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Standards Committee 9 November 2007
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Meeting of the Standards Committee held on
9 November 2007 at Fire Service Headquarters, Birkenshaw,
Present: Councillor J Cole, A McKenna and
G Wilkinson
L Knowles
P E J Marshall (in the chair)
8 Minutes of the Last Meeting
Resolved
That the Minutes of the Committee at a meeting held on 13 July 2007 be signed by the Chair as a correct record.
9 Urgent Items
None.
10 Admission of the Public
The Committee determined that there were no items which should be considered in the absence of the public.
11 Declarations of Interest
No disclosures of interest in matters under consideration were made.
12 Standards Board for England - Publications
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Corporate Resources and Monitoring Officer which advised Members of the publications which had been issued by the Standards Board for England since the date of the last meeting.
The following publications were attached to the report for Members’
consideration;
• Bulletins 33 – 35
• Code of Conduct fact sheets
• Sixth Annual Assembly newsletter
Resolved
(i) That the content of the publications be noted; and
(ii) That the Code of Conduct fact sheets be circulated to all Authority
Members.
13 Revised Code of Conduct
Members viewed a DVD presentation produced by the Standards Board for England which illustrated the key changes to the revised Model Code of Conduct and which examined the rules about declarations of interest, disclosure of confidential information and bullying.
Resolved
That the content of the DVD be noted.
14 Allegations Considered by the Standards Board for England
Members considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources and
Monitoring Officer which advised of the allegations considered by the
Standards Board for England from April 2007.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
15 Standards Board for England Annual Review 2006/07
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Corporate Resources and Monitoring Officer which advised of the publication of the Standards Board for England (SBE) Annual Review 2006 / 07.
Members were advised that the SBE Annual Report and Accounts had not been published by the time of despatch of papers.
Resolved
That the content of the Standards Board for England Annual Review 2006 / 7 be noted.
16 Adjudication Panel – Case Summaries
Members considered a sample of case studies submitted for decision to the
Adjudication Panel for England.
Resolved
That the report be noted.
17 Use of Resources – Members
The Director of Corporate Resources submitted a report which advised of a
decision taken by the Authority’s Finance and Resources Committee at a
meeting held on 19 October with regard to the need for more comprehensive
protocols dealing with the use of Authority resources by Members and the
possibility of appointing a Member champion to liaise with officers in the
development of the protocols.
Members were advised that the Finance and Resources Committee resolved to authorise Officers to produce draft protocols for consideration and subsequent approval by Members. It had been further agreed that there was no requirement for a Member champion at this stage in the process.
Resolved
(i) That the report be noted; and
(ii) That it be recommended that the opinions of this Committee’s
independent members be sought prior to the submission of the draft use of resources protocol for formal approval.
18 Local Complaints Filter and Determination Regulations
The Director of Corporate Resources and Monitoring Officers advised Members
of the recent enactment of the Local Government and Public Involvement in
Health Bill for implementation from April 2008. The Authority would be required
under the new legislation to have systems in place to facilitate the local filter
mechanism for complaints. It was reported that, for that to be practicable, the Standards Board for England had suggested an optimum size for Standards
Committees to be between 9 and 15 members.
Members were advised that the possibility of joint working arrangements with other local authorities was currently being investigated with a view to minimising costs and achieving compliance. Alternatives were also being considered to obviate the need for an increase in the size of the existing Standards Committee.
The results of these inquiries would be reported back to the Authority in due
course.
Resolved
That the proposed direction of travel with regard to the implementation of the
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health legislation be supported.
19 Date of next Meeting
Resolved
That the next meeting of the Standards Committee be on a date to be agreed at the end of March 2008.
Chair
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