Issue - meetings

To advise Members on the action taken by the Monitoring Officer following a request to organise training as part of ‘other action’ directed by the Assessment Sub Committee.    

The Committee considered the report of the Borough Solicitor and Monitoring Officer which reported on action taken following a request to organise training as part of other action directed by the Assessment Sub Committee.

The training session in question, which had originally been scheduled for July 2011, was to have been attended by a Councillor who had been the subject of an allegation of misconduct following which the Assessment Sub Committee had concluded that the matter should be referred to the Monitoring Officer for ‘other action’.  However, the session had been deferred until September due to the high number of apologies received, which included those of the Subject Member concerned.   

Under the Code of Conduct, there was no recourse possible if a Subject Member failed to comply with the ‘other action’ required.  The Chairman suggested that the matter could be addressed under a future voluntary Code of Conduct but, in order to resolve the current situation, the views of the Committee were sought as to an appropriate way forward.      

Members considered that, under the circumstances, it would be futile to pursue the Subject Member for non-compliance but that a letter should be sent expressing the Committee’s regret in respect of the actions of the individual concerned.  

RESOLVED: That a) no further action be taken in respect of the Subject Member referred to in the report; and b) a letter be sent to the Subject Member expressing the Committee’s disappointment in respect of their non-attendance at training.