Agenda and minutes

Members in any doubt about such declarations are advised to contact Legal or Democratic Services in advance of the meeting

There were no declarations of interest made in accordance with the Code of Conduct.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of General Purposes Committee held on 31 January 2022

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meeting of the General Purposes Committee held on 31 January 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

This report invites Members to consider revisions to the existing Code of Conduct, in light of the Model Code of Conduct produced by the Local Government Association

The report of the Monitoring Officer invited Members to consider revisions to the existing Code of Conduct in light of the Model Code of Conduct produced by the Local Government Association.  A copy of the Local Government Association model code was attached at Annex 1, the existing Tonbridge and Malling Code at Annex 2 and a table comparing the differences between the codes at Annex 3.

RECOMMENDED: That the revised Code of Conduct as set out at Annex 4 to the report, be commended to Council for adoption.

The report asks Members to approve updates to the Officer Code of Conduct and the Anti-Bullying and Harassment Procedure.

The report of the Director of Central Services and Deputy Chief Executive sought approval of a number of updates to the Officer Code of Conduct and the Anti-Bullying and Harassment Procedure.  An audit of the ethical culture within the Borough Council had recommended that amendments be made to both the Officer Code of Conduct and the Anti-Bullying and Harassment Procedure and the proposed amendments had been considered by Management Team and the Joint Employee Consultative Committee.  The revised Code of Conduct and the revised procedure were attached at Annexes 1 and 2 respectively.

RESOLVED: That the amendments to the Officer Code of Conduct and Anti-Bullying and Harassment Procedure be approved.

Following receipt of the final recommendations for the warding arrangements, from the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, a Polling District & Polling Place review, needs to be undertaken to implement the changes to the warding arrangements.

The report of the Chief Executive advised that following receipt of the final recommendations from the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, a Polling District and Polling Place review needed to be undertaken to implement the changes to the warding arrangements. 

RESOLVED: That the report be received and noted.

The Chairman to move that the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting during consideration of any items the publication of which would disclose exempt information.

The Chairman moved, it was seconded and

RESOLVED:  That as public discussion would disclose exempt information, the following matters be considered in private.

(Reasons: LGA 1972- Sch 12A Paragraph 1 – Information relating to an individual)

This report sets out for Members’ approval a number of establishment changes recommended by Management Team.  Members should note that, in accordance with adopted conventions, all of the savings/costs referred to in this report reflect the salary at the top of the scale/grade plus associated on costs.

The report of the Director of Central Services set out for approval a number of establishment changes arising from the ongoing operational management of the Borough Council’s Services.

RESOLVED: That 

(1)        post DG2010 Environmental Projects Co-ordinator 37 hours be redesignated Cleaner Borough Co-ordinator and the hours of the post reduced to 18.5 hours; and

(2)        post DJ0302 Planning Policy Manager be regraded from M5 to M6 and that the saving be ringfenced for 12 months to allow for a review of the wider management of the Planning service.