Agenda item

(a)       That all of the amendments listed above be made; and

(b)       That the Committee recommends to Council the adoption of the Flintshire Local Resolution Procedure at Appendix 4, as amended, with effect from the date of that meeting That all of the amendments listed above be made.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services introduced the report for Members to consider a Local Resolution Procedure for complaints in respect of Members.

                        The Public Services Ombudsman’s Guidance on the Code of Conduct for Members of Local Authorities in Wales expected local authorities in Wales to have implemented local resolution procedures to deal with low level complaints made by a Member against a fellow Member.

                        The aim of a Local Resolution Procedure was so there would be an opportunity to resolve matters and repair relationships at an early stage.

                        In adopting a Local Resolution Procedure, it was important that the process was clear, simple and relatively informal in its early stages.  The process should not be seen as a replacement for investigation by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales which would still remain appropriate for repeated or serious breaches of the Code of Conduct. 

                        Three different models of Local Resolution Procedures that had been adopted in Wales were appended to the report.  The Head of Legal and Democratic Services had adapted the Gwynedd model as a suggested Flintshire Local Resolution Procedure which at the start of the document, set out what was expected of Members.

                        The Head of Legal and Democratic Services suggested additional wording be added to the end of the recommendation in the report to include the words ‘with effect from the date of that meeting’ which was agreed.

                        He also suggested that an additional paragraph be included in the introduction to the recommended Local Resolution Procedure to say ‘It is important that poor behaviour is quickly addressed and matters are handled whilst fresh in people’s recollections.  This procedure will therefore only apply to incidents/behaviour occurring in the 12 months immediately prior to a complaint being made to the Monitoring Officer’ which was agreed.

                        A discussion took place on a suggestion that was made as to whether Members should be asked to sign to say they bought into the process of the Local Resolution Procedure.  It was agreed that it would be discussed and determined during consideration of the next item on the agenda, Review of Code of Conduct for Members.

                        Following a suggestion from Mr R. Dewey, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services said wording could be included in the introductory paragraph to say ‘Members should not make comments that could reasonably be regarded as abusive’.

Councillor Woolley suggested the following amendments which were agreed:

·        Paragraph 2 (Stage 1 of the Procedure) – after the word allegation, include the words ‘in writing’

·        Paragraph 4, second bullet point (Stage 1 of the Procedure) after the word conduct, insert the words ‘in the opinion of the Monitoring Officer’

·        Paragraph 6 (Stage 2 of the Procedure) – Leader and Group to be in the plural.  It was also agreed that if the Member was non-affiliated, it would only be that Member and the Chief Executive present

·        Paragraph 8 (Stage 3 of the Procedure), last line – member to be replaced with ‘members’

·        Paragraph 13 (Supplementary Matters) – the word ‘to’ to be removed from the last line

The Democracy and Governance Manager said the word Council’s on the second line of the covering page of the Local Resolution Procedure should read ‘Councillors’ which was agreed.

In response to a question from Mr R. Dewey, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services explained that there was no time limit on a complaint to the Ombudsman on a breach of the Code.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That all of the amendments listed above be made; and

(b)       That the Committee recommends to Council the adoption of the Flintshire Local Resolution Procedure at Appendix 4, as amended, with effect from the date of that meeting That all of the amendments listed above be made.