Minutes:
The Ethical Standards Questionnaire
The Chair confirmed that they had met with the Leader and the Leader of the Opposition to discuss the Ethical Standards Questionnaire. Both Leaders felt that the questionnaire should be circulated again.
Discussion:
It was discussed as to whether the questionnaire should be amended and that one or two new items could be suggested. It was noted that 18 questionnaires have been sent to Heads of Services and 50 were sent to Councillors and only a few responses were received.
· It was noted that Dr Worthington can look at examples of questionnaires completed elsewhere. The Head of Law and Regulation agreed for the open ended questions on the previous questionnaire to be amended.
· During the discussions with the Chair both Leaders agreed that the questionnaire should be resent again due to the current climate. It was discussed as to whether training that Members received was adequate. New Councillors are trained as that was mandatory but ethical standards training must also be attended. This was not a choice and it had to be attended.
· It was reiterated that repeat Councillors appointed must repeat this training every time they are elected. Refresher training must also be attended which was compulsory and was 2-3 sessions. Copies of the slides were sent to Councillors who did not attend.
· It was noted that for the next elections the process will be the same. For those Councillors on a 5 year term it was asked whether there was any benefit of refreshing?
· The training package has been modified due to different case law as the guidance had changed.
It was questioned as to whether any additional questions could be sent to Cabinet members? Also it was discussed as to whether senior officers and members should also be sent questions but maybe further than this such as 3rd and 4th tier?
It was conferred as to whether preferred partners such as Norse should be included but it was stated that procurement was a different process with different issues and was service related and too extensive.
It was noted that when ‘ethical standards’ was entered into the Cardiff City Council search engine no result was found when searching. Newport.gov.uk is to be redesigned as not fit for purpose at the moment and it would be made more user friendly. The Standards committee has its own section where profiles of standard committee members can be displayed there and this could also be seen on the website.
Out of a possible 68 responses last time the Ethical Standards Questionnaire was circulated, only 18 responses were received. It was now hoped that Members would be encouraged to respond more actively. As it was circulated cold previously, it was hoped for a better response this time.
It was agreed that a composite questionnaire would be formulated and by July 2019 there should be a better response so then the revised questionnaire could then be circulated.
Agreed:
· For members of the Standards Committee to forward questions for the Ethical Standards Questionnaire to the Governance Support Officer, for the attention of the Chair.
· It was agreed that a composite questionnaire would be formulated and by July 2019 a revised questionnaire could then be circulated.
· Questions could also be requested from the 8 Heads of Service and also the 11 members of the senior management team.
· It was commented that the Questionnaire could also be sent to different committees such as Planning and Licensing.