| 7 | The Committee was informed that training events for Members on the Code of Conduct had been undertaken for Reigate and Banstead Borough Council and Horley Town Council. The training had consisted of a presentation on the Code, followed by a question and answer session.
Seven Borough Councillors had attended; 14 Horley Town Councillors had been present at the training session organised for that Authority. The Code of Conduct had also been raised as part of the new Member induction programme for Borough Councillors. Members of Salfords and Sidlow Parish Council had attended a training event organised by the Surrey County Association of Parish and Town Councils. The Parish Council might, nevertheless, still take-up an offer of training by Borough Council officers.
The Committee noted that, according to records, not all Borough Councillors had attended a training session offered by the Council. The Monitoring Officer was, accordingly, contacting Group Leaders about this situation and, if need be, additional training events would be organised.
The issue of training was discussed during which the view was expressed that all Borough Councillors should attend a session organised by the Council. It was suggested that signed attendance sheets should be sought.
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| 8 | The Committee was informed that, arising from a recent senior management restructuring, new Monitoring Officer arrangements had been put in place. Graham Cook (the Director of Services to the Community) was still the Monitoring Officer but only in a temporary capacity until 11th August, 2003. From this date, the Monitoring Officer would be Ms. Anne Coronel the Council's new Head of Legal and Property Services. The Deputy Monitoring Officer was now Margaret Quine the Council's Head of Corporate Development.
Members noted that, with the issue of the long awaited |
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It was reported that the Officers were currently working on a protocol on Member/Officer relations for incorporation into the Council's Constitution. It was envisaged that the protocol would cover:
 general principles
 the role of Members and Officers
 relationships between Officers/Executive Members/Leader and Chairman
 Members in the Ward role and Officers
 Councillor access to documents and information
 Press Releases
 Correspondence between Members and Officers
Protocols would also have to be established on how reports from Ethical Standards Officers were dealt with by the Council and the conduct of investigations (into alleged breaches of the code) at a local level.
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| 10 | The Committee received a report on Regulations made by the Secretary of State under Section 66 of the Local Government Act 2000 in relation to matters referred to the Standards Committee.
In addition to background information, the report set out details relating to reports received by the Monitoring Officer, hearings by the Standards Committee, findings of the Committee, notification and appeal arrangements and referrals from Ethical Standards Officers. The report also set out other considerations relevant to the subject, the role of the Monitoring Officer, training requirements and resource implications.
The report was discussed during which a number of questions by Members were answered by the Officers. It was noted that guidance on the new Regulations was awaited from the Standards Board for England and, once this was received, training would be arranged for Members of the Committee. In the meantime details of Case summaries provided by the Standards Board could be circulated to Members on request. Reference was also made to the Standards Board's helpful web site.
It was anticipated that the Officers would be in a position to report further on this matter by early September 2003. The likely local caseload was difficult to predict although the Standards Board thought on average this would be two per Authority, per year.
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| 11 | The next meeting of the Committee was currently scheduled for 2nd February, 2004. However, in view of the developing nature of the Committee's work, the Officers were of the view that a meeting should be held as soon as Officers were able to bring forward further reports on Member/Officer protocols and Monitoring Officer issues.
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| 12 | None, although the Committee discussed the submission of information on complaints under consideration by the Standards Board for England. The position on this issue was outlined and Members noted that, in the future, the information requested would be submitted to the Committee. In addition, Members asked that case summaries on completed investigations by the Standards Boards relating to Members of the Borough and Parish Council's should be submitted to the Committee.
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