Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 7^th January 2009 having been printed and circulated, were taken as a correct record.

Arising from the discussion it was noted that the Standards Committee would now produce an annual report along similar lines to the Policy and Performance Boards and this would be submitted to Council for information.

The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director, Corporate and Policy which updated them with the latest news from the Standards Board.

It was noted that the Standards Board for England’s website had recently included a new feature in an attempt to make it more user friendly. This was by way of a new A to Z list of functions carried out by the Standards Board.

It was further noted that the Standards Board for England produced a monthly Bulletin. Issue 42 was due to be published during February 2009, but was not yet available.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director – Corporate and Policy which provided Members with an updated version of the action list and which sought items for the work programme for the next Municipal Year.

Members were advised that at the last meeting of the Committee, they asked for the Action List to be pruned down with the removal of all items that had been completed. Having completed this, the revised Action List was submitted to the Committee for consideration.

It was noted that the Standards Board Annual Conference information had not yet been issued. However, an expression of interest in registering for two places would be undertaken and two places would be booked when the event information became available.

The Committee considered the training event undertaken at Warrington Borough Council and it was noted that the role-play element had been found to be useful by Members. It was therefore agreed that the Code of Conduct training would be revised to include a role-play section on receiving complaints.

The Committee also considered how Members’ training was monitored and it was noted that this was done through the Member Development Working Party. It was noted that the percentage of Members with Development Plans had been significantly improved and the percentage of Members attending at least one course per year was 100%.

Members considered additional items for next year’s Action Plan and it was agreed that a report be submitted to the next meeting with some suggested topics.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       the Action List be noted; and

(2)       a further report be submitted to the Committee, detailing suggested topics.