that the Portfolio Holder for Smallholdings was a Panel and that the remaining

     Members had been appointed on a political balance.

     The applicant, Councillor W.T.Hughes believed he has a personal and prejudicial interest,

     as outlined above, as he is the tenant of a smallholding known as Betws in the village of

     Cemaes of which the landlord is the Isle of Anglesey County Council. He runs the

     smallholding as a farming business with his wife. He has been nominated by his Group

     Leader to be a member of the Smallholding Task and Finish Group and therefore made

     an application for a dispensation as he believed that his participation is justified by his

     particular role and expertise. In response to questions from Members of the Committee,

     Councillor Hughes confirmed that:-

     Councillor Hughes said he is from a farming background and has been a tenant of Betws

     since 1973. He believed he could provide feedback on the way tenants feel regarding the

     role of both tenants and landlord. He believes strongly in providing a future for young people

     in the farming community and cares very much about nature and the countryside. He felt

     he could be of benefit to the Panel and would serve on it to the best of his ability. He

     acknowledged and appreciated that he would not be able to discuss his own smallholding.

     He confirmed he was confident he could separate his own interest in the event of difficult

     decisions having to be taken and that he would try to support both the tenants and the staff.

     He recognised no decent living can be made from a holding of up to 30 acres and that in

     certain circumstances it would be appropriate to sell the dwelling and add any land to an

     adjoining smallholding. He believed income generated from the sale of any holding should

     be used to improve and maintain the estate. Councillor Hughes confirmed he is not a member

     of any tenant farmer’s group but is an ordinary member of the Farmers Union of Wales.

     He speaks to many people, particularly in the local livestock market and believes he could

     ascertain the views of other tenants. He assured the Committee that he would consider

     any proposal made by the Panel from an objective viewpoint and would support the tenants

     and/or landlords as he believed appropriate in each decision making process. In closing

     Councillor Hughes said he had been elected as an Independent Member of the Council and

     would not allow any political persuasion to influence his decision making.

     Having listened to the comments made by Officers and the representations made by the                applicant, the Chair announced that the Standards Committee would retire to private session           to consider its decision. On returning to public session, the Chair announced that a unanimous      decision had been reached and that the Committee had :

     RESOLVED that the Committee had unanimously agreed that Pursuant to paragraph

     2(f) of Statutory Instrument 2001 No.2279 (W169) Local Government Wales The

     Standards Committees (Grant of Dispensations)(Wales)Regulations 2001, a

     Dispensation be granted to Councillor William T.Hughes for the purpose of the

     work of the Smallholdings Task and Finish Group only. He was granted the right to

     speak and to vote on the Panel. Councillor Hughes was reminded that he should

     take no part in any discussion which was specific to his smallholding.

     The Chair thanked all those present for their attendance and declared the meeting closed.

MR J COTTERELL

CHAIR