Agenda and draft minutes

To elect a Chair for the duration of the meeting.

RESOLVED: That Councillor Arooj Shah be elected Chair for the duration of the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Barnes.

Urgent business, if any, introduced by the Chair

There was no urgent business to consider.

To Receive Declarations of Interest in any Contract or matter to be discussed at the meeting.

There were no public questions received.

To receive Questions from the Public, in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

There were no public questions received for the Committee to consider.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committtee held on 5^th March 2026 are attached for approval.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on the 5^th March 2026 be approved as a correct record.

To confirm the composition of the Standards sub-committee

The Director of Legal introduced the report into the composition of the Standards Sub-committee.

Members asked whether there were substitutes allowed for the sub-committee, and it was confirmed that substitutes were not allowed for the sub-committee.

Members asked whether members of the sub-committee could be replaced, and it was confirmed that, in line with the Appointments to Committees report, the membership of the Committee and Sub-committee could be changed by the Chief Executive in accordance with the wishes of the relevant political group.

RESOLVED that the composition of the Standards Sub-committee be confirmed.

For members of the Standards Committee to note the current Members Code of Conduct and related matters.

The Director of Legal introduced the report and noted that there was a need for central government to strengthen the Standards framework to make an impact, and that there had been a government consultation on this previously. It was noted that most Council’s would have a Code of Conduct similar to the Oldham one.

Members queried whether it would be most councils or all councils who would have similar Codes of Conduct. It was noted that they were pretty much all carbon copies of each other as each council had the same powers around Standards, although the wording could be slightly different between local authorities.

Members also noted thanks to the members of the Standards committee from the last municipal year for their work.

RESOLVED that the current Code of Conduct be noted.

To receive and note the member-officer protocol.

The Director of Legal introduced the Member-Officer protocol, highlighting that the report had been to the previous meeting in March 2026. It was noted that no issues had been raised by the previous members after the meeting in relation with this.

RESOLVED that the Committee receive and note the Member-Officer protocol.

To note the Elected Member Survey.

The Monitoring Officer introduced the survey.

Members noted some changes that they would suggest to the survey including amending the “25-34” age range to “26-34” for question 3 to avoid confusion with the “18-25” age range, the amending of question 6 to be compliant with characteristics, and other changes to phrasing.

The Monitoring Officer noted that it would be helpful to take other comments that members may have after the meeting, and with the Chair, it was agreed that if members had additional comments, they should send them to the Monitoring Officer in the next two weeks.

RESOLVED that the Elected Member Survey be noted.