Agenda item

To consider the draft Code of Members’ Conduct attached at Appendix 1 and approve a draft for consultation with all Councillors as set out in Paragraph 2.7 of the report.    

8.1             The report of the Corporate Director, circulated at Pages No. 24-44, set out a proposal to review the Code of Members’ Conduct and to introduce a common Code of Conduct for all Councils within Gloucestershire. Members were asked to consider the draft Code of Conduct and approve it for consultation with all Councillors as set out in Paragraph 2.7 of the report.

8.2             The Corporate Director explained that the Council’s Code of Conduct had been in place since 1 July 2012 when it had been adopted in response to the Localism Act which had made significant changes to the Councillor conduct regime; the national mandatory Code of Conduct, the Standards Board and sanctions to suspend or disqualify Councillors from Office were removed and Councils were given the freedom to adopt their own Codes of Members’ Conduct. During 2018/19 the Committee on Standards in Public Life undertook a review of local government ethical standards and the Standards Committee made a formal response to the consultation which took place in 2018. The review concluded with the Committee on Standards in Public Life issuing a report which made a series of recommendations and the Standards Committee had considered those at its meeting on 16 September 2019. The Committee on Standards in Public Life noted the wide disparity in the style and content of local Codes of Conduct and that, even in the same area, there could be a variety of Codes in place e.g. District, Parish and County Councils which caused confusion to members of the public as well as Councillors which served on Councils at different levels of the local government structure. The Committee on Standards in Public Life had therefore recommended that the Local Government Association develop a Model Code of Conduct that Councils could choose to adopt/adapt to suit their circumstances; that recommendation had been accepted and the new Model Code was now available on the Local Government Association website.

8.3             The Tewkesbury Borough Council Code was very similar to the new Model Code and most of the Parish Councils within the Tewkesbury Borough area had adopted the same Code. The others had adopted the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) Model Code. The Borough experienced a relatively small number of Conduct issues at Borough and Parish level. Gloucestershire Local Authority Monitoring Officers had met to discuss the possibility of introducing a common Code of Conduct for use across all tiers of local government in the County. The draft Code of Conduct put forward to all seven Councils for consideration and consultation was attached to the report at Appendix 1 and it was noted that, whilst the content of the draft Code was fully consistent with that of the Local Government Association’s Model Code, its style and layout was different. There would inevitably be some minor differences between the Codes adopted by the seven Councils which were identified in the report at Paragraph 2.5 and included: the sections on executive decision-making would not feature in the version of the Code which applied to those Councils who operated a Committee system of governance rather than executive arrangements; there may be some minor variations over such issues as the value over which gifts and hospitality must be declared; not all of the clauses in the attached draft Code were relevant to Parish and Town Councils and therefore the version being produced by the Gloucestershire Monitoring Officers for use by those Councils would omit those matters. It was intended that in all other respects the wording of the Codes across the seven principal Gloucestershire authorities should be identical. In the case of Tewkesbury Borough Council, it was suggested that the Committee approved the draft for the purposes of consultation with all Members and that any feedback received from that consultation, together with any received from other Councils, be considered by the Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Chair. If no significant concerns were raised, any necessary minor amendments could be made prior to presentation to the Council for adoption. In the event of there being any significant concerns, it would be necessary for the draft Code to be referred back to the Standards Committee to enable it to make a recommendation to Council. There was a minor error in the numbering of the Paragraphs in the attached draft Code and this would be amended prior to the consultation.

8.4             Accordingly, it was

                  RESOLVED          1. That the draft Code of Conduct, as attached to the report, be                             APPROVED for the purposes of consultation with all                                               Borough  Councillors.

                                                2. That the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Chair of                               the Committee, consider all representations received from                                      Councillors and, subject to there being no significant                                              concerns raised, authority be delegated to the Monitoring                              Officer to make any revisions to the draft Code which are                                     considered necessary prior to recommendation to the                                                Council for adoption.