Agenda and minutes

Standards Committee - Thursday, 29th September, 2022 1.30 pm

Venue: Scaitcliffe House, Ormerod Street, Accrington. View directions

Contact: Susan Gardner Democratic Services (01254) 380184

Items
No.	Item
130.	Apologies for absence, Declarations of Interest and Dispensations Minutes: Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Aziz and Whitehead and Parish Councillors Murray and Halstead. Councillors Cassidy and Dawson and Parish Councillor Pinder declared personal interests in item 5 of the agenda – Grant of Dispensations. This was due to their names being on the list of Councillors seeking dispensations to speak and vote on a number of issues as set out in Section 3.2 of the report for the period indicated in Paragraph 3.8. To ensure that the Committee was quorate when taking a vote on this item, separate votes were taken by eligible Councillors on the dispensations for District Councillors and the dispensations for Altham Parish Councillors. The Councillors declaring interests indicated that they would not be speaking or voting on that item. There were no dispensations declared at the meeting.
131.	Minutes of Last Meeting PDF 208 KB To submit the Minutes of the last meeting held on 9^th December, 2021 for approval as a correct record. Recommended - That the Minutes be received and approved as a correct record. Minutes: The Minutes of the last meeting of the Standards Committee held on 9^th December 2021 were submitted for approval as a correct record. Resolved - That the Minutes be received and approved as a correct record.
132.	Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) Letter PDF 150 KB This report informs Committee about the annual Local Government Ombudsman’s (LGO’s) letter for 2022. Recommended - That Committee welcomes the Ombudsman’s letter and notes the report. . Additional documents: Hyndburn Borough Council , item 132. PDF 104 KB Minutes: The Executive Director (Legal and Democratic Services) submitted a report relating to the Annual Local Government Ombudsman’s (LGO’s) letter for 2022. The Local Government Ombudsman had continued to receive a low level of complaints about Hyndburn making it difficult to identify trends from the statistical information provided. The low level of complaints might reflect good service delivery and/or a good internal complaint handling process. The letter had not flagged up any areas of concern about either the Council’s services or its procedures for dealing with complaints. The Executive Director reported that in 2021/22 the LGO had completed 1 detailed investigation in response to a complaint about the Council but this complaint had not been upheld. This complaint had been received in 2020/21 and concluded in 2021/22. During 2021/22 the LGO had received 8 complaints about the Council, but none of these had been referred for formal investigation. Information in the report showed that of the 8 complaints that had been received 2 had been in respect of the Benefits and Council Tax Section, 5 had related to Environmental Services and 2 to the Planning Section. Attention had also been drawn to comparisons between the Council’s position and that of neighbouring District Councils over the same period and a comparison of performance data for 2019/20 and 2020/21. She informed the Committee that none of the complaints investigated had been upheld. Resolved - That the Local Government Ombudsman’s letter be welcomed and the report be noted.
133.	Overview of Code of Conduct Complaints 2020/21 PDF 18 KB This report provides Committee with a summary of the Code of Conduct complaints received during 2021/22. Recommended - That Committee notes the report. Minutes: The Executive Director (Legal & Democratic Services) submitted a report providing the Committee with a summary of the code of conduct complaints received during 2021/22. The Council had received a low level of complaints about councillor conduct for many years, with no more than one or two complaints being referred to the Standards Assessment Panel annually, and none being referred for formal investigation for around 10 years. The Committee was reminded of the findings that the Panel could find in respect of the complaints considered. During 2021/22 there had been a marked increase in the number of conduct complaints and the complaints sent for formal investigation were referred to an external investigator. There had been 9 complaints sent for formal investigation and 1 not applicable. Of those investigated 5 had been found not to have breached the code of conduct, 2 complaints had been withdrawn and 2 were ongoing. The sources of the complaints were outlined and the Executive Director (Legal and Democratic Services) reported that she would submit a report annually to the Standards Committee to establish if a trend was establishing or if things were beginning to settle down. Resolved - That the report be noted.
134.	Grant of Dispensations PDF 102 KB To consider the granting of dispensations to a number of Hyndburn Councillors and Altham Parish Councillors, to vote on certain issues (see Section 3 of the report). Recommended (1) That Committee approves the requests from Hyndburn Borough Council members to grant dispensations to speak and vote on the issues set out in Section 3.2 of the report for the period(s) indicated in paragraph 3.8; and (2) That Committee approves the request from Altham Parish Council members to grant dispensations to speak and vote on the issues set out in Section 3.4 of the report for the period(s) indicated in paragraph 3.8. Additional documents: Dispensations - Appendix A , item 134. PDF 400 KB Minutes: The Executive Director (Legal & Democratic Services) submitted a report seeking the granting of dispensations to a number of Hyndburn Councillors and Altham Parish Councillors, to vote on certain issues. These were set out in Section 3 of the report. In June 2012 Hyndburn Borough Council and Altham Parish Council each adopted a new Code of Conduct following the introduction of the new standards regime under the Localism Act 2011. Unlike the previous codes, the new Codes did not expressly enable Councillors to speak and vote on a number of specific issues where a large number would have an interest e.g. setting the Council Tax. Standards Committee considered granting dispensations on those issues. Following the Elections in May 2022 and a By-election in July 2022, a number of councillors were newly elected. The following Hyndburn Councillors submitted requests for dispensations: Councillor Scott Brerton Councillor Danny Cassidy Councillor Jodi Clements Councillor Bernard Dawson Councillor Peter Edwards Councillor Zak Khan Councillor Colin McKenzie Councillor Kimberley Whitehead The requests related to dispensations to speak and vote on the following matters: - An allowance, payment or indemnity given to Members - Ceremonial honours given to Members - Setting Council Tax or a precept under the Local Government and Finance Act 1992 as amended from time to time or any superseding legislation - Setting a local Council Tax reduction scheme for the purposes of the Local Government Finance Act 2012 as amended from time to time or any superseding legislation - Setting a local scheme for the payment of business rates, including eligibility for rebates and reductions, for the purposes of the Local Government Finance Act 2012 as amended from time to time and any superseding legislation. Request forms were also received from existing Members who were returned at the Elections in 2022 as follows: Councillor Andrew Clegg Councillor Marlene Haworth Councillor Joyce Plummer Councillor Steven Smithson Councillor Josh Allen. Dispensations were previously granted to the remaining 22 Hyndburn Councillors who were not due to expire until 2023 or 2024. Legislation is silent on the issue of Parish Councillors being able to speak and vote on the setting of the parish precept. Requests for dispensations were received from the following Parish Councillors: Councillor Joshua Haworth Councillor David Murray Councillor Rennie Pinder Councillor Robert Dexter Stubbs Councillor Joseph Threfall A dispensation had already been previously granted to Parish Councillor John Halstead and was not due to expire until 2024. There was currently one vacancy on the Parish Council. Dispensations were requested to cover the following periods: 20^th September 2022 to 19^th September 2023: Councillors Zak Khan, Joshua Haworth, David Murray, Rennie Pinder, Robert Dexter Stubbs and Joseph Threfall. 20^th September 2022 to 19^th September 2024: Councillor Colin McKenzie 20^th September 2022 to 19^th September 2026: Councillors Josh Allen, Scott Brerton, Danny Cassidy, Andrew Clegg, Jodi Clements, Bernard Dawson, Peter Edwards, Marlene Haworth, Joyce Plummer, Steven Smithson and Kimberley Whitehead. Due to a number of Members of the ... view the full minutes text for item 134.