Issue - meetings

Councillor Ashbee proposed, Councillor Albon seconded and Council agreed an amendment to the motion  that level of Member declarations for gifts and hospitality remains at £25.

Thereafter Councillor Ashbee proposed, Councillor Pugh seconded and Council agreed to the changes to the Council’s Councillor code of conduct as proposed in Annex 1 to the officer report.

Sameera Khan, Interim Head of Legal & Monitoring Officer, introduced the report She explained that the Kent Secretaries group had reviewed the “Kent Code” as a result of the publication of the LGA Model Code of Conduct and had made numerous suggested changes to the code. 

These changes included:

·  Under “Other Significant Interests”, the proposed amended code conduct changes would add the terms:

“… to a great extent, than the majority of: (i) other council tax payers, ratepayers or inhabitants of the electoral division or ward, as the case may be, affected by the decision; or (ii) (in other cases) other council tax payers, ratepayers or inhabitants of the Authority’s area”

·  Under “Scope” the proposed amended code conduct changes would add the terms:

“This Code applies to all forms of communication and interaction including social media.”

·  Under “General Obligations” the proposed amended code conduct changes would add the terms:

(i)  the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) characterises bullying as offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, an abuse or misuse of power through means that undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient. Their website contains examples;

(ii)  harassment will have the meaning set out in The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and other relevant legislation.”

·  Also under “General Obligations” the proposed amended code conduct changes would add the terms:

(i)  Where you have not undertaken training relating to conduct matters, you shall not be able to use this as a defence where a complaint has been made

(ii)  You must cooperate with any Code of Conduct investigation and/or determination

Members then discussed the report and made the following points:

·  The £100 Limit on Gifts and Hospitality would be too high, the current £25 limit was already too high

·  Why was the change to the Limit on Gifts and Hospitality being proposed?

·  The limit should remain at £25

Sameera Khan explained that members of the CRWP had spoken about receiving gifts and hospitality and that as time had progressed these would now often exceed £25.

Mr Tucker proposed, Councillor Fellows seconded and members AGREED:

The Standards Committee accepted the recommendations from the CRWP, excluding the proposed change made to the Limit on Gifts and Hospitality and that it should remain at £25.