Present:-
Professor Forsythe (Chairman), Mr Bull, Mrs Mayes, Mrs Saltmarsh and Alderman Turner.
Councillors Brook, Sir Simon Day, Hook, Owen and Parsons
Apologies:-
Councillors Colthorpe and Fry
*68 Minutes
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2012 be signed as a correct record.
69 The Localism Act 2011: The New Standards Regime (Minute 66)
The Committee were reminded that this special meeting had been convened to update Members on the decisions of the Council on governance issues arising from the implementation of the provisions of the Localism Act and to consider the Council s proposed Code of Conduct for Members.
The County Solicitor reported that the changes to the Constitution previously recommended by this Committee (Minute 66 refers) relating to the adoption of a new Code of Conduct, declaration of interests and arrangements for Standards Committees consequent upon implementation of the provisions of the Localism Act 2011 had been endorsed by the Procedures Committee on 17 April 2012 (Minute 57) and ratified by the County Council on 24 May 2012.
The Committee now had before them the proposed Code of Conduct for Members prepared in line with the requirements of the Localism Act and the Regulations published on 8 June 2012 for adoption by the County Council, as endorsed by the Leader and Shadow of the Council and Party Group Leaders. Then Committee also considered the draft Guidance/Procedural Note for Assessment and Determination of Complaints which reflected the Committee s previous recommendations.
The County Solicitor reiterated that a detailed briefing session would be held for all Members on the morning of the Council meeting on 26 July 2012 at 11.30am, which current Independent Members of the Committee would be welcome to attend.
It was MOVED by Professor Forsythe, SECONDED by Alderman Turner and
RESOLVED
(a) that the County Council be recommended to approve the adoption of the draft Code of Conduct attached to these Minutes, to operate from the effective date of 1 July 2012 subject to ratification by the County Council on 26 July 2012;
(b) that the proposed General Notice of Registerable Interests Declaration form and the draft Guidance/Procedural Note for Assessment and Determination of Complaints be also endorsed;
(c) that the operation of the new Code of Conduct and the arrangements for assessing and determining appeals be reviewed in 12 months time, including the desirability for any local sanctions;
(d) that the Committee record its appreciation of the work of the Democratic Services Scrutiny Manager in preparing the draft Code and in working with District Council's to develop a common format to be used by all Devon Councils.
*70 Chairman Remarks
This being the last meeting of the Committee in its current form, the Chairman paid tribute to all Members of the Committee and to Officers for their dedication and hard work in promoting the importance of high standards of behaviour and systems of governance pertaining throughout Devon County Council and in supporting him during his period of office. He had regarded it as a honour and a privilege to have had the opportunity to serve the people of Devon as Chairman of the Committee and would continue to serve as a co-opted member of the Committee until later in the year. Members, in turn, paid tribute to the work and dedication of the Chairman throughout his tenure since 2003.
*DENOTES DELEGATED MATTER WITH POWER TO ACT
The meeting started at 2.15pm and finished at 2.45pm.
| The Minutes of this Committee are published on the County Council s Website at:-
|
MEMBERS' CODE OF CONDUCT
PART 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS
Public Duty and Private Interests: An introduction
1 This Code applies to you as a Member or a Co-opted Member of Devon County Council.
1.2 When acting in your capacity as a Member or Co-opted Member of the County Council, you should have regard to the Principles of Public Life namely, Selflessness, Honesty/Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Personal judgment, Respect for others, Duty to uphold the law, Stewardship and Leadership.
1.3 When acting in your capacity as a Member or Co-opted Member of the County Council
(a) you must act solely in the public interest and should never improperly confer an advantage or disadvantage on any person or act to gain financial or other material benefits for yourself, a member of your family, close associate or relevant person;
(b) you must not place yourself under a financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence you in the performance of your official duties;
(c) when carrying out your public duties you must make all choices, such as making public appointments, awarding contracts or recommending individuals for rewards or benefits, on merit;
(d) you are accountable for your decisions to the public and you must co-operate fully with whatever scrutiny is appropriate to your office;
(e) you must be as open as possible about your decisions and actions and the decisions and actions of the County Council and should be prepared to give reasons for those decisions and actions in accordance with any statutory requirements and any reasonable additional requirements imposed by the County Council or contained in its Constitution,
(f) you must declare any private interests, whether disclosable or personal, that relate to your public duties and must take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest, including registering and declaring interests in a manner conforming with the procedures set out at Part 2 of this Code;
(g) you must, when using or authorising the use by others of the resources of the County Council, ensure that such resources are not used improperly for political purposes (including party political purposes) and that any use is in accordance with the County Council s reasonable requirements;
(h) you must have regard to any applicable Local Authority Code of Publicity made under the Local Government Act 1986 or any similar Communications Protocol or Code produced by the County Council;
(i) you must promote and support high standards of conduct when serving in your public post, in particular as characterised by the above requirements, by leadership and example.
1.4 Whilst you may be strongly influenced by the views of others, it is your responsibility alone to decide what view to take on any question which Members have to decide.
1.5 Do nothing as a Member which you could not justify to the public.
1.6 The reputation of the County Council depends on your conduct and what the public believes about your conduct.
1.7 It is not enough to avoid actual impropriety, you should at all times avoid any occasion for suspicion or appearance of improper conduct.
1.8 It is your responsibility to comply with the provisions of this Code.
Definitions
2. In this Code
interest or interests have the meanings set out in Part 2 of this Code
Relevant person means:
you or
your spouse or civil partner, or
a person with whom you are living as husband and wife or as if they were civil partners
and you are aware that that other person has an interest
relevant period means a period of 12 months ending with the date on which you notified the Monitoring Office of an interest
"meeting" means any meeting of
the County Council;
the Cabinet of the County Council;
any of the Council s or the Cabinet s, Committees, Sub-Committees, Joint Committees, Joint Sub-committees or Area committees;
one or more Members, formal or informal and with or without officers, relating to the discharge of the County Council s functions where a formal record is made by a Council Officer.
member includes a co-opted member
Scope
3. You must comply with this Code whenever you are acting in your official capacity, when:
(a) you are engaged on the business of the County Council; or
(b) you behave so as to give a reasonable person the impression that you are acting as a representative of the County Council.
General obligations
4. You must
(a) treat others with courtesy and respect,
(b) when reaching decisions on any matter, do so on the merits of the circumstances and in the public interest and have reasonable regard to any relevant advice provided to you by an officer of the County Council.
5. You must not
(a) attempt to use your position as a Member improperly to confer on or secure for yourself or any other person, an advantage or disadvantage;
(b) do anything which may cause the County Council to breach a statutory duty or any of the equality enactments (as defined in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010);
(c) bully any person (bullying may be characterised as any single act or pattern of offensive, intimidating, malicious, insulting or humiliating behaviour; an abuse or misuse of power or authority which attempts to undermine or coerce or has the effect of undermining or coercing an individual or group of individuals by gradually eroding their confidence or capability which may cause them to suffer stress or fear);
(d) intimidate or attempt to intimidate any person who is or is likely to be
(i) a complainant,
(ii) a witness, or
(iii) involved in the administration of any investigation or proceedings,
in relation to an allegation that any Member has failed to comply with the Council s Code of Conduct; or
(e) do anything which compromises or is likely to compromise the impartiality of those who work for, or on behalf of, the County Council;
(f) disclose information given to you in confidence by anyone, or information acquired by you which you believe, or ought reasonably to be aware, is of a confidential nature, except where
(i) you have the consent of a person authorised to give it;
(ii) you are required by law to do so;
(iii) the disclosure is made to a third party for the purpose of obtaining professional advice provided that the third party agrees not to disclose the information to any other person; or
(iv) the disclosure is
(A) in the public interest; and
(B) made in good faith and
(C) in compliance with the reasonable requirements of the Council;
(g) prevent another person from gaining access to information to which that person is entitled by law;
(h) conduct yourself in a manner or behave in such a way so as to give a reasonable person the impression that you have brought your office or the Council into disrepute.
PART 2 INTERESTS
Registration of Interests
6. You must, within 28 days of
(a) this Code being adopted by, or applied to, the County Council; or
(b) your taking office as a Member or Co-opted Member of the County Council,
whichever is the later, and annually thereafter, provide written notification to the County Council s Monitoring Officer of:
(i) any disclosable pecuniary interest as defined by Regulations made by the Secretary of State, where the pecuniary interest is yours, your spouse s or civil partner s, or is the pecuniary interest of somebody with whom you are living with as a husband or wife); and
(ii) any other personal interest laid down by the County Council, as set out at paragraph 7 below;
which will be recorded in the County Council s Register of Members Interests and made available for public inspection including on the Council s website at: http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/councildemocracy/county_councillors/councillorcomplaints.htm
6.1 Within 28 days of becoming aware of any new interest or change to any interest already registered, you must register details of that new interest or change by providing written notification to the County Council s Monitoring Officer.
6.2 Whether or not an interest within paragraphs 7.1.and 7.2 below has been entered onto the County Council s register, you must disclose any interest to any meeting at which you are present in any matter being considered, in line with paragraph 8 below, where the matter is not a sensitive interest .
6.3 Following any disclosure of an interest not on the County Council s register or the subject of pending notification, you must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days beginning with the date of disclosure.
6.4 In relation to disclosable pecuniary interests, in this Part of the Code the expressions in the left hand column below have the meanings attributed to them in the right hand column:
| body in which the relevant person has a beneficial interest | means a firm in which the relevant person is a partner or a body corporate of which the relevant person is a director or in the securities of which the relevant person has a beneficial interest |
| director | includes a member of the committee of management of an industrial and provident society |
| land | excludes an easement, servitude, interest, or right over land which does not carry with it a right for the relevant person (alone or jointly with another) to occupy the land or to receive income |
| relevant authority | means the authority of which you are a member |
| relevant person | means you, your spouse or civil partner, a person with whom you are living with as husband and wife or a person with whom you are living with as if you are civil partners |
| securities | means shares, debentures, debenture stock, loan stock, bonds, units of a collective investment scheme within the meaning of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and other securities of any description, other than money deposited with a building society |
7. The interests you must register are:
7.1 - those disclosable pecuniary interests defined by The Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/1464) as set out below, namely:
(a) any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain by you or a relevant person;
(b) any payment or provision of any other financial benefit (other than from Devon County Council) made or provided within the relevant period in respect of any expenses incurred in carrying out your duties as a Member, or towards your expenses, including any payment or financial benefit from a trade union within the meaning of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992;
(c) any contract which is made between you or, so far as you are aware, a relevant person (as defined at Para 2 above) (in which the relevant person has a beneficial interest) and the County Council:
(1) under which goods or services are to be provided or works are to be executed; and
(2) which has not been fully discharged
(d) any beneficial interest in land held by you, or so far as you are aware, a relevant person which is within the administrative area of the County Council;
(e) any licence (alone or jointly with others) to occupy land in the administrative area of the County Council for a month or longer
(f) any tenancy where (to your knowledge):
(1) the landlord is Devon County Council; and
(2) the tenant is a body in which you or, so far as you are aware, a relevant person has a beneficial interest.
(g) any beneficial interest that you or, so far as you are aware, a relevant person has in securities of a body where:
(1) that body (to your knowledge) has a place of business or land in the administrative area of the County Council and
(2) either:
(A) the total nominal value of the securities exceeds 25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body; or
(B) if the share capital of that body is of more than one class, the total nominal value of the shares of any one class in which the relevant person has a beneficial interest exceeds one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that class.
7.2 - those other personal interests laid down by the County Council, namely your membership of any body to which you have been appointed by the County Council or exercising functions of a public nature directed to charitable purposes or whose principal purposes include influence of public opinion or policy, your membership of any other local Authority and of any political party or trade union.
7.3 In addition to those interests listed at 7.1 and 7.2 above which you are required to registered, you may wish also to declare membership of any body which, in your view, might create a conflict of interest in carrying out your duties as a County Councillor, such as membership of the Freemasons or any similar body.
7.4 Where the County Council s Monitoring Officer agrees that any information relating to your interests is sensitive information namely information whose availability for inspection by the public is likely to create a serious risk that any person may be subjected to violence or intimidation, you need not include that information when registering that interest, or, as the case may be, any change to that interest.
7.5 You must, within 28 days of becoming aware of any change of circumstances which means that information excluded is no longer sensitive information, notify the County Council s Monitoring Officer asking that the information be included in the County Council s Register of Members' Interests.
Declaration of Interests
8. Unless a dispensation has been granted, you may not participate in any discussion of, vote on, or discharge any function related to any matter in which you have a disclosable pecuniary interest as defined by Regulations referred to at Para 6(b)(i) and you must also observe any restrictions the County Council may place on your involvement in matters where you have any interest as defined by the Council and shown at Para 7 above .
8.1 Where you have any interest in any business of the County Council and you attend any meeting at which that business is to be considered, you must:
(a) disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest but where your interest is sensitive you are not required to disclose the interest but merely the fact that there is a disclosable pecuniary interest in the matter concerned;
(b) disclose any interest in accordance with the Council s reasonable requirements, no later than the commencement of the consideration of the business in which you have that interest, or (if later) the time at which the interest becomes apparent to you;
(c ) where you have a disclosable pecuniary interest, withdraw from the room or chamber where a meeting considering the business is being held at the commencement of the consideration of that business in which you have that interest, or (if later) the time at which the interest becomes apparent to you;
(d) not seek to influence improperly any decision about that business;
unless you have obtained a dispensation from the County Council s Monitoring Officer.