Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Hall, Leeds, LS1 1UR

Contact: Kevin Tomkinson  Email: kevin.tomkinson@leeds.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

9.

Appeals Against Refusal of Inspection of Documents

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 15,2 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules. (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded)

 

(*In accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2, written notice of an appeal must be received by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting.)

Minutes:

There were no appeals against refusal of inspection of documents.

10.

Exempt Information - Possible Exclusion of the Press and Public

1  To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

 

2  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

 

3  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

 

  RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:-

Minutes:

There were no resolutions to exclude the public.

11.

Late Items

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration

 

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes)

Minutes:

There were no late items submitted to the agenda for consideration.

12.

Declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

To disclose or draw attention to any disclosable pecuniary interests for the purposes of Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 and paragraphs 13-16 of the Members’ Code of Conduct. 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

13.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Dawson, C Dobson, Field, Illingworth and J Lewis.

14.

Minutes of the last meeting pdf icon PDF 127 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 11th July 2017.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 11th July 2017 were approved as a correct record.

15.

Matters Arising

Minutes:

In respect of Minute 7 (minute 16 – essential member safeguarding training)

 

Members received an update on the latest position in respect of safeguarding training and noted that an afternoon of training had been well attended by members and the Voice and Influence Team were currently in the process of attending Community Committees to provide some training in order that all members will benefit from this.

 

In respect of Minute 8 (Local Authority Appointments to Outside Bodies)

 

Members noted that Leeds City Council representation on the Leeds Grand Theatre Board was to reduce from 5 Members to 3 and that these places would be allocated by this Committee at the first meeting of the Municipal Year.

 

 

 

 

16.

Referral from the Corporate Governance & Audit Committee

Minutes:

The Chair reported that he had received correspondence form the Chair of the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee on an issue which that committee resolved would benefit from consideration by the Member Management Committee - Member training arrangements for cyber resilience and for the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulations.

 

The Chair agreed to take the matter away and liaise with the Chair of the Member Development Working Group.

 

RESOLVED – That following consideration of the matter by the Chair a report to be brought back to this Committee for consideration and discussion as to the next steps to be taken with regard to this matter.

17.

DBS Checks for Members pdf icon PDF 109 KB

To consider the report of the City Solicitor outlining the current procedure for requesting DBS checks for Members and highlighting the key legislative changes that were made to vetting and barring checks and Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks carried out by employers (via the Protection of Freedom Act 2012) and clarification provided by the Disclosure and Barring Service as to the defined reasons that Councils can undertake checks for Members

The report also sought guidance from the Member Management Committee in determining the most appropriate way forward with requesting DBS checks for Members.

 

Minutes:

The City Solicitor submitted a report outlining the current procedure for requesting Disclosure & Barring (DBS) Checks for Members and highlighted:

 

·  the key legislative changes that were made to vetting and barring checks and Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks carried out by employers (via the Protection of Freedom Act 2012)

 

·  clarification provided by the Disclosure and Barring Service as to the defined reasons that Councils can undertake checks for Members

 

The report sought guidance from Member Management Committee in determining the most appropriate way forward with requesting DBS checks for Members.

 

RESOLVED

 

(a)  To note the contents of the report.

 

(b)  That the proposal that DBS checks are carried out for all Members be agreed.

 

(b)  To agree that these checks continued to be carried out on first election, and then again at every subsequent election thereafter.

 

(c)  To agree that the level of check carried out for all Members continued to be an enhanced check (without the barred lists).

 

(d)  That officers notify Group Whips of any failure to complete DBS checks asking them to deal with this through their disciplinary arrangements with an ultimate sanction including removal of the group whip.