The Monitoring Officer reminded Members of the previous response the Committee had sent to Government on their consultation to strengthen the Standards framework, and he said that Government had now set out how they proposed to reform the system which included:

·         An introduction of a mandatory code of conduct which would include a behavioural code for all local authority types and tiers;

·         a requirement for all principal authorities to convene formal Standards Committees to include provisions on the constitution of Standards Committees to ensure objectivity, accountability and transparency;

·         a requirement that all principal authorities offered individual support during any investigation into code of conduct allegations to both the complainant and the Councillor subject to the allegation;

·         the introduction at the authority level of a right of review for both complainant and the subject Member to have the case reassessed on grounds that would be set out in legislation;

·         powers for authorities to suspend elected Members for a maximum of six months for serious code of conduct breaches, with the option to withhold allowances during suspension for the most serious breaches and introduce premises and facilities bans either in addition or as standalone sanctions;

·         in response to the most serious allegations involving Police investigations or where sentencing is pending, the introduction of powers to suspend elected Members on an interim basis for an initial period of three months which if extended would require regular review;

·         a new disqualification criteria for any elected Member subject to the maximum period of suspension more than once within five years; and

·         the creation of a new national appeals function to consider appeals from elected Members to decisions to suspend them and/or withhold allowances, and for complainants if they considered their complaint was mishandled. Any appeal would only be permitted once a complainant or elected Member had fully exercised their right of review of the local Standards Committee decision and that process had been completed.

The Monitoring Officer further explained that the package was a series of measures which tightened the Standards regime, but also safeguarded and protected Members.

Members were invited to raise points which included:

·         The Standards Committee should push to have DBS checks as compulsory for all elected Members nationally, after the Local Government Review (LGR);

·         raised concerns about the independence of decisions and said that politics might get in the way of, for example, a suspension;

·         those making decisions on Standards Committees needed additional training as it was a significant step up in responsibility; and

·         DBS checks should be standard, not enhanced, and raised concern about overstepping powers to introduce powers that were not UK Law.

During a discussion on the requirement for volunteers to have a DBS check, the Chair said that information on DBS checks was not shared and could only be viewed by a limited number of officers, and those with historic spent convictions should not be put off, as had happened in the volunteer sector.

The Monitoring Officer explained that an enhanced DBS check was not just the information held on record which resulted in a conviction, warning or reprimand, but also included information held on the Police database which an officer considered relevant to the appointment being made.

With reference to the proposed bill, the Monitoring Officer said the devil was in the detail and it was not yet known what the legislation was going to look like. He questioned whether there would be a code and arrangement and what resources would be required and he reminded Members there was not yet a draft bill.  The Monitoring Officer agreed that more extensive training would be required for stronger sanctions such as removing allowances, as there might be more robust challenges to those decisions.

The Chair said the Committee could write to the Minister, welcoming the changes but also proposing some amendments which should include reference to the LGR, and that this would be an opportune moment to bring in mandatory DBS checks at the start of a term for all elected Members nationally.

Councillor Tom Nundy proposed to write to the Minister and this was seconded by Councillor Ashley Shiel.  On being put to the vote, Members agreed.

Resolved:

(1)  That the Committee writes to the Minister welcoming the proposed changes and sought confirmation that consideration would be given to the inclusion of mandatory DBS checks for all Councillors at the commencement of their elected term, prior to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) arrangements being agreed, and further requesting that relevant training be provided for Standards Committee Members to ensure they were appropriately equipped to consider any new or extended sanctions.