Meeting documents

Commenced: 4.00 pm Time Terminated: 4.40 pm

Present:

Mrs Valerie Bracken (Chair)
Councillors J Lane, S Quinn, M Smith, Mrs Barnes and Town Councillor Carter.

In Attendance:

Steven Pleasant, Chief Executive, Sandra Stewart (Executive Director Governance / Monitoring Officer) and Ben Jay (Deputy Borough Treasurer). 

Apologies for Absence:

Councillors Bell, Kitchen and Dickinson, Mr Berry and Town Councillor Milne.

8. Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of interest submitted by members of the Standards Committee.

9. Minutes

The Minutes of the proceedings of the Standards Committee held on 11 September 2012, having been circulated, were taken as read and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

10. Localism Act 2011 - Dispensations

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report which advised the Standards Committee of proposals regarding the grant of dispensations to enable Members of the Council to participate and vote on matters notwithstanding the fact that the Member may have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and sought the Committee’s views on the grant of various dispensations.

She explained that the Localism Act and the Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012 introduced “Disclosable Pecuniary Interests” and new rules on dispensations to allow Council Members to take part in or vote on matters which they would otherwise be prevented from by having a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI). Previously, the old “national” model code of conduct for Members specifically stated that Members would not have a prejudicial interest in certain circumstances that potentially affected the majority or a large number of Members. The new arrangements on DPIs introduced by the Localism Act did not reproduce any of the general exemptions. It was therefore necessary to consider if comparable provision should be made under the new legislation so as to allow for decisions to be made that would involve the majority or a large number of Members.

At its meeting on 18 September 2012 the Council had delegated to the Standards Committee the power to grant dispensations where:

• the grant of the dispensation would be in the interests of the inhabitants of Tameside; and
• it was otherwise appropriate to grant the dispensation.

The Council also delegated to the Monitoring Officer the power to grant dispensations in circumstances where:

• without the dispensation the number of Members prohibited from participating / voting in any particular business would be so great a proportion of the body transacting the business as to impede the transaction of the business;
• without the dispensation the representation of different political groups on the body transacting any particular business would be so upset as to alter the likely outcome of any vote relating to the business; and
• without the dispensation every Member of the Cabinet would have a DPI prohibiting them from participating / voting in any particular business to be transacted by the Cabinet.

The report submitted by the Monitoring Officer advised the Standards Committee that she was minded to exercise her delegation to grant dispensations to allow Members to participate and vote on:

1. the setting of the Council Tax or a precept (and matters directly related to such decisions including the budget calculations); and
2. allowances, payments and indemnities given to Members.

The Standards Committee noted the requirement that there would be a written request by the Member before a dispensation was granted and that the Monitoring Officer intended to advise all Members to submit a request for dispensation in respect of the above matters.

Furthermore, the Monitoring Officer advised that under the old standards regime Members had a general dispensation in relation to interest in any function of the Council which related to “housing, where the Member was a tenant of the Council (provided that those functions did not relate particularly to the Member’s own tenancy or lease)”. The general dispensation no longer applied under the new arrangements. If a dispensation were to be granted, this decision would rest with the Standards Committee rather than the Monitoring Officer as it was understood that only a minority of Members were now tenants of the Council.

Also, under the old standards regime, a Member with a prejudicial interest in a matter was allowed to attend a public meeting of the Council or a Committee for the purpose only of making representations, answering questions or giving evidence, provided that the public were also allowed to attend the meeting for the same purpose. Under the new arrangements this was no longer allowed where there was a DPI and as a result Members were in a worse position than an ordinary member of the public. The Committee was asked to consider whether it would be appropriate to grant a dispensation to allow any Members who had a DPI to participate in a meeting in the same way as members of the public. The Monitoring Officer gave an example of allowing a Member making an application for planning permission to attend to make representations at the meeting of the Council’s Speakers’ Panel (Planning) which was to hear the matter.

Standards Committee Members were of the view that it was essential to ensure that the business of the Council was not impeded and that Members could participate in a debate and vote in meetings where such matters arose. Similarly, the issue also applied to Members of Mossley Town Council and it would be necessary for them to also take action to ensure they continued to transact their business without impediment.

Resolved

1. To note the Monitoring Officer’s advice to all Council Members to submit a written request for the granting of a dispensation pursuant to Section 33(2)(a) of the Localism Act 2011 (“the Localism Act”) allowing them to participate and vote on:

(i) Setting the Council Tax or a precept under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended from time to time or any superseding legislation) and matters directly related to such decisions such as budget calculations.

(ii) Allowances, payments or indemnities given to Members of the Council.

2. That the dispensation referred to at 1(i) above, should include determining the local council tax reduction scheme and other discounts and premiums pursuant to changes made by the Local Government Finance Act 2012.
3. That the dispensation referred to at 1(ii) above, should include all allowances payable to Council Members (including special responsibility allowances) or only those applying to all or a majority of Members.
4. That it was appropriate for any Members of the Council who were tenants of Tameside Council to submit a written request for the grant of a dispensation pursuant to Section 33(2) of the Localism Act to allow them to participate and to vote on matters in relation to housing (provided that those functions do not relate particularly to the tenancy or lease of the Council Member concerned).
5. That it be appropriate for dispensations to be granted to allow any Member of the Council who had a DPI to make representations at a meeting where members of the public had the same entitlement (e.g. to allow a Council Member who was making an application for planning permission to attend to make representations at the meeting of the Speakers Panel (Planning) which was to hear the matter in the same way as a member of the public.

11. Elected Member Development

The Chair introduced Tracy Brennand, Assistant Executive Director, People and Organisational Design, and Alison Williams, Organisational Development Manager, who presented a report detailing the options for future delivery and sustainability of Elected Member development.

It was reported that Member Development was supported from both Democratic Services and Organisational Development which assisted both new and established Members with their development needs. There was also a standard package of support that was provided to all new elected members on election and this was then enhanced with any further development needed via Organisational Development through the Elected Member Development Plan.

It was considered essential that the Council had a robust and flexible programme of development to ensure Members continued to provide effective political leadership and with the reduction of budgets and resources in all areas of the Council it was essential that new and innovative ways to engage our Elected Members in learning and development were found.

Furthermore, it was reported that a new Elected Member Development Strategy had been produced and would equip all elected members with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively perform their role within the Council.

Details were given of a summary of the proposed Elected Member Development Strategy and Delivery Model, together with an 18 month delivery plan and it was proposed to use the Political Skills framework which had been designed by the Local Government Association to support Elected Members in reviewing their individual development needs and encouraging self-reflective learning across six themes. It was also reported that Tameside had been Member Charter accredited since 2001, due for re-assessment in Spring 2014 and currently held Level 2 Charter status.

With regard to the budget and resources it was stated that in previous years there had been an allocation of up to £10k per annum to support Elected Member Development and it was proposed that a smaller budget of £7.5k be allocated to support the 18 month programme (£5k per annum), which would support 8 essential Member Development events, plus 4 emerging themed or optional events to be arranged at Dukinfield Town Hall, together with 57 E-Learning Licences and the opportunity for attendance at 7 North West Employer Elected Member events. This amount equated to £132 per elected member.

Standards Committee Members commented favourable on the comprehensive programme which aimed to equip Elected Members with the skills to respond to external issues, the different ways in which public sector organisations work, such as partnerships, and changes in the law relating to local government. They also needed to be able to deal effectively with casework arising from their role as community leaders. For example, Elected Members had recently attended a training session on the forthcoming changes to the Council Tax system which was both informative and timely.

Mrs Barnes made reference to the proposals for the monitoring and evaluation of the provision but wondered how it was intended to evaluate individual learning. In response, the Assistant Executive Director advised that training and development would be reviewed in a number of systematic ways which would assist in evaluating the delivery plan and in designing future development needs. An online questionnaire would be developed for all participants to complete after the training event and personal development planning would allow for individuals to comment on how their training had increased their personal effectiveness in their role.

The Chair thanked the Assistant Executive Director for her presentation and developing a strategy for all Elected Members for those who were new to their role and for the more established. Induction for new Elected Members was crucial to enable them to be effective in their roles whilst for existing Elected Members continued training helped to ensure skills were updated to assist them in their work in the community and within the Council.

Resolved

That the Standards Committee endorse:

1. A new and refreshed Elected Member Development Strategy endorsed by the Leader, the Chief Executive and the Deputy Executive Leader.
2. The establishment of an Elected Member Development Forum to meet quarterly to support and guide the Elected Member Development Strategy and Delivery Plan.
3. The proposed areas of development for the Elected Member Delivery Plan in Appendix 2 and support the introduction of essential and optional sessions.
4. The introduction of alternative ways to engage Members in learning and development to complement the existing evening sessions, i.e. Ward Walks and short 60 minute sessions on specified topics at either lunchtime or at twilight.
5. Alternative ways of engaging with Elected Members to determine their individual development needs, either through one to ones, group sessions, survey monkey or a mixture of all three approaches.
6. Specified Elected Members to attend relevant North West Employers events and share their learning.
7. The introduction and use of the Modern Councillor via the Learning Pool.
8. The evaluation process and receive feedback on a quarterly basis.
9. The application for Level 1 review of the Member Charter and pursuit of the Level 2 with the proposed project being Public Health.
10. The recommended budget allocation for the proposed 18 month delivery plan.

12. Urgent Items

The Chair advised that there were no urgent items for consideration at this meeting.

13. Dates of Future Meetings

It was noted that the Standards Committee would meet on the following dates during the Municipal Year 2013/14:

Tuesday 18 June 2013
Tuesday 27 August 2013
Tuesday 12 November 2013
Tuesday 11 March 2014

Chair