This meeting of the Standards Committee was scheduled to include a review of the Council's proposed Member/Officer Protocol, a report on complaints that had been made against Councillors, and a discussion of the Committee's work programme.

Review of the Member/Officer Protocol

A report on a review of the Council's Member/Officer Protocol was scheduled to be discussed. This report included proposed amendments to the protocol which were intended to further strengthen the guidance on relationships between Officers and Members. The Committee were to consider the proposed amendments and whether any further revisions were required to strengthen the protocol.

The report identified that:

For the Protocol to be effective it is important that there is as much awareness of it for both Members and officers. Standards Committee - Member-Officer Protocol Report

To improve awareness of the protocol it was proposed that:

The Chief Executive and the Monitoring Officer will be leading a future Senior Leadership Team session about Member/Officer relationships, decision making and political nous. Standards Committee - Member-Officer Protocol Report

Member Complaints - Annual Report

The Committee was scheduled to receive a report on complaints made against Councillors in 2024. The report summarises details of the four complaints made during the year, none of which were referred to the Standards Committee for a hearing.

Work Programme

The Committee were scheduled to review their proposed work programme for 2024-2025 and identify any other items they wished to include on it.

The work programme included a plan to submit questions to the Leader of the Council on ethical standards in relation to Members.