Apologies were received from Councillors David Williams and Stephen Crowe.  Councillors Michael Bull and Oonagh Moulton were present as substitutes.

Apologies for lateness were given for Councillor Gregory Udeh, who arrived during the Monitoring Officer’s introduction to his report. 

There were no declarations of interest.

The Monitoring Officer, Paul Evans, gave a detailed introduction to his report.

The Monitoring Officer noted that the complaint made by Councillor Jeff Hanna was not included in the published agenda, and was subsequently issued in a supplementary agenda.  He also advised that Sally Burns had asked that members be made aware that her complaint (shown on page 29 of the agenda) was submitted in her capacity as Chair of the Carers Partnership Group.

The Monitoring Officer drew Committee Members’ attention to the letter from the Leader of the Council, which had been circulated by email and tabled at the meeting.  He confirmed that £1380 had been paid to LB Merton in respect of costs relating to the use of the reply paid address.

At the invitation of the Chair, Derek Prior, the Independent Person, addressed the Committee.

The Monitoring Officer reminded the Committee that their duty was to consider whether a potential breach of the code of conduct had arisen, and if it was in the public interest for an independent investigation to take place.  He advised that the Committee should not discuss nor attempt to investigate either the complaint itself, or issues relating to the complaint, such as levels of council tax or the outcome of the consultation.

Members of the Committee raised a series of questions, to which the Monitoring Officer responded.

The Committee then debated the recommendation contained within the report.

A vote was taken on the recommendation.  Seven members voted for the recommendation and five voted against.

RESOLVED:  That, having considered complaints made against the Leader of the Council, the Standards and General Purposes agrees the recommendation of the Monitoring Officer and Independent Person that the complaints made merit formal investigation.

Councillor Mary-Jane Jeanes asked that her vote (in favour of the recommendation) be recorded in the minutes.