Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors George Cairns and John Cooper, and Parish Councillor Graham Sedgley.

Held on 7 January 2013, to be signed as a correct record.

Resolved:     That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 January 2013 be approved as a correct record and signed by the chair.

Councillors Beech and Cornes declared personal interests in item 8 as members of Audley Parish Council, and took no part in its consideration; Councillor Olszewski declared a personal interest in item 11 as one of the applicants was a former colleague, and took no part in its consideration.

A report was submitted outlining recent changes in the way that the Local Government Ombudsman Service (LGO) dealt with complaints and the publication of its decisions.

In previous years, the LGO had provided an annual summary of complaints received against the council.  This annual letter had covered a 12-month period from April to March and included statistics on the number of enquiries and complaints received by the LGO Advice Team.

This year the LGO would not produce annual letters for individual councils about complaints received against them in the same way it had done in previous years.  This was because part way through the year, the LGO had begun to make changes in the way it handled complaints, and therefore it was felt that any statistics would not provide a comparable picture throughout the year.  However, complaint outcomes from April 2012 to March 2013 showed that no reports had been issued against this council.

Instead, the LGO would be sending a letter to all councils which would include high level information about complaints which had been made and also give the council the opportunity to contribute to a consultation on what annual letters would look like in the future and how they could better meet the council’s needs.  This letter had been received shortly after the publication of the agenda for the meeting and had been circulated prior to the meeting.

The LGO would also be publishing all of the decisions on complaints it received after 1 April 2013, making it the first public sector Ombudsman scheme to do so.  Decision statements would be published on the LGO website no earlier than three months after the date of the final decision.  The information published would not name the complainant or any individual involved with the complaint.  A small number of examples of decisions on complaints received before 1 April 2013 would also be published.

In pursuance of being an open and accountable service with transparent decision making processes, the LGO would publish its decisions so that the public and bodies within its jurisdiction could see the full range of decisions and feel reassured that they were fair, thorough and impartial.

Publishing decisions also recognised the key role the LGO played in helping to ensure that public services were accountable to the public who used and funded those services.  Greater transparency of the LGO’s decisions meant greater transparency of public services.

The LGO did, however, retain discretion not to publish a decision – for example where it would not be in the interests of the person complaining to publish or where there was a reason in law not to.

Resolved:

(1)               That the new arrangements be noted; and

(2)               That the Annual Review Letter be circulated to all members of the council along with an explanation of the changes.

The attached guidance was issued in March 2013 by the Department for Communities and Local Government, and supersedes the previous version issued in August 2012.

The committee is requested to note the content of the guidance, which will be circulated to all members.

The above guidance, which had been issued in March 2013 by the Department of Communities and Local Government to supersede that issued in August 2012, was submitted.  It was reported that the guidance would be circulated to all members of the council.

Resolved:     That the content of the guidance and the intention to circulate it to all members of the council be noted.

There was no urgent business.

The committee is invited to resolve that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following four items because it is likely that there will be a disclosure in each case of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Resolved:     That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following four items, because it was likely that there would be a disclosure in each case of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

A copy of the model arrangements for dealing with Standards allegations under the Localism Act 2011 is appended to this item to assist the committee in dealing with it and the following two items.

(Councillors Beech and Cornes declared personal interests in this item as members of Audley Parish Council, and took no part in its consideration.)

A report was submitted on the above complaint.

Resolved:     That no further action be taken in relation to the complaint.

A report was submitted on the above complaint.

Resolved:

(1)               That no further action be taken in relation to the complaint; and

(2)               That a reminder be issued to all members of the council in relation to the content and importance of the council’s policies on the use of social networking and media.

A report was submitted on the above complaint.

Resolved:     That no further action be taken in relation to the complaint.

(Councillor Olszewski declared a personal interest in this item 11 as one of the applicants was a former colleague, and took no part in its consideration.)

Further to minute number 4 of the meeting of 1 October 2012, a report was submitted along with two applications for the position of Reserve Independent Person.

Resolved:     That the two applicants be invited to attend the next meeting of the committee.