Agenda and minutes

Cllr John Mutton and Cllr Mal Mutton declared an “other relevant interest” in Minute 15 (Hearing into complaint under Code of Conduct - Councillor W) by virtue of the hearing relating to a complaint by Cllr John Mutton. They did not participate in any discussion by or voting of the Committee. Cllr John Mutton participated in the hearing only in his capacity as the complaint in the matter under discussion.

a)  To agree the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 26 July, 2018

b)  Any matters arising

The Minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 2018 were signed as a true record.  There were no matters arising.

Ruth Wills, Independent Person, took the Chair for consideration of the matters referred to in Minutes 14 and 15 below (Hearings into complaints under the Code of Conduct)

(a)  Presentation of the Investigating Officer’s Report

(b)  Presentation of the Subject Member’s Response to the Invesigation Report

(c)  Summing Up

(d)  Determination of Complaint

(e)  Sanctions (if applicable)

The Ethics Committee considered a report of the Chief Executive which detailed a complaint made against Councillor R Ali (the “Subject Member”). The complainant alleged that the Subject Member had breached the Code of Conduct for Elected and Co-opted Members.

A formal complaint was made on 28 January that the Subject Member had failed to enter on his register of interests certain Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPIs) that he held.

A Stage One review of the complaint concluded that an Independent Investigator should be appointed to investigate the complaint. An Independent Investigator was duly appointed to carry out the investigation and he concluded that the Subject Member had breached four paragraphs of the Code of Conduct.  The Subject Member accepted that he was in breach of two of the paragraphs, but denied a breach of the other two, the matter was therefore before the Ethics Committee for their deliberations and a decision as to whether the Subject Member had breached the Code of Conduct and if so, what sanctions should be applied. 

The Committee considered the following:

a)  Presentation of the Investigation report

b)  Presentation of the Subject Member’s response to the Investigation report

c)  Summing up from both the Investigating Officer and the Subject Member

d)  Views and submissions of the Independent Person

The Committee then determined the complaint and concluded:

·  That there had been breaches of paragraphs 3(h) and 5.1(a) of the Code of Conduct

·  That there had been no breaches of paragraphs 2(f) and 3(J) of the Code of Conduct

Before determining what sanctions, if any, should be applied, the Independent Person and the Subject Member were invited to make representations as to whether or not any sanctions should be applied and, if so, what form they should take. The Committee noted that the application of any sanction should be reasonable and proportionate to the Subject Member’s behaviour.

RESOLVED that the conclusion of the Committee be as set out in the Decision Notice attached as Appendix 1 to these Minutes.

  APPENDIX 1

COVENTRY CITY COUNCIL

DECISION NOTICE OF ETHICS COMMITTEE

(a)  Presentation of the Investigating Officer’s Report

(b)  Presentation of the Subject Member’s Response to the Invesigation Report

(c)  Summing Up

(d)  Determination of Complaint

(e)  Sanctions (if applicable)

The Ethics Committee considered a report of the Chief Executive which detailed a complaint made against Councillor G Williams (the “Subject Member”). The complainant alleged that the Subject Member had breached the Code of Conduct for Elected Members and Co-opted Members.

A formal complaint was made on 5 March 2018 that a comment on social media by the Subject Member had breached the Code of Conduct for Elected Members.

A Stage 1 enquiry was undertaken by the Monitoring Officer.  The matter was not able to be resolved by informal resolution and following comments by the Independent Person and a further review by an Independent Investigator, the matter was for consideration by the Ethics Committee to decide whether or not the Subject Member had breached the Code of Conduct for Elected Members and, if so, what sanctions should be applied.

The Committee considered the following:

a)  Presentation of the Investigation report

b)  Presentation of the Subject Member’s response to the Investigation report

c)  Summing up from both the Investigation Officer and the Subject Member

d)  Views and submissions of the Independent Person

The Committee then determined the complaint and concluded that the Subject Member had not breached the Code of Conduct for Members.

RESOLVED that the conclusion of the Committee be as set out in the Decision Notice attached as Appendix 1 to these Minutes. 

  APPENDIX 1

COVENTRY CITY COUNCIL

DECISION NOTICE OF ETHICS COMMITTEE

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

The Committee noted a report of the Deputy Chief Executive, People, which set out the number, trends and outcomes of complaints to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman 2017/18 (LGSCO).

The LGSCO was the final stage for complaints about councils, all adult social care providers (including care homes and home care agencies) and some other organisations providing local public services.  It was a free service that investigated complaints in a fair and independent way and provided a means of redress to individuals for injustice caused by unfair treatment or service failure.

The City Council’s Complaints Policy set out how individual members of the public can complain to the Council as well as how the Council handled compliments, comments and complaints.  The Council informs individuals of their eights to contact the LGSCO if they are not happy with the Council’s decision after they have exhausted the Council’s own complaints process.

The LGSCO issued an annual letter to the Leader and Chief Executive of every Council summarising the number and trends of complaints dealt with.  The latest letter covered complaints to this Council between April 2017 and March 2018 (2017/18) and was appended to the report together with the City Council’s Complaints Handling Guidance and the LGSCO investigation decisions for 2017/18.

Report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services

The Committee noted a report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services which updated the Committee on national issues in relation to the ethical behaviour of elected members and the local position in respect of Code of Conduct issues.

Report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services

The Committee noted the regular six-monthly update report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services which set out the entries in the Register of Officers’ Gifts and Hospitality.

Report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services

The Committee noted the regular six-monthly update report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services which set out details of declarations of gifts and hospitality made by members since 29 March 2018.

Report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services

This matter was deferred to the next meeting of the Committee.

Report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services which set out the guidance and information on registering and declaring interests currently available to members and made suggestions as to how this might be approved.

RESOLVED that the Committee delegate authority to the Monitoring Officer:

(a)  To update and streamline the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section as set out in the report.

(b)  To produce a step by step guide to declarations of interests

(c)  To delete the hard copy of register of interests form and guidance notes from the Member information pages of the Intranet.

(d)  To present the revised and new documents to a future meeting of the Committee for approval and to make any recommendations for changes that it considers appropriate.

Report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Services

The Committee noted the Work Programme.

Vote of Thanks

The Committee conveyed their thanks to Ruth Wills, Independent Person, who had chaired the Meeting for the matters referred to in minutes 14 and 15 above.