If you are reading this electronically, the Council has saved £5.83 on printing. For more information on the Mod.gov paperless app, contact Democratic Services Merton Council Standards and General Purposes Committee Agenda Membership Councillors: Peter McCabe (Chair) Adam Bush (Vice-Chair) Agatha Mary Akyigyina OBE Ben Butler John Dehaney Brenda Fraser Dickie Wilkinson David Williams MBE JP Hina Bokhari Mary Curtin Thomas Barlow Pauline Cowper Substitute Members: Peter Southgate Omar Bush Stan Anderson Sally Kenny Nick McLean Jenifer Gould Date: Thursday 7 November 2019 Time: 7.15 pm Venue: Committee Rooms CDE, Merton Civic Centre, London Road, SM4 5DX This is a public meeting and attendance by the public is encouraged and welcomed. For more information about the agenda please contact [email protected] or telephone 0208 545 3357 . All Press contacts: [email protected], 020 8545 3181 Standards and General Purposes Committee Agenda 7 November 2019 1 Apologies for Absence 1 Apologies for Absence 2 Declarations of Pecuniary Interest 3 Minutes of the previous meeting 1 - 4 4 External Audit Annual Letter 5 - 26 5 Internal Audit Progress Report 27 - 34 6 Fraud Update 35 - 46 7 Annual Complaints report 47 - 84 8 Review of Polling Places 85 - 124 9 Environmental Enforcements Update 125 - 132 10 Risk Management 133 - 160 11 Amendments to the Constitution 161 - 166 12 Annual Gifts and Hospitality report (members) 167 - 188 13 Annual Gifts and Hospitality report (officers) 189 - 196 14 Complaints against Members A verbal update to be provided at the meeting 15 Member Training Session Update A verbal update to be provided at the meeting 16 Work Programme 197 - 198 17 Exclusion of the Press and Public To RESOLVE that the public are excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following report on the grounds that it is exempt from disclosure for the reasons stated in the report. 18 Temporary and Contract Staff update 199 - 208 Note on declarations of interest Members are advised to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting.If a pecuniary interest is declared they should withdraw from the meeting room during the whole of the consideration of that mater and must not participate in any vote on that matter. If members consider they should not participate because of a non-pecuniary interest which may give rise to a perception of bias, they should declare this, withdraw and not participate in consideration of the item. For further advice please speak with the Assistant Director of Corporate Governance. Public Information Attendance at meetings The public are welcome to attend meetings of the Council. Seating in the public gallery is limited and offered on a first come first served basis. Audio/Visual recording of meetings The Council will film meetings held in the Council Chamber for publication on the website. If you would like to film or record any meeting of the Council held in public, please read the Council’s policy here or contact [email protected] for more information. Mobile telephones Please put your mobile telephone on silent whilst in the meeting. Access information for the Civic Centre Nearest Tube: Morden (Northern Line) Nearest train: Morden South, South Merton (First Capital Connect) Tramlink: Morden Road or Phipps Bridge (via Morden Hall Park) Bus routes: 80, 93, 118, 154, 157, 163, 164, 201, 293, 413, 470, K5 Further information can be found here Meeting access/special requirements The Civic Centre is accessible to people with special access requirements. There are accessible toilets, lifts to meeting rooms, disabled parking bays and an induction loop system for people with hearing difficulties. For further information, please contact [email protected] Fire alarm If the fire alarm sounds, either intermittently or continuously, please leave the building immediately by the nearest available fire exit without stopping to collect belongings. Staff will direct you to the exits and fire assembly point. If you are unable to use the stairs, a member of staff will assist you. The meeting will reconvene if it is safe to do so, otherwise it will stand adjourned. Electronic agendas, reports and minutes Copies of agendas, reports and minutes for council meetings can also be found on our website. To access this, click https://www.merton.gov.uk/council-and-local-democracy and search for the relevant committee and meeting date. Agendas can also be viewed online in the Borough’s libraries and on the Mod.gov paperless app for iPads, Android and Windows devices. This page is intentionally left blank Agenda Item 3 STANDARDS AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE 9 SEPTEMBER 2019 (7.15 pm - 7.56 pm) PRESENT Councillors Councillor Peter McCabe (in the Chair), Councillor Adam Bush, Councillor Agatha Mary Akyigyina, Councillor John Dehaney, Councillor Dickie Wilkinson, Councillor Hina Bokhari, Councillor Mary Curtin, Councillor Stan Anderson, Councillor Omar Bush, Councillor Nick McLean and Councillor Pauline Cowper ALSO PRESENT Clive Douglas – Independent Person Caroline Holland (Director of Corporate Services), Paul Evans (Assistant Director Corporate Governance), Margaret Culleton (Head of Internal Audit) and Amy Dumitrescu (Democratic Services Officer) 1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE (Agenda Item 1) Apologies were received from Councillors David Williams, Thomas Barlow, Ben Butler and Brenda Fraser. Councillors Nick McLean, Omar Bush and Stan Anderson attended as substitutes. Apologies were received from Independent Person Pam Donovan. 2 DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST (Agenda Item 2) There were no declarations of interest. 3 MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING (Agenda Item 3) RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2019 were agreed as a correct record. 4 ANTI-FRAUD AND ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGY REVIEW (Agenda Item 4) The Head of Internal Audit presented the report which refreshed the strategy following the last update in July 2018 and aimed to review the strategy and update it to bring further consistency across the five Boroughs covered by the SWLFP (South West London Fraud Partnership). Following questions from members, officers confirmed that as part of the whistleblowing policy and under the Public Disclosure Act, whistle-blowers are entitled to protection of their identity. Officers also clarified that all prosecutions undertaken by the Council are private prosecutions, however these investigations can also be passed on to the Police where appropriate. In relation to the level at 1 All minutes are draft until agreed at the next meeting of the committee/panel. To find out the date of the next meeting please check the calendar of events at yourPage local library 1 or online at www.merton.gov.uk/committee. which these acts are classed as “minor”, indicators were listed in the report and the CPS code is followed when decisions to investigate are made. RESOLVED: That the Committee approved the revised Anti-Fraud and Anti- Corruption Strategy. 5 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ETHICAL STANDARDS - A REVIEW BY THE COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS IN PUBLIC LIFE (Agenda Item 5) The Monitoring Officer presented the report and gave an overview of the recommended actions. The Monitoring Officer advised that the Code of Conduct is currently based on the LGA model and it is likely that an updated model code will be issued. It was therefore recommended that the Merton Code of Conduct should be reviewed annually until the new LGA model code was published. Prior to the code being reviewed, there would be an opportunity for members of the public to comment on the proposed code. In relation to separate bodies, this was now included as part of the Annual Governance Statement which was approved by the Committee in July 2019 and therefore this recommendation now complied. In response to members questions, officers undertook to investigate the most appropriate ways to reach members of the public wishing to contribute to the consultation who did not have internet access. Any proposal for the approach to the consultation would be brought to the Committee in July 2020 for members to agree. RESOLVED: That the Committee agreed the best practice actions described in paragraphs 3.5 and 3.6, 4.3, 5.2 and 6.3(b) to be recommended for adoption by Council. 6 REGULATION OF INVESTIGATORY POWERS ACT AUTHORISATIONS (Agenda Item 6) The Monitoring Officer presented the report and informed the Committee that in addition the Council had also completed 139 littering prosecutions and currently had 38 fresh cases, however there had been no further waste cases at present. It was noted in response to member questions that there had been an article in the Summer 2019 edition of MyMerton regarding enforcement for litter and fly-tipping offences. Members requested that a regular item be brought to the Committee giving an update on completed prosecutions relating to fly-tipping. Members felt strongly that further work should be undertaken as a deterrent to publicise when prosecutions took place and to name offenders. RESOLVED: That members noted the purposes for which investigations have been authorised under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000. 7 COMPLAINTS AGAINST MEMBERS (Agenda Item 7) 2 All minutes are draft until agreed at the next meeting of the committee/panel. To find out the date of the next meeting please check the calendar of events at yourPage local library 2 or online at www.merton.gov.uk/committee. The Committee noted a verbal update from the Monitoring officer, advising that there had been no new complaints since the previous meeting and noting that the level of complaints received at Merton is low. The Monitoring Officer referred to the minutes of the last meeting which advised a previous complaint escalated to the Ombudsman was awaiting independent reconsideration. The Monitoring Officer advised the Committee that the view of the Independent Investigator was that the complaint should not be formally investigated.