Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no Reserve Members in attendance at this meeting.

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interest was declared:

Agenda Item 7 – The Future of a Standards Regime at the London Borough of Harrow

Councillor Brian Gate declared a personal interest in that he was a Member of the Executive.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2011 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2011 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents/organisations under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put, or petitions or deputations received at this meeting.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services.

The Chairman explained that this report was intended to provide the Committee with some of the key considerations as a result of the Localism Act 2011 making changes to the Standards Regime.  A meeting would be scheduled in late April, where the Committee would be asked to make formal recommendations on relevant issues to the Full Council.

The Head of Legal Services reported that it was initially thought that the Localism Act would come into force in April 2012.  However this date was now July 2012.  The Head of Legal Services summarised that some of the key considerations for the Committee included the Council’s future Code of Conduct and its procedure for dealing with complaints.  The officer explained that the report had highlighted some potential recommendations for the Committee to consider.  The first recommendation related to whether or not the Standards Committee should continue in its current format and whether one Member of the Committee should be a Member of the Executive.  If this was adopted, if the Committee continued in its current form, any Independent Persons would not have any voting rights.

Members of the Committee made a number of comments on this recommendation including the following:

·                     it may be better if the future Standards body was a working group or an advisory panel rather than a Committee with a proportional allocation of Members.  This would ensure that there was an equal amount of Members from different political groups as the relevant issues discussed were always non-political;

·                     under such a system, any strategic issues that were controversial in their nature or if there was any disagreement, could then be referred to Full Council.  For more straightforward and non-contentious issues, recommendations could be made to the Monitoring Officer for action;

·                     a system had to be adopted which had the confidence of all Members.  There had to be the right balance.  It was also worth considering having 5 Members instead of the 8 proposed for any future body;

·                     there was a consensus that any future model of the Committee should incorporate Independent Persons.

The Head of Legal Services then highlighted the second Recommendation and explained that there was scope for the Council to simply adopt the 7 principles contained in the Localism Act or widen the scope of the Code to cover other principles, which could be similar to that which was currently in existence.

Members of the Committee made a number of comments on this recommendation which included:

·                     a Step-Change was required in relation to the Standards Regime and it would be a good opportunity to incorporate the Council’s CREATE values and Corporate Priorities into the new Code of Conduct.  This therefore required a change in its presentation and language.  The current Code was also jargonistic;

·                     it would be helpful if the new Standards Regime adoption was conducted in two phases.  Due to time restraints, it would be wise to ensure that the minimum legal requirements of the Localism Act were adhered to by the implementation date.  Following this, more  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services.

The Committee received a report setting out details of an application made by two Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to grant a dispensation.

RESOLVED:  That

(i)                 a dispensation be granted to Councillors Varsha Parmar and Stephen Wright;

(ii)               the dispensation be applicable at meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee where matters are discussed relating to general discussions about schools, including academies (not specific schools) including discussions about education results and service level agreements;

(iii)             the dispensation be applicable where the relevant Member felt that they had a prejudicial interest in the matter because they were a school governor;

(iv)             the dispensation be applicable to allow the relevant Member to remain in the room and speak, but not to vote;

(v)               the dispensation be granted for a period of one year or whenever the provisions on dispensations from the Localism Act 2011 come into force.