Agenda and minutes

Minute of the meeting of 12 November 2015  to be approved and signed by the Chairman.  (Copy attached.)

         There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the meeting of the Standards       Committee of 12 November 2015.

          DECISION

         APPROVED  the Minute for signature by the Chairman.

1.1    With reference to paragraph 8(b) of the minute, the Monitoring Officer advised that he had contacted the Scottish Government and the Standards Commissioner to obtain clarification regarding what the current situation was in terms of Community Councils and the conduct of Community Councillors.   Their responses indicated that Scottish Borders Council had no control over the conduct of Community Councillors.  Although Community Councillors signed up annually to the Code of Conduct for Community Councillors there were no enforceable sanctions within this Code.  At the request of Members, the Monitoring Officer agreed to prepare a private paper for Members providing advice on possible sanctions which could be actioned by Community Council Chairmen if Community Councillors were being disrespectful  to Members. The Monitoring Officer stressed that the Local Authority Councillors Code of Practice did not apply to Community Councillors.

         DECISION

         AGREED that the Monitoring Officer prepare a private paper for Members providing advice on possible sanctions which could be actioned by Community Council Chairmen if Community Councillors were being disrespectful to Members. 

Consider report by Monitoring Officer advising on compliance with the Ethical Standards Framework for 2015-16.  (Copy attached.)

2.1     There had been circulated copies of a report by the Monitoring Officer which provided details on Scottish Borders Council's compliance with the Ethical Standards Framework for 2015 – 2016 and also considered matters relating to Training, Register of Interest and the Hospitality Register.

2.2     During 2015-16 the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life referred 8 complaints, where he determined that there had been a breach of the Code of Conduct, to the Standards Commission for Scotland (“The Commission”).

2.3     During 2015-16, 4 complaints were lodged against 4 Scottish Borders Councillors.  Of the 4 complaints, 1 was internal, i.e. submitted by a Councillor or Officer, and 3 were external, i.e. submitted by a member of the public or external organisation.  The complaints received in 2015-16 covered the following areas:- (a) Inappropriate involvement in operational matters/conflict of interest; (b) Conflict of Interest/Declarations of Interest; and (c) Conduct/Respect  (2 cases).  None of the complaints received resulted in reports by the Standards Commissioner to the Standards Commission. Two of the complaints were resolved internally following internal investigations.  In one instance it was concluded that no breach had occurred.  In the second case no further action was deemed necessary following acknowledgment of inappropriate actions and receipt of an apology. The two remaining complaints were referred by the complainant to the Commissioner.  The Commissioner concluded that there had been no breach of the Code of Conduct in either of those cases and took no further action in respect of those complaints.

2.4    The report went on to explain that the Elected Members’ Registers of Interests were published on the Council’s website and were also available to view in paper format from Democratic Services.  The Registers were reviewed every six months and were amended according to the information provided by the Members.  They were maintained in accordance with the Ethical Standards and Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 (Register of Interest) Regulations 2003, as amended. Members were also required to comply with Section 4 of the Code of Conduct whereby the Registers were updated when a Registerable Interest changed. 

2.5     Elected Members were required, on a monthly basis, to complete a Hospitality Register within which they would declare hospitality/gifts offered (valued at over £50), whether accepted or not.  Members were also required to send a completed monthly pro-forma return (including nil returns) to Democratic Services, who maintained the Members’ Hospitality Register.  All forms were scanned electronically and published on the Council’s website.  In addition, a summary sheet of all responses for the current financial year was kept with the paper copy of the Register for ease of reference. A quarterly report was submitted to the Service Director Regulatory Services in his role as Monitoring Officer.

2.6     Section 5 of the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act 2000 (“The 2000 Act”) required Councils to promote the observance by its Councillors of high standards of conduct; and to assist them to observe the Councillor’s Code.   The current Guidance on the Code of Conduct stated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.