Agenda and minutes
Venue: Scaitcliffe House, Ormerod Street, Accrington. View directions
Contact: Rachael Calvert Democratic Services (01254) 380136
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Apologies for absence, Declarations of Interest and Dispensations Minutes: Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Melissa Fisher, Ethan Rawcliffe and Clare Yates. Councillors Kimberley Whitehead and Jodi Clements acted as substitutes for Councillors Clare Yates and Melissa Fisher.
There were no interests of dispensations submitted at the meeting. |
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Minutes of Last Meeting To submit the Minutes of the last meeting held on 12th October 2023 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 12th October 2023 were submitted for approval as a correct record. Resolved - That the Minutes be received and approved as a correct record.
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Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) Letter 2024 This report informs the Committee about the annual summary of complaint statistics from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman for the year ending 31 March 2024.
Recommended – That the Committee welcomes the Ombudsman’s letter for 2023/24 and notes the report. Additional documents: Minutes: The Executive Director (Legal & Democratic Services) Jane Ellis submitted a report to inform the Committee about the annual Local Government Ombudsman’s (LGO’s) letter for 2023/24. It was reported that over the past few years the Local Government’s Office had regularly changed the amount of data provided to Local Authorities and, in addition, the number of complaints about the Council had been of a low level over many years. This had resulted in it being difficult to compare previous data and to recognise any trends. Jane reported that there had been 8 complaints about the Council but only 1 had been deemed to merit detailed investigation and which was, subsequently, upheld. She referred to comparisons with other local authorities across Lancashire and pointed out that there did not appear to be any obvious cause of concern with Hyndburn’s performance and was of a comparable nature with neighbouring authorities. In 2023 the Council had reviewed and updated its complaints policy to ensure it remained effective and fit for purpose. Jane explained that the complaints process was reduced from a three to a two stage process, as set out in the report. The number of stage 2 complaints had been monitored and this had shown that all had been dealt with in a timely and fair manner. The new process was quicker for both Officers and the complainants and, currently, the change in process had not seemed to have had a negative impact on the Council’s complaints process. Members acknowledged that the Council’s process of dealing with complaints was working well and that there had been no concerns with the Council.
Resolved - That the report be noted. |
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Annual Update Report This report provides the Committee with a summary of standards matters relating to 2023/4.
Recommended – To note the contents of this report.
Minutes: The Executive Director (Legal & Democratic Services) submitted a report to provide the Committee with a summary of standards matters relating to 2023/24. Jane reported that there had been few complaints about councillor conduct for many years until 2021/22 but since then there had been an increase in the number being referred to the Standards Assessment Pan and onto formal investigation. She provided a summary of the number of complaints dealt with on yearly basis from 2021/22 to the present date. She informed the Committee that there had only been one matter referred for investigation in 2023-24 but that had not progressed because the Councillor ceased to be a councillor before being determined. There had also been one further complaint which had been dealt with informally and therefore, not referred to the Assessment Panel. In respect of Member training, Jane referred to Code of Conduct training which was annually provided in-house and delivered by the Executive Director (Legal & Democratic Services). She outlined the dates training had already been provided with a further session to be held in September. In addition she gave details of training sessions provided for Councillors on decision making and chairing skills. She reported that it was the Council’s aim to promote member training generally and its Learning & Development Panel had recommended that the Council should seek to regain Member Development Charter accreditation. As a consequence, the member training budget has been increased for 2024/25 and all Members were being offered one-to-ones to determine training needs. Jane informed Members of a training session for Standards Committee members later in the day. Members acknowledged the provision of training provided but suggested that: • LGA training would also very useful • When organising training sessions and meetings, efforts should be made to liaise with the Chief Whips to decide dates and times. • That it would be helpful for Councillors if meetings/events could be scheduled directly into Councillors online calendars.
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Please note the Standards Training will take place on MS Teams at 5.30pm on 15th August 2024. Minutes: The Executive Director (Legal & Democratic Services) suggested that to further encourage attendance at training sessions that take place late afternoon/early evening, a simple buffet could be provided for Councillors.
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Jane requested that the information provided was noted by the Committee. |