Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Nigel Knapton with Councillor George Jabbour attending as substitute, and Councillor Peter Wilkinson.

Apologies were also received from Hilary Gilbertson, Gillian Baker and Richinda Taylor.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13^th December 2023 and the special meeting held on 17^th January 2024 were agreed and signed as accurate records.

There were none.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they

have given notice (including the text of the question/statement) to Steve Loach of

Democratic Services (contact details at the foot of page 1 of the agenda sheet) by

midday on Tuesday 12th March 2024. Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item. Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to

speak:-

at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes); or

when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter

which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

There were no public questions. The chair advised the Committee that due to the demands on officer time the agenda would be taken in the following order:

Items 11&12 first, then items 10&8 and then the remainder of the agenda in order. The Committee agreed.

This training will now take place in May.

Resolved –

This item will be carried forward to the next meeting of the Standards and Governance Committee in June.

Considered –

The report of the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer to update Members on the development of the national ethical framework under the Localism Act 2011.

Members receive a report at each ordinary Standards and Governance Committee

meeting setting out any recent developments in the national ethical framework.

Members have previously been briefed regarding the Online Safety Bill which

received its third reading in the House of Lords on 6 September 2023. The aim of

the Bill was to protect people from online abuse and to make social media

companies more responsible for their users’ safety whilst on their social media sites.

The Local Government Association has published on its website, presentation slides

from a presentation on 12 October 2023 regarding “Handling online abuse and

intimidation” - Handling online abuse and intimidation, 12 October 2023 | Local

Government Association which Members may find interesting and helpful.

Resolved –

That Members note the contents of the report.

Considered –

The draft Annual Report of the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer of the work of the Standards and

Governance Committee for the municipal year commencing 1 April 2023.

The predecessor NYCC Standards Committee previously agreed that it would be

helpful to publish an Annual Report on its work to full Council in order to raise the

profile of the Committee and strengthen awareness of its work and ethical standards

generally. An Annual Report also assists in discharging the Council’s statutory duty

to promote and maintain high standards of conduct and also ensures that the Council

has an overview of work undertaken by the Committee in discharging the Council’s

standards responsibilities.

A draft Annual Report of the NYC Standards and Governance Committee, for the first

municipal year commencing 1 April 2023, referencing its expanded role, is attached

for Members’ consideration and approval at Appendix 1. The Report, if approved by

the Committee, will be presented to a future meeting of the Council.

Resolved –

That the Committee approves the draft Annual Report for presentation to a future meeting of full Council.

Considered –

The report of the Assistant Director Legal and Deputy Monitoring Officer presenting to the Committee, for consideration and review, the current standards

arrangements for the handling of complaints of a breach of the Code of Conduct for

Members.

Members will note from the Complaints Update report to today’s meeting, the current

statistics and trends regarding standards complaints received by North Yorkshire

Council since 1 April 2023. In the year to date, not quite 12 months since Vesting Day, at the time of writing this particular report the Council has now received 149 formal standards complaints. This figure does not include informal intimated complaints the subject of correspondence by the Monitoring Officer and his team.

The Committee will note from the Complaints Update report that:

a) the majority (84%) of complaints received are in relation to parish and town councillors;

b) the majority of complaints are brought by members of the public (72%), followed by parish/town council councillors and employees (14% and 10% respectively) and 3% are brought by NYC Councillors and 1% by NYC employees;

c) the majority of complaints concern general conduct obligations such as respect;

d) a number of the complaints are repeated, overlapping and connected allegations complaints made by the same complainant or connected complainants against several members of particular town/parish councils.

e) for a number of complaints there is a (sometimes complex) background context, where the standards regime is not the appropriate process for resolving deep-rooted

dysfunction issues. In these circumstances, a standards investigation, at a not

insignificant cost to the public purse, is unlikely to resolve the issues prevailing;

f) the majority (81%) of complaints assessed to date do not merit any further action.

The Monitoring Officer therefore feels it is an opportune time to review the standards

complaint arrangements both generally and to ensure there is an appropriate,

proportionate, balance between maintaining high ethical standards and protecting the

public purse.

The nature of the proposed amendments are identified in the report.

The following questions were then raised and discussed;

A Member noted that the inference of innocent until proven guilty is an important criteria and the opportunity for the subject Member to be interviewed also for assurance.

It was noted that all details of the complaint were sent to the subject member at the outset of the process and they were asked for comment and given the opportunity to respond prior to the assessment hearing. The subject Members response is sent to the Monitoring Officer and the Independent Person as part of the assessment. If the matter goes to an investigation and a hearing, then again the subject Member is provided with an opportunity to make representations to the investigator and again at the hearing.

It was asked if there were any complaints over 6 months old that had not been responded to and closed.

This would need to be checked. Whilst there are no complaints that are more than 6 months old that have not been assessed there may be some  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

Considered –

Report of the Monitoring Officer on the Draft Protocol regarding the relationship between Code of Conduct complaints and local authority grievance procedures.

Where an employee of a local authority (including the clerk of a parish or town

council) feel they have not been treated properly by an elected or co-opted Member,

they may choose to raise such allegations through the relevant authority’s grievance

procedure.

However, if the allegations relate to concerns re bullying, intimidation, harassment

or discrimination by the Member, then the allegations are also likely to come within

the remit of an authority’s standards regime and potentially amount a complaint that

the Member has failed to comply with the authority’s code of conduct for Members.

Under the Localism Act, North Yorkshire Council is the principal authority for parish

and town councils in North Yorkshire and is responsible for the handling of

complaints that a parish/town councillor has breached their authority’s code of

conduct. North Yorkshire Council’s standards arrangements therefore provide for

the consideration of standards complaints made against elected Members and

voting co-opted Members of North Yorkshire Council Members and those of parish

and town councils in its area.

Discussion raised the following points;

The law is clear and appendix 1 was created to support this in that the Localism Act regime and involvement of an Independent Person is required before certain steps can be taken in respect of complaints against Members.

If a parish clerk is at fault and the complaint is about the clerk then this is not a matter for the standards complaints process as the clerk is not a Member. Rather it is an employment issue and should be dealt with through employment law and advice can be provided to parish and town councils through YLCA.

Resolved –

That the Protocol regarding the relationship between code of conduct complaints and local authority grievance procedures be approved.

Considered –

The report of the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer to update the Committee regarding ethical framework complaint activity.

A standing report regarding complaints that Members and voting co-opted

Members of North Yorkshire Council and parish and town councils in North

Yorkshire may have breached the relevant Code of Conduct for Members is

brought to scheduled ordinary meetings of the Standards and Governance

Committee.

North Yorkshire Council is the principal authority for parish and town councils in

North Yorkshire for the purposes of the standards provisions in the Localism Act

2011. It is responsible for receiving and handling complaints that a parish/town

councillor may have breached that authority’s code of conduct for Members. That

is the extent of North Yorkshire Council’s jurisdiction in respect of parish/town

council governance; parish/town councils are separate legal entities and North

Yorkshire Council has no jurisdiction to consider other complaints for example about

the way in which the parish/town council has or has not done something, or about

particular parish/town council decisions or employees.

Jennifer Norton, Assistant Director Legal and Deputy Monitoring Officer gave a short presentation on behalf of the Monitoring Officer to talk through the complaint statistics in more detail highlighting the following points:

·       Since 1 April 2023, NYC is the principal authority for parish and town councils in North Yorkshire for the purposes of the standards complaints regime in the Localism Act 2011.

·       That is the extent of NYC’s jurisdiction in respect of parish/town council governance; parish/town councils are separate legal entities and North Yorkshire Council has no jurisdiction to consider other complaints eg about the way in which the parish council has or has not done something, or about particular parish council decisions.

·       All parish and town councils were contacted via E mail on 6 April 2023 advising of arrangements and encouraging local councils to adopt NYC’s Code of Conduct which is based on the Local Government Association’s Model Code.

·       The adoption of NYC’s code is recommended as there is value in having a consistent approach to a code of conduct across all councils in North Yorkshire, not least because it will facilitate the public’s and elected members’ understanding of the requirements of the code and how complaints can be framed and addressed.

·       NYC have in place, a) Arrangements under which written complaints of breach of code can be investigated b) Arrangements under which decisions on allegations can be made.

·       Such arrangements must include provision for the appointment of at least one Independent Person.

·       A breakdown of the number of complaints and the reasons.

·       Reiteration of the complaints procedure.

This raised the following questions:

A Member asked about the response times to complaints and the need for them to be investigated quickly and timely but thoroughly.

It was noted that filtering and assessing the volume of complaints received is time consuming but agreed that the process needs to be responsive and decisions reached as soon as possible.

It was asked if there was a triage  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

Considered –

The report of the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services informing the Committee of the situation of Kirby Grindalythe and Duggleby Parish Council and

to seek approval to invoke the power to temporarily appoint 3 North Yorkshire Council division members to sit on the Parish Council.

In order for a town and parish council to operate, they need to be quorate. There are

occasions where a town or parish council is not able to operate for this reason.

Section 91 (1) of the Local Government Act 1972 provides that the principal authority (North Yorkshire Council) can make an order to appoint to a town or parish council until such time as the vacancies on the parish council have been filled by either election or co-option.

Kirby Grindalythe and Duggleby Parish Council (KGDPC) comprises of 7 seats and

requires a minimum of 3 seats to be filled to be considered quorate. There are currently 3 parish councillors on the parish council, who were re-elected at an

uncontested election in May 2022. The last meeting of the parish council took place in 2021, and no meetings have been arranged since then. The parish council has been without a parish clerk since September 2020.

Section 85 (1) of the Local Government Act 1972 provides that if a member of a local

authority fails throughout a period of 6 consecutive months to attend a meeting of the

authority, then they cease to be a member. As the parish council was quorate meetings could have been convened.

Section 86 of the Local Government Act 1972 makes clear that where a member of a parish council ceases to be a member by reason of failure to attend meetings, the parish council shall declare their office to be vacant. A casual vacancy will only occur after the office has been declared to be vacant.

Where a council’s constitution has granted the proper officer of the council, which would be the parish clerk, the power to declare the office of councillor vacant, they can do so once the six-month deadline has passed and the person has ceased to be a member. Where no such powers have been granted to the parish clerk, the vacancy must be declared at a parish council meeting.

As there is currently no proper officer for KGDPC, the vacancies arising through non attendance of the parish councillors must be declared at a council meeting.

As the three parish councillors are no longer members of the parish council, the only option left is to invoke the power to make 3 appointments to enable the business of declaring the 3 vacancies to take place. Once declared vacant a notice of vacancy can be posted inviting requests for an election. If no election is requested then the appointees would then be able to co-opt new parish councillors to the remaining vacant seats.

Once the vacant seats have been filled by election (contested or non-contested) or by co-option, the appointees can then resign from the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

Considered –

The report of the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services updating members in relation to changing circumstances, since the Committee’s last meeting, regarding the request from Dishforth Parish Council for an urgent community

governance review to increase the number of parish councillors on the parish council

and to request Members to consider whether any recommendations to full Council in this respect are still required.

At its meeting held on 13 December 2023 the Standards and Governance Committee

considered a request from Dishforth Parish Council for a Community Governance Review (CGR) to increase the number of parish councillors from 5 to 8.

The request for a CGR was being treated as an urgent request, under the ‘Community Governance Reviews - Protocol for consideration of requests’ approved by the committee on 15 September, which set out how the Council would respond to requests for CGRs in the period between mid-2023 and mid-2025 when the review of division boundaries was expected to conclude.

At the meeting of the Committee it was resolved unanimously:

“That the Committee supports the request from Dishforth Parish Council for a

Community Governance Review and make recommendation to Council that the draft

Terms of Reference for a Community Governance Review of Dishforth parish, as

attached at Appendix 1 to the report, be approved.”

Since that meeting two casual vacancies have arisen on the parish council, meaning that the council can co-opt new parish councillors. Notices of vacancy have been posted in the village and we have been advised that there has been a good amount of interest in the vacancies and a number of applications have been received.

The vacancies mean the parish council can now co-opt new parish councillors with the ability to attend meetings. It is hoped that following the co-options there would no longer be difficulties in achieving quorate meetings, and therefore there would no longer be an urgent need for a CGR. Should the parish council still wish for an increase in the number of parish councillors they can make a further request in 2025 and a CGR can be undertaken alongside other CGRs in the county and to conclude in time for the ordinary parish elections in 2027.

The Standards and Governance Committee is therefore being asked to review its earlier decision to make recommendation to Council that the draft Terms of Reference for a community governance review of Dishforth parish be approved, which would mark the formal commencement of a CGR.

The parish clerk has been contacted about the contents of this report and raised no objections to the proposal that the request no longer be treated as urgent.

Resolved-

That Members note the change in circumstances since the Committee’s last meeting

regarding the request for an urgent community governance review made by Dishforth

Parish Council and agree that this is no longer considered as urgent but to avoid a similar situation occurring in the future that a CGR is completed at the earliest opportunity after the boundary review.

This  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

Considered –

The Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer’s draft Standards Bulletin.

The Standards Bulletin is produced periodically and circulated to Members and

relevant Officers of the Council to keep them informed of key developments in the

standards regime. Members have also previously agreed that the Bulletin should be

circulated to town and parish councils in the North Yorkshire area.

The following points were raised:

Members are advised to report unusual behaviour, could clarity be given as to where this should be reported to.

This detail will be added to the bulletin for future reference but any immediate issues around member safety should be reported to Daniel Harry, Head of Democratic Services and Scrutiny.

Resolved –

The Bulletin be updated following the outcome of the Committee’s meeting and approved for circulation.

Considered –

The Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer’s report on the draft work programme.

The Committee is asked to consider whether it would be helpful for the Committee

to implement a forward Work Programme of its work, as far as this can be

anticipated.

Members were agreeable to the work programme and asked for regular updates on statistics and standards issues.

The Committee also wished to express its gratitude to the work of the Independent Persons and the number of assessments completed by them so far.

Resolved –

That the report be noted and the work programme adopted. This was agreed unanimously.

Steve Loach thanked members for their cooperation and confirmed that as part of the Legal and Democratic Services restructure, he would no longer be clerking the Standards and Governance Committee, this would be taken over by Christine Phillipson, Principal Democratic Services Officer, Local Area Support Team.

The meeting concluded at 11.39am.