What action can the hearings panel take where a member has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct?

The District Council has delegated to the Governance Committee (and so the Hearings Panel) such of its powers to take action in respect of individual members as may be necessary to promote and maintain high standards of conduct. Accordingly the Hearings Panel may:

1. censure or reprimand the member;
2. publish its findings in respect of the member’s conduct;
3. report its findings to Full Council or to the town or parish council for information;
4. recommend to the member’s Group Leader (or in the case of un-grouped members, recommend to Full Council or to Committees) that he/she be removed from any or all Committees or Sub-Committees of the District Council or relevant town or parish council;
5. recommend to the Leader of the District Council that the member be removed from particular Lead Member responsibilities;
6. recommend to Council that the member be replaced as the Leader;
7. instruct the Monitoring Officer to or recommend that the parish or town council, arrange training for the member;
8. remove or recommend to the town or parish Council that the member be removed from all outside appointments to which he/she has been appointed or nominated by the authority or by the town or parish council;
9. withdraw, or recommend to the town or parish council that it withdraws, facilities provided to the member by the relevant council, such as a computer, website and/or email and Internet access; or
10. exclude, or recommend that the town or parish council exclude, the member from the relevant council’s offices or other premises, with the exception of meeting rooms as necessary for attending Council, Committee and Sub-Committee meetings

The Hearings Panel has no power to suspend or disqualify the member or to withdraw members’ or special responsibility allowances.

What happens at the end of the hearing?

At the end of the hearing, the Chair will state the decision of the Hearings Panel as to whether the member failed to comply with the Code of Conduct and as to any actions which the Hearings Panel resolves to take.

As soon as reasonably practicable thereafter, the Monitoring Officer shall prepare a formal decision notice in consultation with the Chair of the Hearings Panel, and send a copy to you, to the member and to the town or parish council (where appropriate), make that decision notice available for public inspection and report the decision to the next convenient meeting of the Council.

Who are the hearings panel

The Hearings Panel is a sub-committee of the Council’s Governance Committee. The Governance Committee has decided that it will comprise three members of the Council and comprising members drawn from at least two different political parties. Subject to those requirements, it is appointed on the basis of availability and suitability as applicable to the hearing being carried out.

The Independent Person is invited to attend all meetings of the Hearings Panel and his/her views are sought and taken into consideration before the Hearings Panel takes any decision on whether the member’s conduct constitutes a failure to comply with the Code of Conduct and as to any action to be taken following a finding of failure to comply with the Code of Conduct.

Who is the independent person?

The Independent Person is a person who has applied for the post following advertisement of a vacancy for the post, and is appointed by a positive vote from a majority of all the members of Council.

A person cannot be ‘independent’ if he/she:

1. is, or has been within the past five years, a member, co-opted member or officer of the authority, with the exception that former Independent Members of Standards Committees can be appointed as Independent Persons;
2. is or has been within the past five years, a member, co-opted member or officer of a parish council within the authority’s area, or
3. is a relative, or close friend, of a person within paragraph 11.1 or 11.2 above. For this purpose, ‘relative’ means:
   1. spouse or civil partner;
   2. living with the other person as husband and wife or as if they were civil partners;
   3. grandparent of the other person;
   4. a lineal descendant of a grandparent of the other person;
   5. a parent, sibling or child of a person within paragraphs 15.3.1 or 11.3.2;
   6. a spouse or civil partner of a person within paragraphs 11.3.3, 11.3.4 or 11.3.5; or
   7. living with a person within paragraphs 11.3.3, 11.3.4 or 11.3.5 as husband and wife or as if they were civil partners.