Agenda item

To seek the granting of dispensations to a number of Members of Hyndburn Borough Council and Altham Parish Council to speak and vote on certain issues, as set out in the report.  Copies of the applications signed individually by the Councillors concerned are appended to the report.

Members considered a report of the Executive Director (Legal and Democratic Services) on the grant of dispensations.

Members were informed that, in June 2012, Hyndburn Borough Council and Altham Parish Council had 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.  Therefore, the Standards Committee would need to consider granting dispensations on those issues where legislation did not specifically allow Hyndburn and Altham Parish Councillors to speak and vote.

Hyndburn Councillors Loraine Cox, Diane Fielding, Melissa Fisher and Eamonn Higgins had submitted requests to renew their dispensations and new Members elected in 2019, Councillors Chris Knight, Patrick McGinley and Kate Walsh, had also applied for 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 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; and

·       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

A dispensation in the above terms had already been granted to the remaining 28 Hyndburn Borough Councillors.

Similarly, legislation was silent on the issue of Parish Councillors being able to speak and vote on the setting of a parish precept even though most, if not all of them, could have an interest in the decision as local residents.  Parish Councillor Gary Monk had now applied for dispensation to speak and vote in respect of the setting of a precept under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended from time to time or any superseding legislation.  A dispensation to this effect had already been granted to the five the remaining Altham Parish Councillors.  There was currently one vacancy on the Parish Council.

The Government had taken the view that a dispensation was unnecessary in these circumstances and that councillors did not have a disclosable pecuniary interest in decisions relating to the setting of council tax levels.  The matter had not been decided by a court however and there was scope to argue that Hyndburn Borough Council and Altham Parish Councillors did potentially have a disclosable pecuniary interest when making decisions of this type as they resided in the Borough / Parish and would be required to pay any new level of council tax or precept.  However, legal grounds exist to grant the requested dispensations pursuant to the Localism Act 2011.

Standards Committee was invited to decide whether to grant dispensations to allow each Councillor to speak and vote on the relevant issues.

A dispensation had to specify the period for which it had effect and the period specified could not exceed four years.  The previous dispensations had been due to expire on 5^th October 2019 and, to ensure continuity of cover and a common expiry date, it was proposed that retrospective approval be granted to enable the renewals and new applications for dispensations to cover the period 6^th October 2019 to 5^th October 2023.

Committee could grant a dispensation to speak only or grant a dispensation to speak and vote.  A dispensation could be granted if Committee was satisfied on any of the following grounds:

·       The number of members prevented from speaking or voting would be so great as to “impede the transaction of business”;  or

·       The political balance at the relevant meeting would otherwise be sufficiently affected as to alter the likely outcome of the vote;  or

·       The dispensation was in the interests of people living in the area;  or

·       All the members of the Cabinet were affected by the interest; or
it was otherwise appropriate to grant the dispensation.

Resolved                        (1)   That the requests from Hyndburn Borough Councillors, Loraine Cox, Diane Fielding, Melissa Fisher, Eamon Higgins, Chris Knight, Patrick McGinley and Kate Walsh, to grant dispensations to speak and vote on the issues set out in Section 3.2 of the report, be approved, to have effect for the period 6^th October 2019 to 5^th October 2023.

(2)   That the request from Altham Parish Councillor Gary Monk, to grant a dispensation to speak and vote on the issues set out in Section 3.4 of the report, be approved, to have effect for the period 6^th October 2019 to 5^th October 2023.