Agenda and draft minutes

1.         Mr Simkins proposed and Mr Brady seconded that Mr Kite be elected Chair of the Hearing Panel.  No other nominations were received.

RESOLVED that Mr Kite be elected Chair of the Hearing Panel.

1.         The Chair invited all those present to introduce themselves to ensure all parties were clear on the roles of each person in attendance.  This included the Benjamin Watts (Monitoring Officer), the Independent Person, the Investigating Officer, Panel Members, Mr Marsh (Subject Member), his representative and Joel Cook (Clerk).

2.         Mr Watts and Mr Cook outlined the process involved for considering the complaint, including the approach for address it in private (exempt) session, highlighting that appropriate consideration had been given in advance of the meeting with regard to the sensitivity of the case papers, which had been published as exempt so were not accessible by the public. 

RESOLVED that under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 2 & 5 of part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

3.         The Panel duly considered the information provided in the Investigation Report and the Standards Guidance Process.  Relevant parties were invited to outline the details of the case and ask questions.

4.         Having considered the reports, representations of the Subject Member and input from the Independent Person during the Hearing, the Panel determined that the Code had been breached and sanctions would be applied.

RESOLVED that a breach had taken place and sanctions would be applied – details to be set out in the Formal Decision Notice.