Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Epsom Town Hall, https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/226545989876168719

Contact: Democratic Services, Email: democraticservices@epsom-ewell.gov.uk  tel: 01372 732000

Items
No. Item

1.

Declarations of Interest

Members are asked to declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in respect of any item of business to be considered at the meeting.

 

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made in relation to Items of business to be discussed at the meeting.

2.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 84 KB

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 18 January 2021 (attached) and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.


Minutes:

The Minutes of the previous meeting of the Standards Committee held on 18 January were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

3.

Constitution Update: Planning Code of Practice pdf icon PDF 149 KB

To update the draft Planning Code of Practice.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report detailing the updated draft Planning Code of Practice.

The Committee received a verbal introduction from the Chief Legal Officer.

The following maters were raised by the Committee:

a)            3.6 Membership of Lobby Groups: Following a question from a Member, the Officer confirmed that the ‘struck-through’ sentence in section 3.6 will be removed before the circulation of the updated draft Code.

b)            6.6 Site visits: Members noted the wording of the section of the report regarding site visits, and spoke about whether this may be made clearer. The Officer confirmed that they would delete paragraph 6.6 in its entirety, and add in a new paragraph providing more clarity that if a site visit has been arranged and a particular Member did not attend, that Member may not propose to defer the Application solely because they wanted to view the site.

c)            8.4 Ward Members: Following a question from a Member, the Officer agreed to amend paragraph 8.4 to make it clear those Ward Members who are required to attend and address a Committee Meeting. .

Following consideration, it was resolved that the Committee:

(1)      Considered the amended draft Planning Code of Practice;

(2)      Approved the circulation of the amended draft Planning Code of Practice with regard to the changes suggested in this Committee to all Members of Council for comment;

(3)      Agreed to delegate to the Chief Legal Officer following consultation with the Committee’s Chair and Vice Chair the approval of any necessary changes to the draft Planning Code of Practice following Member comments;

(4)      Agreed to recommend to Council the adoption of the approved Planning Code of Practice;

(5)      Agreed to note that the draft Planning Code of Practice may be bought back to Standards Committee before its recommendation to Council. 

 

 

4.

Committee Work Plan 2021-2022 pdf icon PDF 77 KB

To agree a Committee Work Plan for the Municipal Year 2021-2022.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report requesting that it agree a Committee Work Plan for the Municipal Year 2021-2022.

The Committee received a verbal introduction from the Chief Legal Officer.

The following matters were raised by the Committee:

a)            Single Member allocation of Committee seats: Members raised concerns over the inability of the Council to allocate a committee seat to an ungrouped Member. It was noted that at the review of the Constitution it would be possible to include changes which would allow an ungrouped Member to be allocated a seat.

b)            Committee start time: Following the change from virtual meetings to hybrid, Members noted the start time of Committee reverting back to 19:30 hours.

Following consideration, it was resolved unanimously that the Committee:

(1)      Considered and approved a Committee Work Plan for 2021-2022.