Dear Councillor Hopson
Further to my email of 8th June 2009, I enclose a copy of the response I have received from the Clerk of West Wittering Parish Council explaining the nature of the "working parties" which the Parish Council has established for the current municipal year.
It appears from her email that they are not working parties or committees in the traditional sense, for example, a meeting of councillors in a room. Instead some are appointments of a single councillor to an outside organisation or to undertake routine inspections or enquiries on behalf of the Council, and others are the names of councillors who can be called upon by the Council meeting as and when required during the municipal year to investigate matters in a given subject area and to report back on their findings so that the Council can make a decision on the issue at a public meeting.
Your complaint dated 11th May 2009 asserts that the Chairman has breached some of the general principles of conduct and in consequence he has breached Article 5 of the Code of Conduct. I have sought advice on this from the Standards Board for England, as it is in my experience unusual for complaints to be founded on alleged contraventions of the general principles.
The Board has advised me that failure to comply with the general principles does not equate to failure to comply with paragraphs of the code of conduct. Instead it is essential to have regard to all of the particular circumstances of the conduct in order to determine whether a paragraph of the code has been broken, and the general principles can be used as an appropriate benchmark of good conduct.
With reference to your letter of the 29th May 2009, I would comment as follows:-
Private and Confidential
The reason my letter of 21st May 2009 was headed private and confidential was because I am instructed by the Standards Committee not to reveal to the accused councillor that a formal complaint has been received until after the Assessment Sub-Committee has considered the matter. So I mark my initial letters to the complainant and potential witnesses in this way, but it is a matter for yourself whether or not you respect its confidentiality.
Deputy Monitoring Officer
I will be passing the papers to the Deputy Monitoring Officer if you still wish to pursue the complaint against Councillor Hutton.
Standards Committee/Sub-Committee Membership
The membership of the Standards Committee was approved by the District Council’s Annual Council Meeting on 19th May 2009 as follows:-
Representing Chichester District Council:-
Councillors R.H. Field (Conservative), A.G.F. Moss (Liberal Democrat) and D.J. Myers (Conservative)
Representing parish councils:-
Councillors J. Cottam (Fernhurst Parish Council), C. Heasman (Donnington Parish Council) and D. Ribbens (Plaistow and Ifold Parish Council)
Independent members:-
Mr. C. Evans, Mr. A. Ryan and Mr. C. Wood.
As I have indicated previously the membership of the sub-committees is determined by rota and depends on their availability and that they are not conflicted out of a particular case. In view of your concerns about District Councillors being members of the Conservative party, I will ask that this is taken into account if the Assessment Sub-Committee is convened.
Working Parties
You state in your letter of 29th May that you have not asserted that it is unlawful for parish councils to set up working parties.
The impression given in your complaint of 11th May is that you are opposed to working parties per se, and opposed to the West Wittering Parish Council method of working parties in particular. For example, you state "there is no provision in law which sanctions the use of working parties….".
However, thank you for clarifying that it is the type of "working parties" set up by the Parish Council which you object to.
Working parties and forums established by the District Council have terms of reference, some meet in private, and the outcome of their deliberations is usually reported to the Executive Board or other appropriate committee.
Would you please consider the information provided by the Parish Clerk and my comments gilven above, and let me know if you still wish to pursue your complaint against Councillor Hutton. If so, I will pass the matter to the Deputy Monitoring Officer to arrange for a meeting of the Assessment Sub-Committee.
Yours sincerely
M J Kelley
District Solicitor
01243 534656
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Dear Mike,
At the outset, I need to make you aware that the Council habitually uses the term 'Working Party' although this covers a number of arrangements by which the Council undertakes its activities. In fact some of the Working Parties do not meet at all. The arrangements range from input to the management of the Council assets without meetings which could be weekly (eg inspection of footpaths, open spaces and lighting, allotments, Sportsfield, Snowhill), occasional meetings to assist with the development of new initiatives (eg communications which is considering the Council’s website arrangements) through to occasional attendance by members at meetings of external bodies (eg emergency planning, twinning) where the Council needs or wishes to maintain a presence.
The Parish Council has agreed the following Working Parties and representation on outside bodies for the year 09/10:
Footpaths and Open Spaces
Allotments
Sportsfield Management and Millennium Meadow
Footway Lighting
Emergency Planning
Transport
Poor Sevens Trustee
Tree Warden
Snowhill
Finance
Twinning
Coastal Defence
Communication
Emergency Planning is not a formalised Working Party. One member has agreed to attend any meetings and pass on any information from the EA regarding flood warnings.
Transport is not a formalised Working Party as such but consists of one or two members who if asked could attend any meeting of partner organisations to discuss local transport.
The Poor Sevens trustee is a nominated member who sits as a member of a local charity.
The Tree Warden is a nominated member who checks the Council owned trees once a year as part of risk management and reports any problems to the Council if identified. In the past the Tree Warden has also organised tree planting and maintenance when asked to do so by the Council.
The Coastal Defence is not a formalised Working Party but representation on the East Head Coastal Defence Advisory Group set up by the EA in response to the Coastal Defence Strategy.
It might be useful if I give you some recent examples of how the arrangements used by the Council help it operate effectively.
The Council recently debated the redecoration of the Pavilion. The Sportsfield Working Party was asked to assist with the process and this was done by one of the members who met prospective contractors at the pavilion in order to show them around explain. No recommendation was made by the WP and the quotes for the work were returned to me and put before the whole Council for a decision.
The beach at Snowhill requires maintenance and replenishment over time. The Council has asked the Snowhill Working Party to inspect the beach and report back on how it is looking. The Council will then debate how much shingle is required as part of the beach maintenance. Another example is that dinghies are often left abandoned on the beach. Recently one of the members of the WP was asked to obtain details of a particular boat so that the owner could be traced.
If a member of the public was interested in applying for an allotment a member of the Working Party will arrange to meet the applicant at the allotments and show them round the site.
I could give many more examples where the Council will debate a matter and then ask for a member or members to obtain further information or to look at a particular matter and report back to the Council. Because of the number and size of the assets that this Council manages the Working Parties are organised to facilitate and assist with management when requested by the Council.
Working Parties are ad hoc arrangements and there are no specified terms of reference for any Working Party. Working Parties are not standing committees of the Council and only operate when requested by the Council. They never make decisions on behalf of the Council nor do they have any powers to determine policy issues. Recommendations are not made unless specifically requested by the Council ( and this request would be minuted) which then would be reported orally at Council meetings. Whilst they do not meet in public, it should be noted that the Council is committed to making all decisions in public at its monthly meetings so that there can be no question as to the openness of its processes.
The composition of each Working Party is agreed and minuted at the Council's annual meeting in May and seeks to reflect members preferences and interests in the Council’s activities. The publication of a list of members of each Working Party allows the public to know who the key contacts are and makes the public aware of the work that members do for them. I must stress that any member can attend and take on work of any Working Party at any time which allows all members to participate if they so chose.
In the past, the Finance and General Purposes Working Party met around four times annually and I was often in attendance depending on the matters to be discussed. I used to produce an informal agenda to assist the Chairman to facilitate the discussion (eg ideas for the next year’s budget). I sometimes did produce notes from the meeting which were used by the Chairman in briefing members at Council meetings. However following a review of Council procedures and Working Parties in 2008, members agreed to set up a Finance Working Party only, which to date has not met, but has recently been asked by the Council to obtain information regarding a remuneration package for the Clerk. The decision about this will be a decision of the Council and not of the Working Party. Following this review, Planning is now dealt with as an open session at the beginning of every Council meeting, instead of in Working Party.
At the Council’s meetings, a member of the Working Party will be invited to report to members and the Council might be required to take decisions on the back of this. In my experience there is no evidence to show that Working Parties have been used to determine decisions before being taken to the Council and no member of the Council has sought to railroad through any particular decision.
The Council is a small seaside parish and is mindful of the cost of administration for the electorate. You will be aware that I am its only employee. When the Council reviewed its procedures last year members did not wish to increase the Council’s administrative costs. It was felt at that time that any additional standing or advisory committees would require an increase in paid hours to further manage the meetings. The way the Council uses Working Parties reduces the costs of the Council's administration as most members are willing to support the Council through the giving of more of their time for free.
I trust that this information makes the situation clear with regard as to how the Council operates. The Council as a whole reviewed its procedures last year and has confirmed at its meeting on 7 May 2009 that it wishes to continue to operate without standing committees
Regards. Joanne
________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
Communications on or through Chichester District Councils computer systems may be monitored or recorded to secure effective system operation and for other lawful purposes.
________________________________________________________________________
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. However, any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Chichester District Council.
If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering the e-mail to the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this e-mail in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited.
Communications on or through Chichester District Councils computer systems may be monitored or recorded to secure effective system operation and for other lawful purposes.
If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the Chichester District Council administrator.
E-mail or phone 44 (0) 1243 785166
Mail-Admin@chichester.gov.uk
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