Visitors and members of the public who are unfamiliar with the building and procedures are advised that:

(a)   The fire alarm is continuous loud ringing. In the event that a fire drill is planned during the meeting, the Chair will advise of this.

(b)   Exit routes from the chamber are located on each side of the room, one directly to a fire escape, the other to the stairs opposite the lifts.

(c)   In the event of the alarm sounding, leave the building via the nearest safe exit and gather at the assembly point on the far side of the car park. Do not leave the assembly point or re-enter the building until advised to do so. Do not use the lifts.

(d)   Anyone unable to use the stairs should make themselves known during this agenda item.  

The Democratic and Electoral Services Manager drew attention to the Emergency Evacuation Procedure.

The subject Member raised a point of order on whether the panel Members had received training to sit on the panel.  The Monitoring Officer advised that he had spoken to the Members of the panel previously and they had all confirmed that they had sufficient training knowledge of the hearing procedures, which is the training suggested in the Constitution, in order to undertake their role. Two panel members had previous hearing experience and one had been briefed about the procedures.

The subject Member then raised a further point of order relating to evidence he had submitted under a Freedom of Information request that the Chair of the Standards Committee had excluded from the Agenda papers, because the subject Member said the Chair had determined that it was not relevant. The subject Member considered the Chair to be pre-determined in considering the evidence and questioned whether due process had been followed.  The Legal Advisor said he did not believe the Chair to be pre-determined, merely through having considered the evidence.  The Chief Executive added that there may have been other reasons why the evidence was not included.  The Chair confirmed he was not pre-determined.

To elect a Chair for this meeting.

Resolved:

(1)  That Councillor Ashley Wise be confirmed as Chair for this meeting.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their families or friends.

The Chair will ask Members if they have any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) or disclosable non-pecuniary interests (DNPIs) to declare in respect of items on the agenda. Members with a DPI in an item must leave the room for that item and may not participate in the debate or vote.

Aside from disclosable interests, where a fair-minded and informed observer would think there was a real possibility that a Member might be biased or predetermined on an item, the Member should declare this and leave the room while that item is considered.

Members who are in any doubt about interest, bias or pretermination should contact the monitoring officer for advice prior to the meeting.

No interests were declared.

To decide whether to pass the resolution set out below in respect of the following item: -

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

1. Information relating to any individual.

Resolved:

(1) That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 5 and 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act:

1.     Information relating to any individual.

The Chair used his discretion to allow the subject Member’s Group Leader to remain in the Council Chamber for the duration of the hearing.

The Monitoring Officer, who was the investigating officer for the complaint, presented the pre-hearing summary report which considered whether the subject Member had breached the Members’ Code of Conduct, arising from communication with an officer at the Council on 7 March 2023, in relation to a Planning Committee report. The subject Member raised issue with the accuracy of the summary and the points it raised, and the Monitoring Officer drew attention to paragraphs 2.3 and 2.4 of the former Monitoring Officer’s report, which set out the relevance of the objections raised by the subject Member.

The Monitoring Officer then read out the email communication between the officer and the subject Member, referring specifically to a comment made at point (3) of the subject Member’s email of 7 March 2023, and of the apology they then made to the officer in an email on 19 March 2023.  The Monitoring Officer drew attention to an email from the subject Member dated 1 August 2023, in which he agreed the matter should be considered by the Standards Committee after the former Monitoring Officer’s initial findings, were that the subject Member’s conduct in sending the email of 7 March 2023 had amounted to a breach of sections 1.2, 2.1 and 3.,1 as well as the general principles of the code of conduct. 

The Monitoring Officer went through Appendix II on pages 29 to 46, drawing attention that in the view of the former Monitoring Officer, there had been a breach of section 1.2 of the code, as the subject Member had subjected the officer to personal attack.  He said that statement 2.1 of the code said ‘I do not bully any person’, and 3.1 said ‘I do not compromise, or attempt to compromise the impartiality of anyone who works for, or on behalf of, the local authority.’ The Monitoring Officer set out the legal test for the panel to consider in respect of freedom of expression from the High Court case of Sanders v Kingston (2005), and the additional factors that arose in respect of civil servants and officers, from the High Court case of Heesom vs Public Service Ombudsman of Wales (2014).

The Monitoring Officer advised that no formal training had been carried out on the current Member Code of Conduct, which had been agreed by Full Council in February 2023, although all Members had been invited to a briefing before it was agreed, and there were discussions on it at the Members’ induction sessions that had taken place in May 2023 for all Members.

The Chair invited the subject Member to put any questions to the Monitoring Officer. The Monitoring Officer responded to all questions put including clarification on where the subject Member had requested changes to the report.

The subject Member requested that the hearing be adjourned because correspondence was excluded from the papers. The Chair explained this point had already been discussed and the hearing continued.   

The subject Member said he was representing his community in the comments made in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 440.

The meeting was adjourned at 3.16 pm and reconvened at 3.25 pm, at 4.45 pm and reconvened at 4.51 pm, 5.55 pm and reconvened at 6.35 pm and at 6.38 pm and reconvened at 6.51 pm.