Meeting documents

Held at Ryedale House, Malton on Thursday 18 September 2008

Link to Standards Agenda 18 September 2008.

Councillors Aslett and Mrs De Wend Fenton

Mr I Hamilton - Independent Member (in the Chair)

Mr C Langley - Independent Member

Mrs G Baker - Independent Member

Mr H Spencer - Parish Representative

Mr P Lerew - Parish Representative

Mrs A Adnitt and A Winship.

200. Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Cottam, Cussons, Maud and Mrs De Barr.

201. Minutes

The minutes of a last meeting of the Standards Committee held on 30 July 2008 were presented.

Resolved

That the minutes of a meeting of the Standards Committee held on 30 July 2008 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

202. Urgent Business

The Chairman declared that there were no items of urgent business to be dealt with as a matter of urgency by virtue of Section (100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

203. Declarations of Interest

Mr Lerew declared that he had been lobbied on Item 6 - Draft Protocol for Disclosure of Confidential or Exempt Information.

204. Standards Board for England Bulletin 40

The Council Solicitor submitted a report (previously circulated) the purpose of which was to inform Members of the Committee of the latest Standards Board Bulletin 40.

A copy of the Bulletin published on the 29 August 2008 was appended to the report.

The Council Solicitor reported that the following items were worthy of note:

• Guidance on the local standards framework.
• An analysis of the first quarter of monitoring returns.
• Information on our new Board Members
• Seeking views on adjourning local assessment decisions.

The Council Solicitor also reported that The Standards Board for England were seeking views on adjourning local assessment decisions. When a local assessment sub committee receives a complaint it must:

1. Take no action on the complaint:
2. Refer the case to the Standards Board for England
3. Refer the case to the Monitoring Officer.

If the third option was taken, the local assessment sub committee can direct an investigation or take other action such as training. The difficulty the Standards Board for England had raised was the apparent lack of a sanction in the event a member who fails to cooperate with a direction to take other action.

The Standards Board for England were seeking views on adjourning local assessment decisions to afford the monitoring officer an opportunity to find out if the member would cooperate.

In relation to this issue the Committee considered that there should not be an adjournment and that if the local assessment sub committee wish to deal with a case by other action the sub committee should resolve as follows:

“Refer the matter for investigation on x/y/z (say in four weeks time) unless the Member undertakes and completes (Specify the taking of other action eg training etc) before that date.”

Resolved

1. That the report be noted.

2. That the Council Solicitor be authorised to respond to the Standards Board for England seeking views on adjourning local assessment decisions as agreed.

205. Protocol for Disclosure of Confidential or Exempt Information by Members

The Councillor Solicitor submitted a report previously circulated in order to consider a draft protocol for Members having regard to consultation responses received from Members.

Members were reminded that the draft Protocol for Disclosure of Confidential or Exempt Information by Members had been considered at the last meeting of the Standards Committee held on the 30th July 2008, and it had been resolved to consult further with all Members of the Council on the draft. Copies of the consultation responses received were appended to the report.

Paragraph 4(a) of the revised Code of Conduct for Members prohibited the disclosure by Councillors of confidential information, or information believed to be of a confidential nature, except in any of the following circumstances.

• The Member had the Consent of the person authorised to give it.
• The Member was required to do so by law.
• The disclosure was made to a third party for the purposes of obtaining professional advice (for example, a lawyer or other professional adviser) provided that the person agreed not to disclose the information to any other person.
• The disclosure was in the public interest. This was only justified in limited circumstances, when all of the following four requirements were met:

i.  The disclosure must be reasonable

ii. The disclosure must be in the public interest

iii. The disclosure must be made in good faith

iv. The disclosure must be made in compliance with any reasonable requirements of the authority.

The draft protocol would meet the Standards Board’s recommendation that authorities ensure they have such policies in place to cover the possibility of a Member considering the release of confidential or exempt information, and that they take steps to ensure all Councillors are familiar with the provisions.

Councillor Andrews attended the meeting by invitation of the Chairman, and expressed his concerns regarding the implications of the proposed protocol. Councillor Andrews was of the opinion that the protocol would be too restrictive.

The protocol document and the responses received were discussed at length, and Members were of the opinion that in general an appropriate and robust protocol would assist in ensuring the protection of confidential and exempt information where approriate.

However when taking into account the views of the consultees it was considered that an amendment to the draft protocol would be appropriate. It was proposed by Mr Langley and seconded by Councillor Aslett that the words “a decision” shown in the protocol be replaced with reference to advice. Upon being put to the vote the amendment was carried.

Members also agreed that the purpose of the protocol should be described in the first paragraph and there be reference to the advice of the Monitoring Officer being confirmed in writing such wording to be finalised by the Council Solicitor.

Resolved

1. That the Standards Committee approves the Protocol for the Disclosure of Confidential or Exempt Information by Members subject to the agreed amendments as finalised by the Council Solicitor;

2. That the Standards Committee recommends Full Council to adopt with the agreed amendments the Protocol for the Disclosure of Confidential or Exempt Information by Members attached as Annex 1 and that this be incorporated where appropriate into the Access to Information Procedure Rules in the Council’s Constitution.

NB: The amendments are shown in italics on Annex 1 below.

Annex 1

Protocol for the Disclosure of Confidential or Exempt Information by Members

The purpose of this protocol is to assist Members to comply with the Members' Code of Conduct with particular regard to the disclosure of confidential or exempt information.

Under paragraph 4 of the Members' Code of Conduct, there are only limited situations where a Member is entitled to disclose confidential information. One of these is where the disclosure is reasonable and in the public interest, and is made in good faith and in compliance with the ‘reasonable requirements’ of the Council. These requirements are set out below.

Where a decision has been made under the Rules to exclude public access on the basis that confidential or exempt information would otherwise be disclosed, or in any other circumstances where a Member wished to disclose a document containing confidential or exempt information, the Council requires the Member to approach the Monitoring Officer for advice as to whether that information should be disclosed by taking the following steps:-

1 The Member must submit a request in writing to the Monitoring Officer stating:

•  The information which he/she proposes to disclose;
•  To whom it is proposed disclosure will be made to: and
•  The rationale for its disclosure stating why they consider it to be reasonable and in the public interest to do so.

2 The Member should give reasonable notice of their intention to make such a disclosure (usually 5 working days notice unless under exceptional circumstances apply which are set out in the request).

The Monitoring Officer will consider whether, if the Council received a Freedom of Information request at the time, the Council would not be obliged to disclose that information. In such a case disclosure will be refused. When giving advice, the Monitoring Officer will give particular consideration to the public interest reasons for disclosure proposed by the Member, and to the Member’s right of freedom of expression and the particular importance of the right for elected representatives. The advice of the Monitoring Officer will normally be confirmed in writing.