Apologies were received from Mr I Razzell and Mr A Brown.

To confirm the minutes of the Conduct Committee held on 2 April 2019, previously circulated.

The minutes of the Conduct Committee held on 2 April 2019 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any disclosable interests under the Code of Conduct and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Mr N Woodley declared a personal interest in item 9 of the agenda as he knew one of those involved in the report personally. Mr Woodley stated this would not affect his judgement on the matter, but would abstain from any votes that took place on the item.

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from members of the public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 93. The total time allowed for this shall be 30 minutes. Petitions, deputations and questions shall be dealt with in the order in which they are received.

Questions may also be submitted at short notice by giving a written copy to the Committee Administrator 15 minutes before the start of the meeting. The total time allowed for questions at short notice is 15 minutes out of the total time of 30 minutes.

Any petitions, deputations and questions which have been submitted with prior formal notice will take precedence over questions submitted at short notice. Any questions which are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting and be the subject of a report to the next meeting.

No petitions, deputations or questions had been received in relation to items listed on the agenda for this meeting.

To consider any questions received from Members of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 95.

There were no questions from Members.

To receive Report No. 137/2019 from the Monitoring Officer.

Report No. 137 was received from the Monitoring Officer.

Mr Horsfield, Monitoring Officer, introduced the report the purpose of which was for Conduct Committee to consider the recruitment process of Parish Council representatives and to extend the date for receipt of nominations until the end of October 2019.

During debate the following point was noted:

An item would be put forward for the agenda on the Parish Council Forum to remind parishes that they have been invited to nominate a representative and to provide further detail as to the role of the Conduct Committee.

RESOLVED

The Committee AGREED to extend the date for receipt of nominations for the parish representative on the Conduct Committee until the end of October allowing Parish and Town Councils extra time to nominate one of their members, in line with their own meeting schedule. Once approved by the Committee and full Council any appointments will be valid until Annual Council 2023.

To receive Report No. 128/2019 from the Monitoring Officer.

Report No. 128 was received from the Monitoring Officer.

Mr Horsfield introduced the report, the purpose of which was to inform the Committee of the outcome of a recent review of the effectiveness of the current arrangements for ethical standards amongst councillors in English local authorities by the Committee on Standards in Public Life.

During discussion the following point was noted:

Miss Waller proposed that the third recommendation be amended to include that a draft of the letter would be circulated to members of the Conduct Committee prior to dispatch.

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

      i.        NOTED the recent report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, (CSPL), arising from its review of the effectiveness of the current arrangements for ethical standards amongst councillors in English local authorities. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-government-ethicalstandards-report)

    ii.        NOTED the recommendations of the CSPL and the identified best practice.

   iii.        AGREED to make a formal comment on the recommendations, and REQUESTED that the Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Committee and Group Leaders prepare a letter to be sent; and

   iv.        REQUESTED that the Monitoring Officer undertook a comparison of the current arrangements with a view to identify whether they conform to the best practice identified by the CSPL report.

The Committee is recommended to determine whether the public and press be excluded from the meeting in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, and in accordance with the Access to Information provisions of Procedure Rule 239, as the following items of business are likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act. Paragraph 1 - Information relating to any individual.

The Committee AGREED that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of items 9 & 10 of the agenda in accordance with paragraph 1 of part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 197 (Information relating to any individual).

To receive Report No. 125/2019 from the Monitoring Officer.

In accordance with the resolution above, debate and decision on this item took place in private.

To receive Report No. 126/2019 from the Monitoring Officer.

In accordance with the resolution above, debate and decision on this item took place in private.

To consider any other urgent business at the discretion of the person presiding provided that it has been previously notified to them.

No items of urgent business were received.