Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Standards Committee - Tuesday 28th January, 2025 6.30 pm

Venue: Room 1.02, Civic, 1 Saxon Gate East, Milton Keynes, MK9 3EJ

Contact: Alex Melia  Email: democracy@milton-keynes.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

ST16

Election of Chair

To elect the Chair of the Committee for the remainder of the Council year 2024/25.

 

Minutes:

The Senior Governance and Scrutiny Officer opened the meeting and advised that the first order of business was to appoint the Chair of the Committee for the remainder of the Council Year 24/25.

Councillor Crooks, seconded by Councillor Raja, nominated Councillor Trendall. There were no further nominations.

RESOLVED –

That Councillor Trendall be appointed Chair of the Standards Committee for the remainder of the Council Year 2024-25.

ST17

Disclosures of Interest

Councillors to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests, other registerable interests, or non-registerable interests (including other pecuniary interests) they may have in the business to be transacted, and officers to declare any interests they may have in any contract to be considered.

Minutes:

Councillor Brown advised for transparency that he had acted as Chair at a meeting of the Planning Panel for which a number of complaints had been received and were reported as part of Item 6.

ST18

Minutes pdf icon PDF 78 KB

To approve, and the Chair to sign as a correct record, the Minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 8 October 2024.

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 8 October 2024 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

ST19

Periodic Report of the Monitoring Officer pdf icon PDF 120 KB

To receive the Periodic Report of the Monitoring Officer.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Law and Governance introduced the item and highlighted the salient points:

·      Some updates were made to the complaints data presented in the report, with the number of ongoing complaints revised to seven as one decision notice had been issued since the date of publication.

·      There had been an upward trend in complaints. However, this included a number of identical complaints made by a single complainant against multiple Councillors.

·      The committee was asked to provide specific for feedback on how it would like to see complaints data presented in future reports.

The meeting was opened to comment and debate by the Committee:

·      Attention was drawn to 3.12 – 3.14 of the report, which discussed the timeframe for complaints. It was noted that the average time for a complaint to be completed was 60 days.

·      The Committee suggested that a time frame for each stage of the complaints process would ensure transparency and manage expectations.

·      The Committee subsequently discussed whether multiple complaints from a single complainant should be counted as one or multiple complaints for reporting purposes.

·      It was suggested that the complaints be counted individually as this aligned with how the data and costs were processed, but for future updates the number of incidents from which complaints arose should be reported to provide further clarity.

·      The update and proposed decisions regarding the Hearing Procedure outlinded at Section 7 of the report was noted by the Committee.

RESOLVED –

1)     That the report and various updates be noted.

2)     That the Committee considered the draft amendments to the Hearing Procedure and formally adopted the revisions.

3)     That for future quarterly updates a number of ‘incidents’ be provided alongside the number of complaints.

ST20

Revised E-mail/Social Media Guidance pdf icon PDF 96 KB

To receive a report detailing Revised Social Media and Email Guidance.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Democratic Services introduced the item and highlighted the key points:

·      The report covered two guidance documents. The Social Media Guidance for Councillors had previously been considered by the Committee, and the suggested revisions were included within the report in Section 3.1.

·      This guidance formed part of the Council’s Constitution as an Annex to the Code of Conduct.

·      In contrast, the Draft Guidance on the Use of Electronic Communication did not sit within the Constitution and would be considered as guidance issued by the Monitoring Officer.

·      Both documents were designed to provide guidance for Councillors in general terms, as opposed to providing definitive advice about the implications of any actions taken by a Councillor in specific circumstances.

The Chair opened the meeting to questions and comments from the Committee:

·      The Committee noted that social media platforms varied significantly in terms of content and user behaviour, which made general guidance more challenging.

·      In addition to these challenges, it was emphasised that the principles of good conduct would apply across all forms of communication.

·      The Committee discussed the frequency at which the two sets of guidance should be reviewed.

·      A biannual review had been codified within the guidance previously. However, the Committee suggested that this should be amended to state that the document would be reviewed as required.

·      To facilitate this, it was proposed to remove the Social Media Guidance from the Constitution, which would allow the Committee to review and update the documents as required without the lengthy process required for Constitutional changes.

RESOLVED –

1)         That it be recommended to Full Council, that the Social Media Guidance for Councillors be removed as a document in the Council’s Constitution, and instead be replaced by guidance issued by the Monitoring Officer, in order that it may be reviewed as required and updated / reissued promptly.

2)    That the Social Media Guidance for Councillors be considered at a future meeting of the Committee, prior to it being formally issued as guidance from the Monitoring Officer.

3)        Recommended that the guidance be amended to reflect that it be reviewed as required; and

4)        Noted the Guidance for Councillors on the use of electronic communications, prior to it being formally issued by the Monitoring Officer.

 

ST21

Guidance Documents for Submitting and Responding to Complaints pdf icon PDF 101 KB

To receive a report outlining the Guidance Documents for Submitting and Responding to Code of Conduct Complaints.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Democratic Services introduced the item and highlighted the key points:

·      The report sought the views of the Committee in respect of two draft guidance documents, which had been prepared in response to feedback provided by both members of the public and Councillors.

·      The key themes of both documents would be to provide an overview of the complaints process, including the initial assessment and potential outcomes.

·      Advice on how to prepare responses to a complaint, including the level of detail required and the importance of addressing each point, was also made available.

The Chair opened the meeting to questions and comments from the Committee:

·      It was suggested that some of the terminology could discourage stakeholders from making a complaint. Attention was drawn to the title and first sentence of Section Two as an example.

·      The Committee agreed to delete the first sentence, and to amend the title to ‘Your Complaint’, to avoid giving the perception that a complaint would have a low likelihood of success.

·      In response to questions, officers confirmed that details should not be disclosed publicly by either party during the initial phase of a complaint.

·      The Committee also emphasised the importance of using consistent terminology across the documents, particularly when discussing the timescales for both initial assessment and decisions.

·      Following a discussion, it was agreed that the title and introduction of Annex A be amended to reflect that complaints about Councillors could only be made to the Monitoring officer of the Principal Council, which in this case was MKCC.

RESOLVED –

1)        That the Committee endorsed the guidance notes for those considering a complaint about a Councillor, subject to the following suggested amendments, the details of which are delegated to the Director of Law & Governance (in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chairs of the Committee):

a)        the title and introduction (to reflect that complaints about Councillors could only be made to the Monitoring officer of the Principal Council [MKCC]);

b)       the title of Section Two reflecting ‘Your Complaint’ or similar, and the first sentence being deleted; and

c)        the document being reviewed for consistency of terminology in relation to the initial assessment of a complaint.

2)        That the Committee endorsed the guidance and proforma for Councillors responding to a complaint.

3)        That the Committee noted the intention to enable functionality for the online complaint form to be drafted and saved prior to submission by a complainant.

 

ST22

Consultation on Strengthening the Standards Framework pdf icon PDF 123 KB

To receive a report outlining the Consultation on Strengthening the Standards Framework.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Law and Governance introduced the item and highlighted the key points:

·      Officers had discussed the possibility of the Standards Committee providing a formal response to the consultation. Following discussions with other authorities and considering the nature of some of the questions, this approach was not recommended.

·      As such, members were encouraged to respond to the consultation individually and through their political groups or Parish and Town Councils.

The Chair opened the meeting to questions and comments from the Committee:

·      In response to questions, it was confirmed that the Director of Law and Governance was also intending to respond to the consultation.

·      Officers and Independents Persons also offered to provide support and additional information to any members of Parish Councils that required assistance with their responses.

RESOLVED –

1)        That the Committee noted the government’s proposals and the consultation from 18 December 2024 to 26 February 2025.

2)        That the Committee endorsed that MKCC Councillors, Parish, Town and Community Councils and other stakeholders in Milton Keynes be encouraged to respond to the consultation and asked the Director of Law and Governance to bring it to their attention.