Agenda and minutes

The membership of the Standards Committee was confirmed at the County Council meeting held on 21 May 2021 as follows:

Cllr Bradbury (Chairman)

Cllr Wickremaratchi (Vice-Chairman)

Cllr Burrett

Cllr Cherry

Cllr Gibson

Cllr Johnson

Cllr Kenyon

Cllr A Jupp

Cllr Sparkes

1.1        The Committee noted its membership.

Members and officers must declare any pecuniary or personalinterest in any business on the agenda. They should also make declarations at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. Consideration should be given to leaving the meeting if the nature of the interest warrants it. If in doubt please contact Democratic Services before the meeting.

2.1        In accordance with the code of conduct, Cllr Bradbury declared a personal interest in the Terms of Reference report as a member of the Mid Sussex District Council Standards Committee.

The Committee is asked to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 2 November 2020 (cream paper).

3.1        Resolved – that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held

on 2 November 2020 be approved as a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

The Committee is asked to note its terms of reference.

4.1        The Committee noted its terms of reference (copy appended to the signed minutes).

Report by the Director of Law and Assurance.

The report sets out a draft annual report for submission to the County Council, which the Committee is asked to approve.

5.1       The Committee considered the draft Annual Report of its work by the Director of Law and Assurance (copy appended to the signed minutes).

5.2       The report was introduced by Charles Gauntlett, Senior Advisor, Democratic Services.

5.3       The Committee was supportive of the draft Annual Report as an accurate reflection of its work in 2010/21.

5.4       Resolved – That the Annual Report be approved for submission to

the County Council.

Report by the Director of Law and Assurance.

The report sets out proposed minor changes to the Code of Conduct in the Constitution. The Committee is asked to endorse these changes and submit them to the County Council for approval.

6.1       The Committee received a report from the Director of Law and Assurance (copy appended to the signed minutes), which set out some proposed updates to the Code of Conduct to reflect current terminology and current practice with IT provision. The report was introduced by Charles Gauntlett, Senior Advisor, Democratic Services.

6.2       The Committee was supportive of the correction of the terminology but asked for clearer wording of ‘Senior Adviser to Cabinet Member’ to make the reference to ‘Senior Advisor’ clearer.

6.3       Discussion turned to the IT Policy. It was clarified that the Intune app for accessing Council emails should only be used on a personal device as the app could cause problems with similar apps for other councils or business. The printing arrangements were discussed and the Committee welcomed the confirmation that printers would still be available to members who needed them, even though specific reference was proposed for removal from the Policy. The Committee noted that the existing restrictions on printing were due to the County Council’s IT security policies as a social care local authority but asked that the Cabinet Member for Support Services and Economic Development should review this position.

6.4       Resolved –

(1)        That the removal of the term ‘senior adviser’ in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct be clarified as ‘senior adviser to cabinet member’ and that this and the proposed changes to the IT Policy in Appendix 1 be endorsed and submitted to the County Council for approval on 16 July 2021.

(2)        That the Cabinet Member for Support Services and Economic Development be asked to reconsider the printing options available to councillors.

The Committee is invited to note that the Director of Law and Assurance has not received any referrals via this Policy since the last meeting of the Committee.

No background papers.

Contact: Charles Gauntlett 033 022 22524

7.1       The Committee noted that there had been no referrals made using the Policy since the last meeting.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held at 2.15 pm on 29 November 2021 at County Hall, Chichester.

8.1       The Committee noted that the next meeting is due to be held on 29 November 2021.