At the invitation of the Committee, Councillor Garland, the Leader of the Council, attended the meeting to discuss his views on the proposals contained in the Localism Bill in relation to the ethical standards regime and how a local Standards Committee, if there was to be such a thing, would operate under the new arrangements for regulating the standards of conduct for Members and Co-opted Members.  He commented that:-

·  It was his understanding that Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, had moved to abolish the Standards Board regime being of the view that in future Councillors should expect to be judged by the electorate on their conduct/performance and not by a Standards Committee of a local authority.

·  Clearly there was a view amongst Members that the Standards Committee had done a lot of good work since it was established, but there was a need for change.  He subscribed to that view, but believed that caution was required in bringing about the changes.

·  The public needed to be reassured that there was some degree of outside scrutiny of the behaviour and performance of Councillors.  Maidstone had been fortunate in that there had been very few instances where Members had deviated from the standards of behaviour that the public expected from them.  However, there was concern that sometimes there were complaints that could be dealt with in a less formal and less costly manner and sometimes the Standards Committee was obliged to investigate the conduct of a Councillor when, it could be argued, the matter might more appropriately be dealt with elsewhere; for example, by the electorate at the end of his/her term of office.

·  It was anticipated that the Localism Bill would receive Royal Assent in late 2011 and the existing ethical standards arrangements would continue to function until a fixed date which was likely to be some two months later.  In terms of what, if anything, would replace the current standards regime, his view was that there would need to be a Code of Conduct to guide Members and a small group of, say, three Independent Members should be established to meet as and when required to monitor compliance with the Code and deal with complaints of extreme misconduct.  Complaints of a less serious nature could be dealt with by Group Leaders.

·  In terms of the other functions currently undertaken by the Standards Committee, he felt that any replacement body should confine itself to Code of Conduct issues.

During the ensuing discussion, reference was made to:-

·  The likely public reaction to the anticipated abolition of the requirement to have a Code of Conduct and the need to reassure the public that the Borough Council would have robust arrangements in place next year to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by Members and Co-opted Members.

·  The need for some sort of locally agreed Code of Conduct to guide Members, but this should be less complex than the current Code.

·  The need for a protocol for dealing with complaints of Member misconduct quickly and cost effectively, but with a “lighter touch”, and the arguments for and against involving elected Members in the process.

·  The merits of establishing a small, non-statutory Committee of Independent Members to monitor compliance with the Code and to look into complaints of Member misconduct as and when required.

·  The implications for Parish Councils, particularly in terms of whether to adopt a voluntary Code of Conduct and, if so, its contents; monitoring compliance with the Code; training; dealing with complaints of Member misconduct; and the need to indemnify Members against the costs of action about breaches of the Code.

·  The training which would be required by Members on any locally agreed voluntary Code of Conduct given that it was likely to be simpler and that what constituted a criminal offence under the new arrangements (for example, failure to register or declare an interest) would be clearly defined.

·  The process for implementing the provisions of the Localism Bill, including the transitional arrangements.

·  How the functions of the Standards Committee otherwise than in relation to the Code of Conduct for Members would be dealt with.

·  Whether or not the Borough Council should seek to impose any regulatory function over Parish Councils.

The Committee thanked the Leader for an interesting discussion.