Minutes

of the Meeting of the

Standards Sub-Committee

Monday, 23rd October 2017

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

Meeting Commenced: 2.05pm Meeting Concluded: 3.05pm

Councillors:

P Andy Cole	P Jill Iles
P Dawn Payne

P: Present

A: Apologies for absence submitted

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

Officers in attendance: Sara Saunders (Solicitor, Corporate Services Directorate), Julia Parkes (Corporate Services Directorate)

SSC 8

Election of Chairman for the Meeting (Agenda item1)

Resolved: that Councillor Iles be elected Chairman for the meeting

(Councillor Iles in the Chair)

SSC 9

Declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (Standing Order 37) (Agenda Item 3)

None

SSC 10

Minutes of the Meeting held on 26 September 2017 (Agenda Item 4)

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

SSC 11

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 11 Reason for the Exemption

Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1972

SSC 12

Complaint against a Parish Councillor (04/2017) (Agenda Item 5)

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

The Deputy Monitoring Officer outlined the complaint.

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

In considering the key issues, the Sub-Committee considered that the Councillor’s actions had breached the Code of Conduct, in particular; Honesty, Integrity and Accountability. It was noted that the Councillor had not directly replied to the complaint, but had responded through her Planning Consultant. It was also noted that if a Councillor has a financial interest in a matter in the public domain, it is essential to distance themselves and be mindful of public perception.

Resolved:

(1) that the Sub-Committee finds that the Councillor’s conduct breached the Code of Conduct, no further action is needed; but

(2) that the Deputy Monitoring Officer write to the complainant giving a warning that this behaviour breached the code specifically in respect of Honesty, Integrity and Accountability.

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Chairman

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