Minutes for Standards Committee meeting, Mar 25 2010, 10.00AM official page

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Fairclough and Hill and Parish Councillors Mrs. O'Brien and Warren.

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

No declarations of interest were received.

Minutes of the meeting held on 28 January 2010

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 28 January 2010 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Legal Director

The Committee considered the report of the Legal Director which incorporated copies of three case summaries published by Standards for England following recent investigations by Ethical Standards Officers.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)      the report be noted; and

(2)      the case summaries be published on the Members' Portal and Members of the Council be sent an email link.

Report of the Legal Director

The Committee considered the report of the Legal Director which provided details of the advice provided by Standards for England to the Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority relating to Bias and Predetermination and circulated to monitoring officers in Merseyside for information.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)      the report be noted; and

(2)      the advice note be published on the Members' Portal and Members of        the Council be sent an email link.

The Chair reported that the Ninth Annual Assembly of Standards Committees would be held in Birmingham on 18 to 19 October 2010.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)       the report be noted; and

(2)       the Chief Executive be requested to authorise the attendance of the Head of Corporate Legal Services and Monitoring Officer at the Annual Assembly.

The Chair reported that a session on the Members Code of Conduct and the Standards regime would be included in the Members' Induction Programme for 2010 and that he would be attending the session.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Chair reported that Caroline Elwood, Legal Director and Monitoring Officer would be taking early retirement on 31 March 2010.

He also reported that Mr. D. Mackey, Interim Head of Corporate Legal Services and Ms. A. Grant, Assistant Director (Democratic Services) had been appointed by the Council as the Monitoring Officer and Deputy Monitoring Officer respectively.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)      the report be noted; and

(2)      the sincere appreciation of the Committee be conveyed to Mrs. Elwood, Legal Director for all of the support and guidance she has given to the Committee together with best wishes for the future.