Agenda item

(To receive a report by David Coleman (Chief Legal Officer), which outlines the recommendations of the Code of Conduct Working Group)

Consideration was given to a report which presented the results of the deliberations of the Code of Conduct Working Group, which had been established by the Audit Committee on 25 March 2019.

The report recommended that the Audit Committee refer a number of amendments to Part 5 of the Council's Constitution, including the Member Code of Conduct and the Local Arrangements for Dealing with Standards Complaints, to the meeting of the County Council on 11 December 2019 for approval.

The Monitoring Officer presented the proposed changes to the Committee, which were described in Appendix 1 to the report.  The following responses were given to questions from the Committee:

·         The Monitoring Officer indicated that social media use had not been a significant issue in generating complaints in Lincolnshire.  However, the Working Group had concluded that as social media was easy to use and publicly available it posed additional risks for Councillors.  A paragraph reminding councillors of the heightened risk had been included in the draft amended Code of Conduct, as detailed in Appendix B to the report.  The Committee suggested that the use of social media could be covered as part of Councillor Induction programme;

·         It was confirmed that the Council maintained a central register of gifts, which could be published to the Council's website. It was also requested that the gifts and hospitality log form part of the Monitoring Officer's Annual Report, which would be presented to the Audit Committee.

RESOLVED

(1)  That the report of the Code of Conduct Working Group, as detailed at Appendix A to the report, be noted.

(2)  That the following changes to the Council's Constitution be recommended to the County Council for approval:

·         The amendments to the Code of Conduct, as shown in red in Appendix B to the Working Group report;

·         The inclusion in Part 5 of the Constitution of the Protocol on Gifts and Hospitality, as detailed at Appendix C to the Working Group report;

·         The replacement of the Local Arrangements, as set out in the Constitution with the Local Arrangements, as detailed at Appendix E to the Working Group report;

·         The amendments to the Protocol on Officer/Member Relationships, as shown in red in Appendix F to the working Group report;

·         The amendments to the Protocol on Councillor Involvement in Commercial Transactions, as shown in red in Appendix G to the working Group report; and

·         The amendments to the Planning Development Control Process Document, as shown in red in Appendix H to the working Group report.

(3)  That the Annual Report of the Monitoring Officer be presented to the Audit Committee.