Venue: Viersen Room - Town Hall. View directions
Contact: Alex Daynes, 01733 452447
Items
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Item |
1. |
Apologies
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2. |
Declaration of Interests (if any)
At
this point Members must declare whether they have an interest,
whether personal or prejudicial, in any of the items on the agenda.
Members must also declare if they are subject to their party group
whip in relation to any items under consideration.
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3. |
Exclusion of Press and Public
In
accordance with standing orders, Members are asked to determine
whether agenda item 4, Adjudication on a complaint received against
a Council Member, which contains exempt information presented to a
Standards Committee, set up to consider any matter under
regulations 13 or 16 to 20 of the Standards Committee (England)
Regulations 2008, or referred under s58(1) (c) of the Local
Government Act 2000 should be exempt and the press and public
excluded from the meeting when it is discussed, or whether the
public interest in disclosing this information outweighs the public
interest in maintaining the exemption.
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4. |
Adjudication on a complaint received against a Council Member  PDF 40 KB
The
sub committee to adjudicate and determine the outcome of a
complaint made against a Council Member.
Minutes:
STANDARDS COMMITTEE HEARING
Summary of a Hearing in relation to a
possible breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct
23 July 2009, 2.00pm
Viersen Room, Town Hall
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Name of Member
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Councillor Darren Morley
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Relevant section of
the Members’ Code of Conduct
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Finding of the
Committee
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Paragraph
3.1 You must treat
others with respect
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Did not fail to follow
the code
(Unanimous)
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Paragraph 5
You must not conduct
yourself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing
your office into disrepute
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Failed to follow the
code
(Unanimous)
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The Proceedings
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Following referral by the Investigation
Officer, an investigation into a complaint made about Councillor
Morley was presented to the Adjudication sub-committee of the
Standards Committee for Peterborough City Council.
In order to determine the findings of fact,
the committee was addressed by the Investigation Officer and
Councillor Morley. The committee
questioned both parties to clarify any issues. The committee adjourned in order for the panel to
determine the findings of fact.
The findings of fact were presented to the
Investigation Officer and Councillor Morley who were able to make
representation about whether the findings constituted a breach of
the Code of Conduct. The committee
adjourned in order for the panel to determine whether the facts
constituted a breach of the Code.
The committee unanimously agreed that the
facts did constitute a breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct
in one of the two instances considered (paragraph 5 of the Code but
not paragraph 3.1) and therefore proceeded to determine what
sanction should be imposed. The
committee recommended to Councillor Morley an appropriate sanction
to be imposed for him to consider.
Councillor Morley accepted the sanction proposed by the committee
and did not suggest an alternative.
The Chairman made recommendation to the
Authority and then closed the meeting.
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Sanction Imposed
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Cllr Morley is to
attend a one to one session with the Monitoring Officer for
training on the Code of Conduct including acceptable behaviour in
public life. This sanction is to be
carried out by the end of September 2009. Failure to carry out such training will result in
referral to the Standards committee.
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Reasons
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The sanction is
considered to be constructive and will assist Cllr Morley to
appropriately deal with any future confrontational situations that
might arise in his role as a Councillor.
The severity of
the incident did not warrant any further sanction that might
restrict Councillor Morley in carrying out his duties as a
Councillor.
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Right to Appeal
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Councillor Morley has the right to apply in writing to
the president of the Adjudication Panel for England for permission
to appeal the standards committee’s finding. The president of
the Adjudication Panel must receive written notice within 21 days
of the member’s receipt of notification of the standards
committee’s finding.
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