Minutes:
The Member and Officer Relations Code which formed part of the Council’s Ethical Framework and Constitution set out, in a fairly prescriptive way, how Members and Officers should conduct themselves in the most common situations that arose on a regular basis. Until recently the involvement of Members in staff disciplinary and grievance matters had not been seen to be a particular problem. However, a Councillor had recently maintained that in these matters Members were effectively being “gagged” by the terms of the Code and that it prohibited a full and fair hearing thereby contravening the Human Rights Act 1998.
The Director of Law and Corporate Governance considered that the terms of the Code did not contravene any law including the Human Rights Act but that it might help if the Members’ role in such staffing matters was clarified. Accordingly, he submitted a proposed revised wording for paragraph 14.5 of the Code which sought to clarify its intentions. He indicated that since the Agenda and report for this Meeting had been issued two minor amendments had been made to the proposed revision and a copy of the amended paragraph was circulated.
Recommended - That the revised Paragraph 14.5 as now submitted subject to the amendments set out below be incorporated into the Member and Officer Relations Code and the Council’s Constitution be amended accordingly:-
(a) That sub-paragraph (a) be amended by the addition at the end of the words “(e.g. witness as to fact)”.
(b) That sub-paragraph (c) be amended to ensure that the capacity in which a Member will be involved when appointed to an Employment Appeals Sub-Committee is made clear.