Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor P J Hawkins. 

To note appointments of Substitute Members.

It was noted that there were no substitute members appointed.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members in respect of business to be transacted on the agenda.

Where a Member has a new or registered Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI) in a matter under consideration they must disclose that they have an interest and, unless the Monitoring Officer has agreed in advance that the DPI is a 'Sensitive Interest', explain the nature of that interest at the meeting.  The Member must withdraw from the meeting at the commencement of the consideration of any matter in which they have declared a DPI and must not participate in any discussion of, or vote taken on, the matter unless they have been granted a dispensation permitting them to do so.  If during the consideration of any item a Member becomes aware that they have a DPI in the matter they should declare the interest immediately and, subject to any dispensations, withdraw from the meeting.

Where a Member is declaring an Other Significant Interest (OSI) they must also disclose the interest and explain the nature of the interest at the meeting.  The Member must withdraw from the meeting at the commencement of the consideration of any matter in which they have declared a OSI and must not participate in any discussion of, or vote taken on, the matter unless they have been granted a dispensation to do so or the meeting is one at which members of the public are permitted to speak for the purpose of making representations, answering questions or giving evidence relating to the matter.  In the latter case, the Member may only participate on the same basis as a member of the public and cannot participate in any discussion of, or vote taken on, the matter and must withdraw from the meeting in accordance with the Council's procedure rules.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the attached Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 13 March 2013.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 13 March 2013 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider the attached report of the Director of Governance.

The Committee received the report of the Director of Governance on formal complaints received by the Council that had been investigated by the Corporate Services Team.  

The Corporate Complaints and Resilience Officer (CCRO) advised that ten complaints had been investigated at stage two between the last meeting of the Standards Committee and the end of August.  In respect of complaint number WST112, Members were advised that there had been a breakdown in communication and it was acknowledged that the Council could have done better.  In respect of complaint number CTX079, it was explained that the Chief Executive's PA had asked EK Services (EKS) to draft a letter for his signature, but EKS had mistakenly sent the letter out themselves.  Complaint number WST117 related to a waste e-mail alert sent to numerous recipients over the Christmas period.  The e-mail had disclosed the recipients' e-mail addresses to one another.  The Director of Governance advised that, due to the Council's swift action in apologising to those affected and its introduction of new procedures to prevent a recurrence, the Information Commissioner had decided not to take any further action.  The CCRO reported that six decisions had been issued by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) who had found no cases of maladministration.  

In response to a query from Councillor C J Smith, the CCRO advised that the LGO's annual report gave comparative data for local authorities.  The Director of Governance added that this information only covered complaints which had been referred to the LGO, and providing comparative data for complaints handled at local level would be more difficult since each authority had its own method of categorising and dealing with complaints.   

Councillor L A Keen stated that comparative data would be useful and requested that statistics relating to the number of complaints received by EKS and East Kent Housing (EKH) be provided.  Although no longer directly within the Council's control, it was still responsible for what happened in these services.  It was suggested that the complaints at Appendix C of the report should be grouped together by service for easy comparison, and an additional column added to indicate which body the service belonged to.     

The Solicitor to the Council advised that EKS was directly accountable to the EK Joint Arrangements Committee, but this committee met infrequently.  The CCRO reminded the Committee that, at its last meeting, it had resolved that EKH complaints would be reviewed on an annual basis.  It was clarified that EKS was responsible for responding at stage one of the complaints process.  However, where a complaint progressed to the second stage, the CCRO would investigate, working closely with EKS.  The Council received reports of complaints from EKH and could call a complaint in, referring it to the LGO if this was considered appropriate.  

The CCRO encouraged staff to report any compliments received, but only where these related to Officers going above and beyond the normal level of service that would be expected.  

RESOLVED:    (a)        That the complaints report be noted and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 231.

To consider the report of the Deputy Monitoring Officer (to follow).

The Solicitor to the Council apologised that, owing to other pressing priorities, it had not been possible to produce a report for the meeting.  However, a review of the Kent Model Code of Conduct had been undertaken which had recommended only minor changes.  A report would be brought to a future meeting of the Committee.

Members were advised that the Department for Communities and Local Government had updated its guidance on interests.  The principal change was the need for Members to declare trade union membership.  The guidance would be e-mailed to Members and parish clerks. 

RESOLVED:   That the Department for Communities and Local Government’s updated guidance on interests be noted.