Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Leader of the Council.

The Localism Act 2011 makes fundamental changes to the system of regulation of standards of conduct for elected members and co-opted members of the Council.  In order to ensure that the Council has compliant arrangements in place for the statutory deadline of the 1st July 2012, the Council has already approved interim arrangements.   This report attempts to detail the final arrangements, subject to the passing of the relevant Statutory Instrument.

The Executive is invited to recommend that:

1.      That the Council adopts the recommended code of conduct for Members as set out at Appendix 1 of the report;

2.      That the Council adopts the recommended local arrangements to handle complaints about breach of the Code of Conduct for Members of both Stockport Council and the Town Councils as set out in Appendix 2 of the report;

3       That Council receives a further report and recommendations on parts 2 and 3 of the Code of Conduct, once the statutory detail has been published.

Officer contact: Barry Khan, 0161 474 3202, Barry.Khan@stockport.gov.uk

The Leader of the Council submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) inviting the Executive Meeting to consider further details of the arrangements to replace the existing system of regulation of standards of conduct for elected and co-opted members of the Council with the provisions of the Localism Act 2011 and the relevant Statutory Instruments.

An extract from the Minutes of the Corporate, Resource Management & Governance Scrutiny Committee held on 18 June 2012 in respect of this item was also circulated for consideration.

RESOLVED – That the Council Meeting be recommended to:-

·         Adopt the recommended Code of Conduct for Members as set out in Appendix 1 of the report, subject to the replacement of ‘must’ with ‘should’ under paragraph 3.1 ‘Training’ and the redrafting of paragraph 2.7 ‘Personal Judgements’ to provide greater clarity on when it was appropriate of whipping for councillors.

·         Adopt the recommended local arrangements to handle complains about breaches of the Code of Conduct for Members of Stockport Council as set out in Appendix 2 of the report.

·         Note the additional information submitted in relation to Parts 2 and 3 of the Code of Conduct following the recent publication of Statutory Instruments.

To consider a report of the Monitoring Officer.

The Localism Act 2011 makes fundamental changes to the system of regulation of standards of conduct for elected members and co-opted members of the Council.  In order to ensure that the Council has compliant arrangements in place for the statutory deadline of the 1 July 2012, the Council has already approved interim arrangements.   This report attempts to detail the final arrangements, subject to the passing of the relevant Statutory Instrument. The report will be considered by the Executive on 19 June 2012.

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to comment on the following recommendations to the Executive/ Council Meeting:

(i)         That the Council adopts the recommended code of conduct for Members as set out at Appendix 1 of the report;

(ii)        That the Council adopts the recommended local arrangements to handle complaints about breach of the Code of Conduct for Members of both Stockport Council and the Town Councils as set out in   Appendix 2;

(iii)       That Council receives a further report and recommendations on parts 2 and 3 of the Code of Conduct, once the statutory detail has been published;

Officer contact: Barry Khan on telephone number 0161 474 3202 or alternatively email barry.khan@stockport.gov.uk

The Monitoring Officer submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) updating the Scrutiny Committee on The Localism Act 2011 and the New Code of Conduct for Members including the arrangements for dealing with complaints. The Act made fundamental changes to the system of regulation of standards of conduct for elected members and co-opted members of the Council.  In order to ensure that the Council had compliant arrangements in place for the statutory deadline of the 1 July 2012, the Council had already approved interim arrangements.   The report provided details of the final arrangements, subject to the passing of the relevant Statutory Instrument.

The Scrutiny Committee was invited to comment on the following recommendations to the Executive on 19 June and the Council Meeting on 5 July 2012:

(i)            That the Council adopts the recommended code of conduct for Members as set out at Appendix 1 of the report;

(ii)          That the Council adopts the recommended local arrangements to handle complaints about breach of the Code of Conduct for Members of both Stockport Council and the Town Councils as set out in   Appendix 2 of the report;

(iii)         That the Council Meeting receives a further report and recommendations on parts 2 and 3 of the Code of Conduct, once the statutory detail has been published.

RESOLVED - (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That in relation to paragraph 2.7 of the recommended Code of Conduct (Personal Judgement), it was unrealistic that “whipping” would not continue to take place at some meetings.

(3) That in relation to paragraph 3.1 of the recommended Code of Conduct (Training), it should not be mandatory for each Member to attend annual training on the Code of Conduct/ ethical standards.