Minutes

of the Meeting of the

Standards Sub-Committee

Thursday, 11th August 2016

held at the Town Hall, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Meeting Commenced: 2:00 pm Meeting Concluded: 2.45 pm

Councillors:

P Chris Blades	P Andy Cole (substitute for John Ley-Morgan)
A John Ley-Morgan	P Dawn Payne

P: Present

A: Apologies for absence submitted

Also present (co-opted, non-voting): Nick Carter-Brown (Independent Lay Person)

Officers in attendance: Sara Saunders (Solicitor, Corporate Services Directorate), Sue Efford (Corporate Services Directorate)

SSC 6

Election of Chairman for the Meeting (Agenda Item 1)

Resolved: that Councillor Cole be elected Chairman for the meeting

(Councillor Cole in the Chair)

SSC 7

Declarations of Interest by Members (Agenda Item 3)

None

SSC 8

Minutes of the Meeting held on 14 June 2016 (Agenda Item 4)

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting be approved as a correct record.

SSC 9

Exclusion of Press and Public

Resolved: that the press, public and officers not required by the members or officers advising to remain during the exempt session be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the grounds that its consideration will involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Section 1001 of the Local Government Act 1972.

Minute no. SSC 10 Reason for the Exemption

Paragraphs 1 and 6 of Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1972

SSC 10

Complaint against a North Somerset Councillor (02/2016) – Exempt Appendices (Agenda Item 5)

The Sub-Committee considered a complaint received from a member of the public regarding a North Somerset Councillor stating that he had breached the North Somerset Council Code of Conduct applicable to councillors.

The Solicitor and Deputy Monitoring Officer outlined the complaint. With reference to the key issues within the complaint she reported that unlike many other local authorities North Somerset Council did not currently have any guidance or policy for councillors on the use of social media. She highlighted some of the issues addressed within the guidance issued by some other councils, and to the guidance produced for Members of Parliament by the Speaker of the House of Commons.

The Sub-Committee considered the complaint, together with the response from the councillor concerned and received the views of the Independent Lay Person.

Resolved:

(1) that on the basis of the complaint as submitted, and in the absence of any guidance or policy for councillors on the use of social media, the sub-committee do not find any specific breach of the code of conduct by the councillor in question; and

(2) that the sub-committee recommends the introduction at the earliest opportunity of suitable guidance for elected members on the use of social media.

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Chairman

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