Agenda and draft minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor Nick Allen be elected Chair for the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary or affected interests in respect of any matter to be considered at this meeting.

Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in a matter should withdraw from the meeting when the matter is under consideration and should notify the Democratic Services Officer in attendance that they are withdrawing as they have such an interest. If the Disclosable Pecuniary Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days.

Any Member with an affected Interest in a matter must disclose the interest to the meeting.  There is no requirement to withdraw from the meeting when the interest is only an affected interest, but the Monitoring Officer should be notified of the interest, if not previously notified of it, within 28 days of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To note the Code of Conduct Panel hearing procedure.

The Code of Conduct Panel hearing procedure was noted by all parties.

The Panel will determine whether the Public and Press should be excluded from the meeting and whether any or all documents should be withheld as agenda item 6 includes documents containing exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

If the Panel decides to proceed in closed session, it may choose to move the following resolution:

That pursuant to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, and having regard to the public interest, members of the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of the following item which involves the likely disclosure of exempt information under the following category of Schedule 12A of that Act:

(1)   Information relating to any individual (Item 6)

If the Panel choose to proceed in open session, the documents relating to the Code of Conduct complaint, including the subject member’s identity, will be published immediately on the Bracknell Forest Council website. 

The Panel adjourned to hear representations from the Monitoring Officer and Subject Member on whether any part of the hearing should be held in private.

The Panel noted that although information relating to an individual and/or likely to reveal the identity of an individual is a ground for exemption from disclosure under Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, where the public interest in maintaining that exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing that information, neither the Monitoring Officer nor the Subject Member made any submission for the hearing to be conducted in private session, or for any of the documents within the agenda pack before the Panel to be withheld from the public domain in their unredacted form.

The Panel determined that, in the interest of transparency and because the matter before it concerned the standards and conduct of a publicly elected Councillor, the public interest in removing the exemption from disclosure outweighed the public interest in maintaining it. 

Therefore, it was agreed that the Panel Hearing should proceed in public session and all agenda pack documents before it be released in the public domain in their unredacted format.

To include:

1.     Presentation of complaint (Monitoring Officer/Investigating Officer)

2.     Presentation of subject member’s case

3.     Summing up

4.     Views/submission of the independent person

5.     Deliberations of the Code of Conduct Panel

6.     Formal announcement of decision

The range of possible sanctions are as follows:

·        The Panel recommending that the Council issue a formal Censure towards the Councillor/Co-opted member e.g. through a Motion at a Council meeting

·        The Panel publishing its decision by issuing a press release

·        The Panel reporting findings to Council for inclusion on Council agenda

·        The Panel recommending to the Councillor’s group leader (or in the case of “ungrouped” members, recommend to Council or to Committees) that he/she be removed from any or all committees or sub-committees

·        The Panel recommending to the Leader of the Council that the Councillor be removed from the Executive, or removed from particular portfolio responsibilities

·        The Panel recommending that the Councillor be removed from any or all outside appointments to which he/she has been appointed or nominated by the Leader of the Council

·        The Panel Instructing the Monitoring Officer to arrange appropriate training

·        The Panel requiring the Councillor/Co-opted Member to issue a written apology to the complainant in an open letter

·        The Panel referring the matter to the party whip in order that the Political group may consider what action to take under its own procedures

The Code of Conduct Panel met to consider a complaint which had been brought against the Subject Member, Councillor Hayes, and to determine whether Councillor Hayes had breached the Bracknell Forest Council’s ‘Code of Conduct for Councillors and Co-Opted Members’.

The Panel considered reports from the Monitoring Officer and Investigating Officer, as well as both a written statement read aloud by Councillor Hayes’s representative, Mr Colin Dudley and further oral submissions raised on her behalf. There were no witnesses called by any party.

Councillor Hayes accepted that she had used inappropriate language and agreed that this could constitute a breach of the Code of Conduct. However, Councillor Hayes’ statement stressed there had been no intent on her part to cause offence and that she had apologised for her behaviour to those present at the time. 

Councillor Hayes’ submission and statement raised concerns around procedural issues relating to the conduct of the investigation process, rather than seeking to rebut the allegation itself.

Panel members asked questions of the subject member, investigating officer and monitoring officer.

Prior to deliberating in private, the Panel sought the view of the Independent Person, Ms Heather Quillish, on whether Councillor Hayes had breached the Code of Conduct. Ms Quillish confirmed that she agreed that there had been a breach of the Code of Conduct, and that such language was not appropriate in any context. 

After consideration of all written and oral submissions, the Panel decided, on balance, that Councillor Hayes had breached Bracknell Forest Council’s ‘Code of Conduct for Councillors and Co-Opted Members’ as detailed in the Investigating Officer’s report and that by Councillor Hayes’s own admission, inappropriate language had been used in a threatening context in conversation with a Council officer.

Having determined that a breach had occurred, the Panel invited submissions from the Monitoring Officer, Councillor Hayes and Ms Quillish on the issue of whether sanctions should be applied and, if so, what appropriate form they should take, before the Panel then retired to deliberate the issue of sanctions. 

After careful consideration, the Panel determined to impose the following sanctions upon Councillor Hayes in respect of the found breach:

1. The Council is to issue of a press release as to the Panel’s findings.
2. Councillor Hayes is to issue an open written letter of apology to the complainant (the Council’s Chief Executive, Susan Halliwell), Mr Max Baker (since retired Council Officer) and to Council Officer (A) as referred to in the agenda pack. Such letter is to be published by the Council in the public domain. 
3. Councillor Hayes is required to attend suitable behaviour training as to be arranged and approved by the Council’s Monitoring Officer. 
4. The matter is to be referred to Councillor Hayes’s political party whip in order that the political group may consider what action to take under its own procedures.

The Panel determined these as being reasonable and proportionate sanctions when considering the facts as found, the submissions raised by the parties including mitigation raised by Councillor Hayes, and the need  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.