Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Members.

An apology for absence was received from the Chair of the Committee, Councillor Borthwick.

Councillor Kelsey, Vice-Chair of the Committee, in the Chair.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

There were no appointed substitute members.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

Councillor Filer and Councillor Kelsey both declared an interest in Agenda item 7 and advised the Committee that they would leave the meeting during the consideration of this item.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Meeting held on 17 January 2023.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee on 17 January 2023 be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution, which is available to view at the following link:-

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeID=151&Info=1&bcr=1

The deadline for the submission of public questions is 4 clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a public statement is midday the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.

The Committee was advised of the receipt of three Public Questions.

Public Questions from Mr Alexander McKinstry

Public Question 1.

With regard to Complaint No 132, which is Item 7 on tonight's agenda: this arose following an e-mail sent by the subject councillor on 18 January. The complaint was made, by an Independent councillor, on 26 January. What action did the Chair and Vice-Chair of this Committee, who were both recipients of that e-mail, take during the intervening seven days? Did they, for instance, raise concerns with a senior officer?

Response

Details of these matters are being considered by the Standards Committee as Confidential (Exempt) business for the reasons stated and therefore, except for the Monitoring Officer’s Report which is a public document and set out in Agenda item 7 on page 17 of the agenda for the meeting, further background details about the case will not be publicly available at this stage.

Public Question 2.

Will the Chair and Vice-Chair be recusing themselves from discussion of Complaint No 132? There may be perfectly sound and compelling reasons why they will not be looking to recuse themselves, but given the public interest in this complaint, it would be useful to hear those reasons in the open part of the meeting.

Response

It is a decision for individual Councillors as to whether they will declare an interest and what action they propose to take. Specifically, at Agenda item 3 Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in the agenda and to refer to the workflow provided at the front of the agenda for guidance. Declarations received are reported at the meeting.

Public Question 3. 

Given the public interest, can the e-mail sent by the subject councillor on 18 January be released to the general public, along with any councillors' replies?

Response

Once again, details of these matters are being considered by the Standards Committee as Confidential (Exempt) business for the reasons stated and therefore, except for the Monitoring Officer’s Report which is a public document and set out in Agenda item 7 on page 17 of the agenda, further background details about the case will not be publicly available at this stage.

An update on complaints regarding alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct against Councillors received or concluded since the last report to the Committee in January 2023.

The Committee is responsible for maintaining high standards of conduct by Members of BCP Council and the Town and Parish Councils, monitoring the operation of the Code of Conduct, and considering the outcome of commissioned independent investigations.

The Committee received the regular schedule of completed and ongoing complaints against Councillors with cases shown as closed in the previous report removed from the list.

The adopted arrangements for dealing with allegations of breach of the Code of Conduct were set out. These included the arrangements for initial assessment by the Monitoring Officer and the process for determination of complaints by the Chair of the Standards Committee in consultation with Councillors of the Standards Committee and the Independent Persons.

The Committee reviewed the table of complaints setting out, in each case, the nature of the complaint and, where applicable, the Monitoring Officer’s assessment, the decision of the Chair and the current status of the complaint.

The Committee commented on the number of complaints where there continued to be delay in reaching a successful conclusion and it was noted that there were a number of complaints where the subject Councillors had not complied with a determination made by the Chair of the Standards Committee following informal resolution. Particularly, these included cases where a request to provide an apology had not been complied with.

Although the circumstances surrounding each case of non-compliance were different, the Committee was of the view that specific detail should be provided to the Committee in order that the Committee could consider a way forward in each case in the light of non-compliance.

After discussion, and agreement that this needed to be progressed as quickly as possible and within the pre-election period, it was

RESOLVED that a meeting of the Standards Committee be held on Monday 13 March 2023 commencing at 10am.

Voting – Unanimous

Declaration of Interest

At this point in the meeting Councillor Kelsey and Councillor Filer left the meeting in accordance with their declarations of interest made at agenda item 3.

Election of Chair

It was proposed by Councillor Andrews, seconded by Councillor Northover and

RESOLVED that Councillor Ricketts be elected as Chair of the Committee for the consideration of the remaining items of business.

Voting – Unanimous

Councillor Ricketts in the Chair.

Election of Vice-Chair

It was proposed by Councillor Ricketts, seconded by Councillor Northover and

RESOLVED that Councillor Andrews be elected as Vice-Chair of the Committee for the consideration of the remaining items of business.

Voting – Unanimous

This report provides the Standards Committee with the conclusions of the investigation following a complaint made about a Councillor of BCP Council under reference BCP-132. The investigator’s report is attached at Appendix 1 (Confidential (Exempt) Business Appendix).

The Committee is asked to consider this report of the Monitoring Officer and the investigator’s report.

[PLEASE NOTE: Should the Committee wish to discuss the detail of the exempt appendix the meeting will be required to move into Confidential (Exempt) Session]

By way of introduction, it was explained that on 26 January 2023 the Council had received a complaint from Councillor Stephen Bartlett (“complainant”) that Councillor Mark Anderson (“subject Councillor”) had breached the Code of Conduct applicable to Councillors of BCP Council. The complainant considered that the subject Councillor had breached the provisions of the BCP Council Code of Conduct and the specific parts of the Code which had been allegedly breached were set out.

The Monitoring Officer explained that an investigation of the complaint had been conducted (under reference BCP – 132) by an experienced independent investigator who undertook interviews with the complainant, with the subject Councillor, with further Councillors and with officers before reaching a conclusion. The conclusions were based upon the current legal framework which set out the parameters within which Councillors are subject to a Code of Conduct. The appointed independent investigator’s report had been included within the agenda as a confidential (Exempt) Appendix 1 together with the appropriate background evidential material.

Due to the serious nature of the concerns raised in the complaint, the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer had also relayed the circumstances of the complaint to Dorset Police on 27 January 2023. The Committee was advised that the outcome of this consideration by Dorset Police was that there was insufficient evidence to justify further investigation although that had the initiative already been implemented and Council funds committed, there may have been a need for further consideration of the matter.

It was reported that the independent investigator had concluded that there were three grounds with sufficient evidence to uphold the complaint. The Committee was asked to consider this report of the Monitoring Officer and the investigator’s report.

The meeting was addressed by Councillor Broadhead (Group Leader of the Conservative Group) who explained the absence of the subject Councillor from the meeting due to health reasons which he outlined. The Monitoring Officer provided advice to the Committee about the implications of continuing in the absence of the subject Councillor. Although this remaining a decision for the Committee, the Monitoring Officer considered that the subject Councillor could not add any additional information at this stage to what had already been provided to the Committee.

The Independent Persons present at the meeting indicated their support for the process of investigation undertaken.

In relation to the items of business appearing below, the Committee is asked to consider the following resolution: -

‘That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act and that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs such interest in disclosing the information.’

It was proposed by Councillor Ricketts, seconded by Councillor Northover and

RESOLVED that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act and that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs such interest in disclosing the information.

Voting – Unanimous

Exempt information – Category 1 (Information relating to any individual) and category 2 (Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual).

The Committee agreed a procedure for the meeting with the objective of making a finding of fact; a decision on whether the Code of Conduct had been breached and, if applicable, a decision on any sanctions which should be applied.

The Committee considered in detail the report of the independent investigator and there was the opportunity to raise specific questions of the investigator about her report.

The complainant Councillor addressed the Committee.

The Committee retired, with the Independent Persons and with the Monitoring Officer and with the Head of Legal Services to consider their decision.

After a period of deliberation, the Committee reconvened in open business.

The Chair of the Committee reported that, during confidential (Exempt) business the Committee had given very careful consideration to the complaint and to all the evidence submitted to the Committee and given particular consideration to all of the recommendations made by the independent investigator. The Chair reported that the Committee had considered, in turn, each of the relevant provisions of those parts of the Code as highlighted by the investigator.

Breaches of the Code of Conduct

RESOLVED that the Standards Committee considers that

a)     Code of Conduct provision 1.1 (I treat other councillors and members of the public with respect).

The subject Councillor was in breach of this part of the Code in that he failed to treat other Councillors with respect; did not show courtesy to Councillors by not emailing ward Councillors or advising other members of Council and that he involved activists.

b)    Code of Conduct provision 1.3 (I treat local authority employees, employees and representatives of partner organisations and those volunteering for the local authority with respect and respect the role they play).

The subject Councillor was not in breach of this part of the Code.

c)     Code of Conduct provision 3.1 (I do not compromise, or attempt to compromise, the impartiality of anyone who works for, or on behalf of, the local authority).

The subject Councillor was in breach of this part of the Code for the reasons set out by the independent investigator.

d)    Code of Conduct provision 5.1 (I do not bring my role or local authority into disrepute).

The subject Councillor was in breach of this part of the Code for the reasons set out by the independent investigator.

e)     Code of Conduct provision 6.1 (I do not use, or attempt to use, my position improperly to the advantage or disadvantage of myself or anyone else).

The subject Councillor was in breach of this part of the Code for the reasons set out by the independent investigator.

f)      Code of Conduct provision 7.1 and 7.2 (I do not misuse council resources and I will, when using the resources of the local authority or authorising their use by others:(a) act in accordance with the local authority's requirements; and (b) ensure that such resources are not used for political purposes unless that use could reasonably be regarded as likely to facilitate, or be conducive to, the discharge of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25b