Agenda item

The purpose of this report is to update the Audit and Standards Advisory Committee on gifts and hospitality registered by Members, and the attendance record for Members in relation to mandatory training sessions.

Biancia Robinson, Senior Constitutional and Governance Lawyer, introduced a report updating the Committee on gifts and hospitality registered by Members, and the attendance record for Members in relation to mandatory training sessions.  The report also updated the Committee on the provisional appointment of an Independent Person, the Government’s response to the review by the Committee on Standards in Public Life and a recent Standards case.

In considering the report the Committee noted:

·                No gifts or hospitality had been registered by Members in the final quarter (January – March 2022).

·                Following the local elections and membership appointments made at the Annual Council meeting in May 2022, the induction and mandatory training programme for all councillors had commenced and was due to conclude in mid July 2022.  Members were advised that a further update would be provided at the next meeting in relation to Member’s attendance at mandatory training with details on the full programme having been provided within section 3.6 of the report. (Action: Debra Norman/Biancia Robinson)

·                Following the conclusion of the recruitment process for an Independent Person to replace Nigel Shock, the Committee were asked to note that in July 2022 Full Council would be asked to approve the appointment of Julie Byrom to fill the vacancy as Independent Person until 2026.  It was confirmed that the existing Independent members, William Goh and Kier Hopley, would be continuing in post until 2025. The Committee took the opportunity to formally thank Nigel Shock for his support during his time as Independent Person.

·                In addition to the update provided on the Independent Person, members were advised that Mark Mills, Independent co-opted member on the Committee, had unfortunately also tendered his resignation, effective from 30 June 22 as a result of competing work requirements.  Members again took the opportunity to express thanks to Mark Mills for his work and support whilst serving on the Committee.

·                The Government had now published their response to the Committee on Standards in Public Life's (CSPL) report on ethical standards in local government. The CSPL report had initially been published in January 2019 with 26 recommendations, which had included various amendments to primary and secondary legislation along with a number of examples of best practice.  Whilst the Local Government Association had already acted on the first recommendation with implementation of the model code of conduct (December 2020), members were advised that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities had now published its response, with a copy attached as Appendix A in the report to the committee.  The response outlined the recommendations that the Government would be taking forward to ensure high ethical standards were held across all local authorities, with a further update to be provided for the next meeting in relation to the potential impact on Brent. (Action: Debra Norman/Biancia Robinson)

·                Given the Committee’s role in ensuring standards of conduct were maintained in Brent, details were also provided on a recent Standards case involving the removal of a Maldon councillor at Maldon District Council as a result of them being found to have deliberately attempted to undermine the Code of Conduct process, bringing their local authority into disrepute.  Members’ attention was drawn to the key issues identified as a result of the Standards investigation and consideration of the outcome by Maldon’s Joint Standards Committee.

The Committee were then invited to raise questions on the report, which are summarised below:

·                It was clarified that substitute members on Committee’s were also being invited to attend the relevant mandatory training session for those bodies.

·                Confirmation was also provided that elected members who were unable to attend mandatory training on the scheduled dates would be offered alternative dates to complete their training.

As no further issues were raised the Chair thanked Biancia Robinson for the updates provided and it was RESOLVED, subject to the actions identified above, to note the content of the report.