Agenda and minutes

None made.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 12 March 2013 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

None.

This document is not for publication as it contains the following category of exempt information as specified in Paragraph 7C, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by The Standards Committee (England) Regulations 2008), namely:

7C Information presented to a standards committee, or to a subcommittee of a standards committee, set up to consider any matter under regulations 13 or 16 to 20 of the Standards Committee (England) Regulations 2008, or referred under section 58(1)(c) of the Local Government Act 2000.

RESOLVED:

that the press and public be excluded from the meeting as report and the appendices are not for publication (below the line) because they contain an allegation received in relation to the Code of Conduct and it is information relating to an individual, or is likely to reveal the identity of an individual and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest indisclosing the information under Schedule 12A Local Government Act 1972.

This report presents the Standards-Committee with an allegation that a councillor breached the Code of Conduct.

The report from the Monitoring Officer presented the Standards Committee with allegations that a councillor had breached the Code of Conduct. The committee first considered whether the meeting should be held in public or private and decided that it was not helpful at this preliminary stage for the matter to be held in public or contributed to by others and having regard to the information provided in the report about the information relating to an individual and the public interest test the members decided to proceed in private on this occasion.

In relation to whether the matter should proceed to investigation the committee considered the information available and the options open to it under the council’s procedure for dealing with these matters and decided that, on the face of it, the matter appeared to fall within the Code of Conduct and the complaint merited formal investigation.

RESOLVED:

(i)         that the matter be conducted in private on the basis set out in paragraph 3.5 – 3.6 of the report from the Monitoring Officer;

(ii)        that the Monitoring Officer shall provide a summary of the decision to the complainant, the member against whom the allegation is made, and the organisation concerned;

(iii)       that having considered the allegations of a breach of the Code of Conduct the matter be referred to the Monitoring Officer for formal investigation.

The next meeting of the committee is scheduled to take place on 3 December 2013.

It was noted that the next meeting was scheduled to take place on 3 December 2013.

None.