Agenda and minutes

Venue: Hastings & Knepp, Parkside, Chartway, Horsham

Contact: Email: CommitteeServices@horsham.gov.uk  Direct Line: 01403 215465

Items
No. Item

SC/19

Minutes pdf icon PDF 72 KB

To approve as correct the minutes of the meeting held on 30th November 2016

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 30th November 2016 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

SC/20

Declarations of Members' Interests

To receive any declarations of interest from Members of the Committee

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

SC/21

Announcements

To receive any announcements from the Chairman of the Committee, the Chief Executive or the Monitoring Officer

Minutes:

The Head of Legal services announced that Kieron Diamond will resign from being a Parish Councillor and thus being a Member of this Committee as of 1 May 2017.

SC/22

Minutes of the Local Assessment Sub-Committee pdf icon PDF 71 KB

To receive the minutes of the meeting of the Local Assessment Sub-Committee held on 30th November 2016

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of the Local Assessment Sub-Committee held on 30th November 2016 were received.

 

Members agreed that Parish Councils should be named in future reports when dealing with complaints.

SC/23

The Ethical Framework Update pdf icon PDF 118 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer presented the report on developments in the ethical framework that affected the role and activities of Councillors and the Council’s business.

 

HDC had subscribed to the Hoey Ainscough Associates’ interactive website, the Standards Exchange, which allowed access to the latest news on standards issues, including cases and best practice from other authorities, access to help and support, a dedicated forum and a regular standards bulletin. Learning from this resource will be provided to the Committee.

 

Since the last Standards Committee the Monitoring Officer had attended and given training sessions at Colgate Parish Council and Ashington Parish Council. Further training sessions with other parishes had been arranged for March, April and June.

 

It was noted that a member of the public had commented to Members that it was sometimes hard to hear what was being said at meetings due to some Members talking amongst themselves. It was suggested the Monitoring Officer should bring this to the attention of Members. Further to this, Members requested that refresher courses on Code of Conduct and specific training for Committee Chairmen be organised.

 

RESOLVED

 

Members noted the content of the report.

 

REASONS

 

(i)      To ensure that the Committee, the Members of the Council and others to whom the report is circulated are kept up to date with developments in the ethical framework. 

 

(ii)     To promote and maintain high standards of conduct amongst Members.