Meeting documents

Standards Committee
Wednesday, 11th November, 2009 7.30 pm

Date:
Wednesday, 11th November, 2009
Time:
7.30 pm
Place:
New Council Chamber, Town Hall, Reigate
 

Attendance Details

Present:
Councillors Mrs. J.S. Bray, V.W. Broad†, Mrs. F.D.M. Dixon, S.A. Kulka and R.C. Newstead.

Mrs. J.A. Cook - Salfords and Sidlow Parish Council

Independent Members:
Mr. J. Broadbent (Chairman)
Mr. P. Allen
Mrs. A. Armstrong
Mrs. H. Burr
Dr. C. Vaughan


Substitutes:
Councillor V.W. Broad for Councillor Mrs. R.S. Turner.
Min NoDescriptionResolution
Part I
21 MINUTES
 RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 23rd September 2009 be approved as a correct record and signed.
22 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
 Councillor Mrs. R.S. Turner - sustitute Councillor V.W. Broad
Mr. R. Bethell (Horley Town Council)
Ms. F. Stimpson (Horley Town Council)
23 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
 None.
24 ANTI-FRAUD AND CORRUPTION STRATEGY
Minute for Minute Number 24
Resolved that the presentation be noted.
25 STANDARDS FOR ENGLAND DVD - "ASSESSMENT MADE CLEAR"
Minute for Minute Number 25
RESOLVED that the Monitoring Officer arrange a session for Independent Members to view the Standards Board for England DVD on the Code and Hearings procedures.
26 MEMBER DEVELOPMENT
Minute for Minute Number 26
RESOLVED that a report on the planned Member Development programme be included in the Committee's work programme for 2009/10, together with an annual update on attendance.
27 WORK PROGRAMME 2009/10
Minute for Minute Number 27
RESOLVED that the work programme 2009/10 be noted.
28 ANY OTHER URGENT BUSINESS
 None.
The meeting closed at 9.10 p.m.

Minute

Min NoMinute
24The Committee received a presentation on Corporate Anti-Fraud from Chrissie Harwood, the Council's Corporate Anti-Fraud Investigation Manager. The presentation outlined what corporate fraud was and how it impacted on the Council, its resources and the services it provides.

The presentation also gave an outline of the newly introduced Corporate Anti-Fraud Team and the role it will have in investigating a wide range of corporate fraud and reviewing the Council's Corporate Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy. There was a wide range of legislation covering different types of fraud. It was important that the Council was seen to be tackling fraud to maintain its reputation and act as a deterrent in order to minimise fraud against the Council. Publicity was being planned through the Communications Team.

It was noted that the Standards Committee's terms of reference included the responsibility to agree amendments and revisions to the Corporate Anti-Fraud Strategy. The revised strategy would be presented to a future meeting of the Committee for approval and regular reports on its implementation and effectiveness would also be provided.
25The Committee watched a DVD produced by Standards for England on the Assessment Sub-Committee stage of the complaints process.

The DVD was based around a number of case studies that demonstrated the options open to the assessment sub-committee when considering cases and the criteria that should guide their decisions. The case studies covered the 4 options open to an assessment sub-committee: take no action, local investigation, refer to Standards for England for investigation and to take "other" action. It was emphasised that clear reasons for decisions needed to be given in each case.

The DVD was available for any Committee member to view and the Monitoring Officer was hoping to get still slides for future reference by the Committee. A previous Standards Board for England DVD was also referred to, which covered the latest code and hearings issues.

26The Committee received an update on the Member Development programme and budget. The roles and functions of the Standards Committee included reference to monitoring the training programme offered to Councillors and to recommend changes to it.

Much of the training offered focused on regulatory services and was delivered "in house" at zero cost. Other training was offered in partnership with the other Surrey Districts, and was Government funded. Consideration was being given to the induction training programme for new Members in 2010/11, with the possibility of pre and post election training.

There was no legal requirement for Members to attend training and development sessions. However, the political groups did insist on Members attending training before being able to take their seats on Planning and Licensing Committees.

It was noted that Reigate and Banstead had very low levels of breaches of the Code of Conduct and few decisions were challenged. This suggested that the current training programme was effective. However, there was concern that the Committee could not evidence that it was fulfilling this role without receiving information on the training programme.
27The Committee received and discussed its work programme for the remainder of 2009/10.