Agenda item

Annual Standards Report

Report of the General Counsel

Minutes:

6.1

The Committee received a report of the General Counsel which highlighted the activities of the Committee and provided details of the outcome of the Standards complaints received from January to December 2023.

 

6.2

The General Counsel explained that the Committee received this report on an annual basis and thanked the Chair for his foreword.

 

6.3

The General Counsel thanked Sarah Bennet and Robert Parkinson for assisting him throughout the standards regime process. He also thanked Sarah Hyde and Jay Bell for their administrative assistance as well as Independent Persons David Waxman and Karen Widdowson for assisting him and Members throughout the complaints process. He also thanked Independent Co-opted Member, Alison Howard for her assistance.

 

6.4

He mentioned that these complaints were confidential therefore the details could not be shared although he gave a summary of the number of complaints and their outcomes over the previous year. They were as follows:

 

Take No Action (no breach) 6

Withdrawn or Invalid 2

Rejected 6

Informal Resolution 3

Refer to Consideration Sub-Committee with an Investigation 1

Refer to Consideration Sub-Committee without an Investigation 1

Open (in assessment phase) 0

 

Total 19

 

6.5

The General Counsel welcomed the two new Independent Persons, Martyn Thorpe and David Irvine and the new Independent Co-opted Member, James Brackley. He raised a special thank you to Independent Person David Waxman for his many years of service and assistance to Monitoring Officers at Sheffield City Council.

 

David Waxman thanked the General Counsel for his kind words and explained that he has worked with many Monitoring Officers and Councillors over the years and that the experience was really positive. He also thanked Sarah Hyde for her assistance over the years.

 

6.6

The General Counsel stated that funding from the Local Government Association (LGA) has been successfully obtained in order to fund a more

shaped and diverse Member Development Programme.

 

6.7

The General Counsel thanked Members for their support when continuously reporting to him when there were changes to their Register of Interests.

 

6.8

Members of the Committee asked questions and made comments and the following responses were provided: -

 

6.9

The General Counsel confirmed that Members were updated on the budgeting setting process as and when it progressed although agreed that the Council’s budgeting and accounting processes could be made more aware to new Members. Councillor Belbin added that there was a Member Development Working Group ongoing which could look into this and also stated there was CIPFA training available.

 

6.10

The General Counsel confirmed there may have been a slight increase in the number of complaints received over the previous year, although the number of complaints received was not anything unusual compared to previous years.

 

6.11

The General Counsel stated that the training mentioned in the report relating to new Members on the Licensing Committee was not mandatory although it was preferable. He added that there was always a legal advisor present at the meetings to assist Members in their decision-making.

 

6.12

The General Counsel thanked the Member for his comment relating to Members Register of Interests and agreed this could be picked up as part of the training mentioned in order to remind Members of the process.

 

6.13

The General Counsel agreed it would be good for this Committee to send a message to Members, to prioritise training when it was provided. He appreciated Members diaries can be busy therefore Officers could look at repeat training or recording the sessions. Councillor Belbin mentioned again there was a Member Development Working Group looking at how to better deliver training to Members.

 

6.14

RESOLVED: That the Committee comments on the report and approves the report for submission to Full Council.

 

 

Supporting documents: