Agenda and draft minutes

The members had before them:

A.    The Agenda papers (previously circulated); and

B.    The Minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2022 (previously circulated).

Apologies were received from Murray Mylechreest, Cllr Dan Morehead, and Dr Philip Whiteman.

Cllr Marcus Hart substituted for Cllr Dan Morehead.

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by e-mail indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 15 March 2023).  Enquiries about this can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed in this agenda and on the website.

None.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2022. (previously circulated)

RESOLVED that the meeting held on 27 April 2022 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Committee considered the Local Government Association Member Code of Conduct.

In the ensuing debate, the following points were made:

·         It was clear that as Redditch Borough Council and Wyre Forest District Council had adopted different versions of the LGA Code to the other district councils, the concept of a pan-Worcestershire Code was redundant

·         It was important that the version of the Code agreed by this Committee could be adopted by full Council unanimously

·         It would be sensible to recommend the adoption of the LGA Model Member Code of Conduct as it had been adopted by many other authorities nationally

·         There were a number of changes included in the local version that appeared unnecessary. For example, the section in the local version relating to respect included an extra paragraph which added no value to the wording in the LGA Model Code. In relation to Other Registerable Interests, the inclusion of the word “not” had completely altered the meaning from the LGA Model Code in terms of the need to register an interest if a councillor was nominated or appointed by the authority to a position of general control or management

·         Raymond Needham, an Independent Person welcomed the proposal to adopt the LGA Model Member Code of Conduct as it enabled a consistent approach to the investigation of complaints against councillors across councils.

RESOLVED that the LGA Model Member Code of Conduct be recommended for adoption by full Council as the County Council’s Code of Conduct.