To: Councillors Stebbings (Chair), Dryden, Howell, Hughes, Pinnington and Taylor. External members - Dr A Clark, Ms L Hobbs
Published &
despatched: 23 March 2004
STANDARDS COMMITTEE
Date: Wednesday 31 March 2004
Time: 6.00pm
Place: Committee Room
1, The Guildhall
Contact:
John Blunt
Direct
Dial: (01223)
457012
AGENDA
1 MINUTES
To confirm the minutes
of the meeting held on 22
October 2003.
2 APOLOGIES
3 DECLARATIONS
OF INTEREST
Members are asked to
declare at this stage any interests which they may have in any of the following
items on the agenda. If any member is unsure whether or not they should declare
an interest on a particular matter, they are requested to seek advice from the
Head of Legal and Democratic Services before the meeting.
4 PUBLIC
QUESTION TIME – see
below for detail of the scheme and other public information.
5 GETTING
THE BALANCE RIGHT - IMPLEMENTING STANDARDS OF CONDUCT IN PUBLIC LIFE (Contact Margaret Walker, Tel 457301)
The above inquiry has recently been announced by the
Committee on Standards in Public Life. The Committee has published the attached
Issues and Questions Paper, on which this Committee may wish to comment.
Members' attention is directed particularly to questions 9 - 12 and 14, 17
& 18, as these are the most relevant to Cambridge City Council.
6 REVIEW
OF THE COUNCIL'S CODE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE (Report
By Margaret Walker, Tel 457301)
The
Council is required to have this Code. Cambridge adopted its first Code in 2002
and it is now time for its annual review. As happened at last year's review,
the Council's Civic Affairs Committee will be considering the document en route
to full Council, but it is also appropriate to ask this Committee if it wishes
to make any comment. The origin and purpose of the Code are explained in its
introduction. The national guidance is in italics at the start of each section.
The column "Cambridge City Council commits itself to" is also taken
from the guidance as to what Codes should contain. Therefore, members of this
Committee should focus their attention on the column "How the Council will
do this". At the suggestion of a member of Civic Affairs last year, a new
column has been added, indicating who within the Council will lead on actions
and when they should take place.
7 WITHOLDING
OF MEMBERS’ ALLOWANCES (Contact
Margaret Walker, Tel 457301)
Under the
‘Guidance on Consolidated Regulations for Local Authority Allowances’ (Office
of the Deputy Prime Minister July 2003), certain allowances may be withheld as
a result of full or partial suspension of a member of the authority. The basic allowance may be fully or
partially withheld. Special
Responsibility Allowance, travel and subsistence allowance and co-optees’
allowance may all be withheld. The
authority may also require the repayment of allowances during the period of
suspension. The withholding of
allowances is a matter for the Council alone to determine rather than, as in
other allowance matters, for the Panel to consider first.
The Council considered the matter at its meeting on 4 December 2003 and agreed that decisions on whether or not to withhold an allowance in any particular case be delegated to the Standards Committee.
8 Publicising THE WORK OF THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE
- ORAL REPORT (Margaret Walker, Tel 457301)
9 DATES OF MEETINGS IN 2004/05
To set dates for the Committee until May
2005
Information for the public
You are welcome to attend this meeting as an observer, although it may
be necessary to ask you to leave the room during the discussion of matters
which are described as confidential on the agenda.
o0o
You can ask questions on an issue included on the agenda, or on an
issue which is within this committee’s powers. If you wish to ask a question
related to an agenda item contact the committee officer (listed above under
‘contact’) before the meeting starts. If you wish to ask a question on a matter
not included on this agenda, please contact the committee officer by 10.00am
the working day before the meeting.
Further details concerning the
right to speak at committee can be obtained from the committee section.
o0o
In the event of the fire alarm sounding (which is a continuous ringing sound), you should pick up your
possessions and leave the building by the route you came in. Once clear of the
building, you should assemble on the pavement opposite the main entrance to the
Guildhall and await further instructions. If your escape route or the assembly area is unsafe, you will be
directed to safe areas by a member of Cambridge City Council staff.