REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT PANEL ON MEMBERS’ REMUNERATION

THE LOCALISM ACT 2011: CHANGES TO STANDARDS COMMITTEE

OCTOBER 2012

Background

In July the Independent Panel on Members’ Remuneration (the Panel) was asked by the Members’ Office Manager in Middlesbrough Council to review the Special Responsibilities Allowance (SRA) payable to the Chair of the Council’s Standards Committee.

The Panel has undertaken the review as requested, and it now submits its recommendations for consideration by the Council.

The Review

The Panel was informed that up until 1 July this year, the law required that the Standards Committee was chaired by an Independent person - that is a person who was not an elected Member of the Council.

Prior to 1 July, the Standards Committee had a number of responsibilities in respect of ethics and probity, which were a requirement of the Local Government Act 2000. A major responsibility of the Standards Committee prior to that date was the consideration and disposal of complaints relating to the conduct of elected Members: whether the Code of Conduct, as approved by Parliament, had been breached: and if so what sanctions should be imposed. The Standards Committee had a wide range of sanctions that it could impose, up to suspension of not more than 3 months.

The Panel has been advised that those parts of the Localism Act 2011 that deal with the above matters came into force on 1 July 2012.

The Localism Act clearly introduced major changes. For example, it is now optional to have a Standards Committee, rather than a requirement. Independent persons can no longer chair or be voting members of a Standards Committee (if a Council chooses to have one). The duties of the Standards Committee with regard to the oversight of ethics and probity have been removed. The national Code of Conduct has been abolished, and Standards Committees are no longer required to (and cannot) consider all complaints regarding the conduct of elected Members. This is because different processes for considering complaints against Members are required by the Localism Act. Finally, the sanctions available to the Committee are far fewer and have been greatly reduced. Under the new legislation, the only sanctions available to the Standards Committee are a formal letter to the Councillor: a censure by motion of Council: the removal of the Member from a Committee (where the Local Government & Housing Act 1989 permits): and issuing a press release and / or other appropriate publicity.

In addition to the above matters relating to the Members’ Code of Conduct, the Panel has been advised of other changes relating to the terms of reference, duties and responsibilities of the Standards Committee. For example, the Audit & Governance Committee will now take over some of the responsibilities of the Standards Committee, especially those relating to corporate governance: meetings of Standards Committee will reduce from four or more meetings a year to just one or two meetings, largely in a monitoring role: and that there will only be one sub-Committee (previously three) which will meet on an 'as and when' basis to consider complaint investigation reports.

Consideration

Middlesbrough Council has decided that it will continue to have a Standards Committee but with revised terms of reference. These are attached at Appendix 1.

The Panel believes that along with the changes outlined above there has been a significant change in the responsibilities of the Chair of the Standards Committee. Clearly, both the remit of the Committee and the level of responsibilities of the Chair have been reduced

In 2005 the Panel recommended to the Council a banding system of SRAs, which the Council agreed and adopted. The advantage of the banding system is that when changes occur in the level of responsibilities of certain posts – such as this one - all that needs to be decided is whether or not a position should be remunerated, and if so into which banding it falls. Because the bands are linked to the Basic Allowance, which is in turn linked to the annual staff pay award, there is a high degree of simplicity, transparency and fairness in the system.

The Panel previously recommended that an allowance should be paid to the Chair of the Standards Committee at Band 5 of the Special Responsibility Allowances Banding Structure.

Band 5 is equivalent to the Basic Allowance. Band 5 posts carry high levels of responsibility and have a medium to high time commitment. Other Band 5 posts included the Chairs of Scrutiny Panels and the Chair of Council

The Panel has now considered the new responsibilities and duties of the Chair of Standards Committee as attached at Appendix 1.

The view of the Panel is that the post will still be important to the democratic processes of the Council: it will still carry the central responsibility for considering, advising Council on, and determining complaints investigated under the Members’ Code of Conduct: it continues to have responsibility for the overview of a number of important corporate functions including the whistle-blowing policy, complaints handling and Ombudsman investigations: and it still has certain statutory duties in respect of Parish Councils.

The criteria for Band 6 are that the work is important to or essential to the work of the Council: that the post will entail significant responsibilities over and above the day to day duties expected of Ward Councillors: but that the post will have a very high level of officer guidance and support, and require significantly less time commitment than many other remunerated posts.

In view of this, it is the view of the Panel that the post of the Chair of the Standards Committee should continue to be remunerated but should be revised to Band 6. This is the lowest banding, and is remunerated at 50% of the Basic Allowance.

Recommendation

It is the recommendation of the Panel that the post of Chair of Standards Committee should continue to be remunerated, but at Band 6 of the Council’s banding system.

Dr Jim Whiston (Chair)

Prof. Brian Footitt

June Goodchild MBE

Paul Hopson

31 October 2012

STANDARDS COMMITTEE 2012 - 2013

(Agreed by Council 16 May 2012)

9 Elected Members

(2 non-voting Parish Council representatives if required)

Political balance rules apply

1.To make reports or recommendations to the Council in relation to:-

  • the approval by the Council of local codes of conduct for Members and officers, codes of practice, standing orders and protocols, taking account of national models and guidance or case tribunals.
  • the implementation of local codes of conduct etc, and the dissemination throughout the Authority of information and guidance on their operation.
  • consideration of any reports relating to the conduct of Members or officers which may be referred to it by the Council’s Chair, Monitoring Officer or by the Director of Resources under section 114 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 in consultation with the Monitoring Officer, including issues relating to Members’ and officers’ interests and the maintenance and management of any relevant registers of interests.
  • consideration of relevant reports referred by the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer and make recommendations thereon to the Council as necessary.

2.Grant dispensations to Councillors, Co-opted Members and Parish Council Members from the requirements relating to declarations of interest as set out in Section 32 of the Localism Act 2011. (Deleted 5 September 2012)

3.The determination, following an investigation, of allegations of breaches of Members’ Codes of Conduct within such statutory provisions or guidance as may exist.

4.To maintain an overview of the whistle-blowing policy, complaints handling and Ombudsman investigations.

5.Discharge all of the above functions required by the Localism Act 2011 in relation to Parish Councils.